Rotated wheels, now I have an Irritating wobble.

[crinkles]

I have always been one for chanign my tyres two at a time (in axle pairs) and just always leaving them where I first install them. However, I tried to go the rotating way and then later I would have gone with a set of 4 replacements.

Pre rotation I had the OEM tyres on the back with about 45,000km on them. THe one is more worn than the other by about 2mm because the previous owner must have had a flat, changed to the new tyre, and didn't bother taken the newer one of to put the fixed one with equal wear on.

The front pair was a set of new tyres with about 15,000km on them.

This setup worked fine as I never had the wobbles.

Now when I rotated the tyres, the shop took the back pair straight to the front and the front pair crossed over to the back.

Last week I've been doing lots of highway driving and at 100 - 110 km /h it gets annoying wobble feedback through the steering wheel! the wobble intensity increases when I touch the brakes but disappears when going of centre i.e. going through long highway curves to the right or left.

the tyre place did balance them and rotate them for 20 bucks. I feel ripped off! I am thinking of getting a whole new pair for the front axle. would have to get the pair, blanace them and align my wheels!! will be about $300!

BTW OEM for my 05 camry is Dunlop SP300E and the relatively newer pair is a pair of TOYO transas eco. I think I actually prefer the TOYO.

 

[qezel]

a lot of times, you wont notice a out of balance/old tires if they're out back, because the rear suspension has no steering and is usually softer than the front, so then throwing them up front shows you how bad they are.. i'd just get a new pair for the front

hmm.. if the wobble goes away when you go off centre.. could be worn tie rod ends.. that would explain straight line wobble and under braking.. turning would put stress on the tierods, and "tighten" them up temporarily.. again, bad tires/out of balance tires/slightly out of round wheels can bring out a lot of bad vibrations, especially if anything in the suspension/steering is loose

 

[crinkles]

i surely hope nothings worn, its only 2 years old with 48,000 km on the clock!

I'm thinking the $20 ripoff isn't too bad if it made me notice a problem i can fix. I just feel bad that I am going to get rid of tyres that aren't worn to the legal limit and I didn't get my money's worth for them

might keep the rubber and make swings out of them for my two kids one day on the farm...

 

[alreadygone]

Keep them for hard times (rear use only), or change them back to rear and continue to wear out Toyos more quickly on front. Then when Toyo's must be replaced, buy set of 4.

If either of present front tires has physical defiencies, should also be noticable at 25 to 35 MPH (no idea what KM that'd be). If can only be felt at highway speed, most likely balance problem only, if also noticeable at low speed probably a shifted belt/out of round defect that should be replaced ASAP.

Bob

 

[Bill in Utah]

How often do you rotate the tires?

I've always done it @ 5k miles and never and any issues. My Subaru says I should rotate tires every 7,5k miles but I still stick with the 5k.

My OEM Toyota Corolla tires have well over 80k miles on them and still have usable trend left.. (not much though)

The 2000 Silverado 4x4 truck had OEM Firestones on it and when I sold it @ 53k the tires had easy 40k more miles left. The new owner just passed 60k with them and is stunned how well those tires are wearing/performing.

Rotate every 5k, check the Tire Pressure with a ACCURATE gauge every 3-4 weeks and stay away from curbs.

I've never done a alignment until the Subaru. After the accident, its had 4 of them to get things "straight". Still off on the steering wheel... (The body shop uses SEARS for their alignment shop and they are POOR to say the least)

Our 1986 Jetta has had one alignment in 22 years / 324k miles!

Take care, bill

 

[ChiTDI]

"the tyre place did balance them and rotate them for 20 bucks. I feel ripped off! I am thinking of getting a whole new pair for the front axle. would have to get the pair, blanace them and align my wheels!! will be about $300!"

Doesn't mean they balanced all four correctly. Only takes one out of balance or out of round to loosen your fillings!
Take it back and see what they say. You won't be the first to come back with one out of balance!

 

[ChiTDI]

Another thought is the torque of the wheels. Overtorque will cause a wobble at high speed and when braking, even if they are perfectly balanced.

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
How often do you rotate the tires?

I've always done it @ 5k miles and never and any issues. My Subaru says I should rotate tires every 7,5k miles but I still stick with the 5k.



THis was the first time after I thought I'd make the change from just changing tyres in axle pairs to rotating...


someone mentioned ovrtorque, I saw them use a torque wrench to fix the nuts... even though the torque might not be right it would be the same everywhere?

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: alreadygone
Keep them for hard times (rear use only), or change them back to rear and continue to wear out Toyos more quickly on front. Then when Toyo's must be replaced, buy set of 4.

If either of present front tires has physical defiencies, should also be noticable at 25 to 35 MPH (no idea what KM that'd be). If can only be felt at highway speed, most likely balance problem only, if also noticeable at low speed probably a shifted belt/out of round defect that should be replaced ASAP.

Bob


highway speeds only. which makes me think balance. I'm thinking because the newer tyre has more tread it has to go "further" per rev than the older one and this might be causing the wobbles.

The older one is maybe at 2.5mm where the legal imit is 1.5mm so i migth change it. new ones have 6 - 8 mm. would make me feel safer with all the rain storms we get here (and with the poor roads).

 

[CapriRacer]

What might be going on is irregular wear. That would cause a tire - even a perfectly balanced one - to be out of round.

But what bothers me is that using the brake makes it worse. If the problem was out of round tires, then braking should be unaffected.

Is it possible the brake rotors are warped?

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
What might be going on is irregular wear. That would cause a tire - even a perfectly balanced one - to be out of round.

But what bothers me is that using the brake makes it worse. If the problem was out of round tires, then braking should be unaffected.

Is it possible the brake rotors are warped?


I will change the front pair (as I said the one is getting low on the tread) and report back after a couple of highway runs... just a pity there are no tyre shops open on a sunday... means another week of it... before i can get to it on saturday. maybe i'll shoot out at lunchtime tomorrow.

 

[Vilan]

 

[crinkles]

funny cartoon...

Two new tyres later and she drives like a beaut again. I got 2x GoodYear Ducaro GA. I noticed though it had no markings for tread wear, temperature, nor the week of manufacture, nor max pressure, nor Euro codes... It was made in australia probably for use here only where I guess all that information doesn't need to be on... even though they left blanks on the sidewall for where it should go!! There are just a few cryptic 7 or 9 digit codes (and printed very small too).

Anyways I'm happy she goes true again. Such a nice feeling when you're expectng the brakes to wobble but it just takes smoothly and gently...