Perhaps I have finally resolved my vibration issue

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Some of you may have seen some of my posts over the past few weeks discussing front-end suspension components, tires, vibrations, etc. I have been trying to get rid of a higher speed steering wheel vibration in my 2009 Honda Accord. Around 55+, the wheel would vibrate bad.

I originally had a set of Dunlop Signature IIs on the car... I suspected these to be the culprit. I had these tires re-balanced, no luck. I went to Firestone and had installed a set of new Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter. I returned the Dunlops to Walmart for the full price. Initially the Firestones seemed smooth, however, as time went on they developed a bad shake/vibration.

I went and had a different Firestone location re-balance them in case the first balancer was off, again no luck. I went through my front end with a fine tooth comb and found my tie-rods to be a touch worn. I changed them and had the car aligned. A small difference was noticed but again, the vibration came back. Last Thursday I went to NAPA and bought two brand-new axles. I replaced them even though the axles in the car were only months old. Ironically, the axles in the car were already starting to go bad -- no more cheap axles for me.

While having the upper ball-joint off of the spindle, I inspected everything in the front end of that car. There are no issues whatsoever. At this point it is impossible to have an issue with that car's front end. With that said, I figured it had to be something with the tires. I went back to Firestone and took advantage of their 30 day guarantee and explained all of my past diagnosis and part replacements to the guy. Without an issue, they ordered me in new tires and agreed to take these Fuel Fighters back.

Yesterday, I had put on a fine set, in 215/60/16, Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus. So far these tires ride GOOD. No shakes, no vibrations, smooth at high(errrr) speeds. Lets hope no issues arise. I am sick of trying to pinpoint this issue. Perhaps money is well spent on good tires. If all is well, this will make me a Bridgestone fan. I love Blizzaks, have a cheap set of Fuzion Touring (Bridgestone made tire) on the Civic and have always thought positively of Bridgestone.

How many bad (of reputable brands, new, and modern) tires come out there these days? Two sets of Duds, geez.

Here's a summary
-Had Dunlop Signature IIs put on, vibrated
-Had Dunlops re-balance
-Returned Dunlops
-Had Firestone Champion Fuel Fighters installed, vibrated after a couple of days
-Had Firestones re-balanced, no change
-Changed tie-rods and alignment, no change
-Changed axles, no change
-Returned Firestones and had Bridgestones put on, all set
 
well firestone I always considered more of a discount brand versus Bridgestone which was the premium brand.

so i think you can say that paying or choosing the premium brand (and to some degree the premium higher rated tire) will have a better chance of not having issues.
 
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we've got two sets of the serenities in the family. One set has probably 25,000 on them and the other is pretty new. They have been, by all accounts, excellent tires so far. The set with 25k perform just as well as the newer set, and the treadwear so far is minimal. I hope yours serve you well.
 
Used to see this a lot on Suzuki Samurai and Chev Trackers. They had big heavy tire on a light weight vehicle. Often Id move a shaker to the rear axle ( which was a solid 4 link like a mini GM B body). Back then the problem childerm were Uniroyal tiger paws. Nice tires when it wasn't a wobbly one. A Decade or two ago it seemed YOKOHAMA wre pretty reliable to balance well. They road like rocks though.

If you saw how tires are made, its a wonder they work at all.
Search around for some youtube videos ..
 
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I am not surprised. Those videos are cool.

I always make a habit of taking the wheels off after new tires and cleaning the old tape weight glue with brake clean. Proud to say these Bridgestone's didn't take much weight. Nowhere near as much as the firestones.

So now I am really only a fan of Bridgestone's or Michelins.
 
I had some tire issues with Firestones on the 99 Accord. The rear tires were cupped along with possibly some of the belts breaking. I don't trust tire store alignments since it didn't solve an issue with the car. But an alignment at the dealer did since they work on the same cars everyday for the most part and know what issues develop on certain models.
 
I had the same issue on my 2012 Nissan Frontier with Cooper tires. In addition I had road noise that sounded like a bearing going out in either the Transfer Case, Wheel Hub, or U-joint.

I replaced them with Kelly Edge AT tires and they are as smooth as silk and no road noise whatsoever.
 
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
I had the same issue on my 2012 Nissan Frontier with Cooper tires. In addition I had road noise that sounded like a bearing going out in either the Transfer Case, Wheel Hub, or U-joint.

I replaced them with Kelly Edge AT tires and they are as smooth as silk and no road noise whatsoever.


What Cooper model and speed rating were they?
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
I had the same issue on my 2012 Nissan Frontier with Cooper tires. In addition I had road noise that sounded like a bearing going out in either the Transfer Case, Wheel Hub, or U-joint.

I replaced them with Kelly Edge AT tires and they are as smooth as silk and no road noise whatsoever.


What Cooper model and speed rating were they?


Since I don't have them anymore, and didn't write the specs down, I can't tell you.

It was a Cooper AT M+S tire with the same tread design as the Kelly Edge AT's.
 
