New tire balance question

L

loneryder

Joined
Apr 19, 2014
Messages
4,879
Location
WV
I don't even have 1k miles on my Pirelli Scorpion AS+3 and I'm having shaking when on a highway. Ordered them from one of the big online dealers and had them mounted by a local shop. First time I was on the highway there was a shaking in my seat and floor. I didn't want to take them back because they won't give appointments, you just sit and wait. Took me half an hour day to get them mounted. I made an appt. at Costco to have them redone. Since they are not Costco tires you have to pay $25 to rotate and balance. They found 2 of the tires were very unbalanced and noted it on my sheet. Next time I'm on the highway it's still shaking in my seat and floor. No steering wheel shake. Sometimes it does it at 70, st 75 and at 80 and sometimes it doesn't. It seems to be random.
Any thoughts out there what this could be? Maybe 1 or 2 of the tires can't be balanced?
 
Just do this. Very important. REMOVE any existing weights from the rim before they balance it. The morons in the shop just keep adding more and more lead. They don't remove the old weights. Yes, it's time consuming, but well worth it in the end. If you have an aluminum wheel, have them clean the corrosion built up where the tire meets the rim. They won't do that either. That will stop slow leaks. I go to a local shop and watch them like a hawk. They put a wire wheel grinder on that rim and get it spotless. Yes, I go back to where the mounting machines are, whether they like it or not. I also tip the guys doing the work, that helps :). If you don't have TPMS sensors in the rim, change the valve stems every couple of years too. CLEAN the rims of any asphalt bits, brake dust, mud, whatever. Yes, it's alot of work. I hate it. All of that stuff is added weight to the rim. It must be done to do it right. You'll be tired,,,,,, but happy when driving on air...Took me years to figure this all out....but I nailed it !!!!!!
 
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Gots lots of tire shops in The Bronx. Only 20 miles away from me. I've been going to the same guy for 15 years. I buy online, and load 8 tires in a car ( 4 on rims to be discarded at the shop ). Come back with 4 perfectly mounted and balanced wheels. It all depends where you live. If you're close enough to a ghetto like I am, it's worth it in the long run. No, just high speed balance on a machine. Always worked for me. No fancy tires either. Whatever the car calls for, it gets. None of these Jeeps with the wheels stickin 3' past the fender type deal nonsense.
 
I just had my Scorpion AS Plus3 mounted & ROAD FORCE BALANCED.
This is the only balance I will accept from now on. I found a shop that only RFB’s tires.
All of their balancing machines are HUNTER 9000 RFB or newer versions, and their techs are well trained.
It cost a few dollars more($40/wheel) but I don’t have to return to have my tires rebalanced like I often did at other shops. Nor do I have to pay another shop to try and get it right after I’ve already spent money the first time.…Money & time well spent the first time!
Sometimes the tech will have to break the bead and move the tire til it gets to where it need to be in conjunction with the wheel for that perfect balance. This is where the extra cost comes in.

No more driveline issue questions, no more guessing games, no more moving tires around on the vehicle while trying to figure out what/where this shaking is coming from, no more out of round tire issues, no more asking people what they think/why you’re getting shaking on the hiwy, no more this, no more that when everything was fine prior and the tech can’t find anything else wrong. NO MORE! NO MORE!

Since I’ve been frequenting this shop for all of my tire installs, since ~2020-21 and 6 times now, they’re 100%. As it is for those to whom I have recommended this to. 100%
All of my tire/wheel shaking on the highway are in the past!

I have introduced my friends & family members to this shop. Some members still go where they want and still complain. And those who don’t have their tires RFB’d, and still get shaking/vibration on the road, deserve what they tolerate.
There, I said it! :cool:
 
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Becuase its not all the time. How old are your shocks/struts? If you are on smooth asphalt is it smooth?

Maybe you have worn out shocks and new tires just have you paying closer attention to the ride quality?
 