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Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Since I don't have them anymore, and didn't write the specs down, I can't tell you.

It was a Cooper AT M+S tire with the same tread design as the Kelly Edge AT's.


Looks like you had them a while.

Originally Posted By: MolaKule
I have over 45,000 miles on my Cooper's on my Frontier.

Driving through ice, snow, mud and hunting fields and they show no cracking whatsoever.

Now, I have Michelin's on the wife's 08 Trailbalzer with less than 40,000 miles and show severe weather cracking. The Michelin's will be replaced this spring with Goodyear's.
 
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Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
I had the same issue on my 2012 Nissan Frontier with Cooper tires. In addition I had road noise that sounded like a bearing going out in either the Transfer Case, Wheel Hub, or U-joint.

I replaced them with Kelly Edge AT tires and they are as smooth as silk and no road noise whatsoever.


What Cooper model and speed rating were they?


Since I don't have them anymore, and didn't write the specs down, I can't tell you.

It was a Cooper AT M+S tire with the same tread design as the Kelly Edge AT's.


The Cooper AT tires were on there for approx. 35000 miles.

I called the tire company and they still had them on the old tire pile.

The speed rating was 116T.

The new Kelley's are 112T.


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Looks like you had them a while.


Quote:
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
I have over 45,000 miles on my Cooper's on my Frontier.

Driving through ice, snow, mud and hunting fields and they show no cracking whatsoever.

Now, I have Michelin's on the wife's 08 Trailbalzer with less than 40,000 miles and show severe weather cracking. The Michelin's will be replaced this spring with Goodyear's.


That was the total mileage on the Frontier at the time and I should have clarified. I have 53,000 miles on the vehicle at this time.

The Coopers were installed by the original owner at 15,000 miles. So a bit over 35,000 miles were on the Cooper tires at time of replacement.
 
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I have had ACCORDS & other Honda's that have had the same vibration issues and neither the dealer, indy shops nor myself could ever find the cause. Why me?

So I stopped buying Honda's.
 
For all that headache and Time....next time find a shop that trues and balances on The vehicle.


I grew up in a fix all front end shop, may be old school methods but cutting a tire round is the only way to perfect a tire, its costs,money to be anal a about the ride!
 
I have an '08 Acura TL which is similar to your Accord. I notice you have been working with the rear control arms and alignment. I had major vibration problems with the purchase of a set of new tires and the installation of a rear alignment kit. I chased tire balance problems for months until I realized that the rear tires were wearing at an alarming rate. Replacing with a better alignment kit, and a rear alignment at a better shop, solved the vibration issue.

You might also think about whether the bushings in the rear links are worn. This, of course, was the reason I needed the alignment kit in the first place, and ironically, also a reason I needed it replaced, as it had soft bushings of its own.
 
Firestones usually have a Roadforce balancer but whether they know how to use it is a different matter.
 
"...Last Thursday I went to NAPA and bought two brand-new axles. I replaced them even though the axles in the car were only months old. Ironically, the axles in the car were already starting to go bad -- no more cheap axles for me. "

Can you give more description of what you noticed about the axles that you described as already starting to go bad? I may want to be watching for it.
 
Originally Posted By: Cressida
"...Last Thursday I went to NAPA and bought two brand-new axles. I replaced them even though the axles in the car were only months old. Ironically, the axles in the car were already starting to go bad -- no more cheap axles for me. "

Can you give more description of what you noticed about the axles that you described as already starting to go bad? I may want to be watching for it.


With the axles out of the car, when turning the axles and articulating the joints slightly (nothing too severe) the axles seemed as if they were binding.
 
Vibration is back.

Trying to do more diagnosis, I took off two wheels from the front and put two of my steel wheels with snow tires on. The vibration still seems to occur, but it might not be as pronounced. It is tough to tell as the snow tires ride so different.

My additional test tonight is going to be putting the rear (alloys + Bridgestones) on the front and the snows on the rear (or the other alloys). I'm really lost as to what could be going on now. I have a couple of hunches.

--Perhaps bent rims or out of round rims?
I am skeptical to this just because more than one Firestone employee assured me that they'd catch a bent rim and that they'd checked for them.

--Bad front struts
Perhaps the strut isn't doing its job as well as it should and the road vibrations are resonating and not keeping the wheel flat on the road?

--Bad front caliper
Will have to check with an infrared thermometer and measure brake temps. Maybe one is sticking?

I am considering getting a road-force balance, but I've probably had three different sets of tires balanced 6-7 times. I'd figure it'd be right at one point.
 
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Maybe it's just your freeways around you. I know with some cars I drive I can feel a little vibration in certain parts of town but other parts are smooth as glass, only with those cars though. Like that exact wheelbase and suspension on that particular car gets the vibrations with bad asphalt conditions. I'm on a road trip in Washington right now and have felt it a little off and on in a brand new Avalon, rest of the trip was fine except for one section outside of Phoenix that I've never driven this car on before.

But a bad wheel is possible. Have you done wheel bearings?
 
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