50yr Street Mech said:
Just do this. Very important. REMOVE any existing weights from the rim before they balance it. The morons in the shop just keep adding more and more lead. They don't remove the old weights. Yes, it's time consuming, but well worth it in the end. If you have an aluminum wheel, have them clean the corrosion built up where the tire meets the rim. They won't do that either. That will stop slow leaks. I go to a local shop and watch them like a hawk. They put a wire wheel grinder on that rim and get it spotless. Yes, I go back to where the mounting machines are, whether they like it or not. I also tip the guys doing the work, that helps :). If you don't have TPMS sensors in the rim, change the valve stems every couple of years too. CLEAN the rims of any asphalt bits, brake dust, mud, whatever. Yes, it's alot of work. I hate it. All of that stuff is added weight to the rim. It must be done to do it right. You'll be tired,,,,,, but happy when driving on air...Took me years to figure this all out....but I nailed it !!!!!!
Click to expand...
Sounds like you know exactly what I keep finding out. You have to watch them like a hawk and they still can screw it up.
I keep trying different places lately because more and more of them do not have a clue what they are doing. Seems like every place I go lately has all new greenhorns who one can see are either just learning or don't give a hoot.
I even had one try to argue me out of having them do a balance job for me with my lifetime balance and rotation plan I paid for. He kept trying to tell me I needed a front end alignment. He finally agreed to balance them once I asked to see the manager. I explained to him
"'well, I may need alignment (yet I highly doubted it) but I certainly will not spend my time and money on it until I make sure the tires are all balanced first." He came back after and actually apologized and said something like "man , you were right. the last idiot who did your tires had them all messed up with either too many or not enough weights."
 
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50yr Street Mech said:
Gots lots of tire shops in The Bronx. Only 20 miles away from me. I've been going to the same guy for 15 years. I buy online, and load 8 tires in a car ( 4 on rims to be discarded at the shop ). Come back with 4 perfectly mounted and balanced wheels. It all depends where you live. If you're close enough to a ghetto like I am, it's worth it in the long run. No, just high speed balance on a machine. Always worked for me. No fancy tires either. Whatever the car calls for, it gets. None of these Jeeps with the wheels stickin 3' past the fender type deal nonsense.
Click to expand...
Hey, I live in El Bronx.

What place do you go to?
 
West Farms, across the street from McDonalds. Big car wash over there. Forgot the name of the place. It's like 180th St & West Farms Road. Huge intersection where you get on/ off the highway @ 177th St. Now I forgot the name of the highway. It runs into the Bruckner Expressway. Bodega on the corner. Beer distributor up the block from the car wash. Bueno place !! I call the boss " El Hefe" LOL :). I grew up in Morris Park. Stayed there until 2007, then move to Yonkers, then move to Yorktown Heights for the school system for our daughter. Too expensive here. Gonna move when she graduate High School. Just scraping by now :(....
 
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CarbonToast said:
Becuase its not all the time. How old are your shocks/struts? If you are on smooth asphalt is it smooth?

Maybe you have worn out shocks and new tires just have you paying closer attention to the ride quality?
Click to expand...
Shocks and struts are good. It comes and goes on smooth roads as well as other roads.
 
50yr Street Mech said:
Just do this. Very important. REMOVE any existing weights from the rim before they balance it. The morons in the shop just keep adding more and more lead. They don't remove the old weights. Yes, it's time consuming, but well worth it in the end. If you have an aluminum wheel, have them clean the corrosion built up where the tire meets the rim. They won't do that either. That will stop slow leaks. I go to a local shop and watch them like a hawk. They put a wire wheel grinder on that rim and get it spotless. Yes, I go back to where the mounting machines are, whether they like it or not. I also tip the guys doing the work, that helps :). If you don't have TPMS sensors in the rim, change the valve stems every couple of years too. CLEAN the rims of any asphalt bits, brake dust, mud, whatever. Yes, it's alot of work. I hate it. All of that stuff is added weight to the rim. It must be done to do it right. You'll be tired,,,,,, but happy when driving on air...Took me years to figure this all out....but I nailed it !!!!!!
Click to expand...
The guys at Costco are trained by Michelin. They checked the balance before removing the weights as I had told them the tires were just installed. Then they removed them and balanced them. They noted how out of balance they were originally but I don't have the paper in front of me.
I'm wondering if the seat/floor vibration is a tire bouncing slightly? Would Road Force balancing take care of that?
 
loneryder said:
The guys at Costco are trained by Michelin. They checked the balance before removing the weights as I had told them the tires were just installed. Then they removed them and balanced them. They noted how out of balance they were originally but I don't have the paper in front of me.
I'm wondering if the seat/floor vibration is a tire bouncing slightly? Would Road Force balancing take care of that?
Click to expand...
Shaking in the seat or floor that begins around 68 mph, especially if the shaking seems to move around the car, is a CLASSIC sign of out of round tires or tire that need to be road force balanced.
A few other thing can cause that issue too, such as a damaged tire or a loose belt, but in general, tire related.
MB 4matic drive trains also have a rubber flex disc near the rear axle, so you'll need to inspect that too. They can go bad after years of use.
How many miles on your MB?

If I were to guess, just a guess, you got a great deal on those tires because they were seconds or somehow not up to standards.
I put Pirelli MOE tire on my 4matic, and the tire shop road force balances everything they sell, the result, smooth as glass at any speed.
 
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