Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My steering wheel has been vibrating. It is not an extreme case but it is still driving me crazy. Everyone told me it is a tire balance issue. I got my tires balanced yesterday and it did nothing. The tire store owner told me he thinks it's because I have cheap tires made in China and he quoted me a set of new tires. I have a strong suspicion new tires would not end this vibration. What else could it be?
Yes, it certainly could be the tires.
Never ever purchase tires Made in China.
So now you are stuck with China tires.
The proper way to balance tires is a load pressure balancing machine. Not all shops have this more modern balancing machine.
The next step is to have your suspension checked. Tie rods, ball joints, etc. All could cause a vibration.
Whenever you purchase new tires you should also get a vehicle alignment. Around $60.00 if you shop around. And it is 4 wheel alignment not 2 wheel alignment. Alignment shops will not perform an alignment if there are some suspension issues and they will quickly point those out to you.
If this is an older car you could have a brake caliper sticking.
Why didn't you go back to shop that sold you the tires?
I didn't even know my tires were made in China. They didn't seem especially cheap to me. I bought them a couple years ago at a Pep Boys in another state and can't go back.
I have a 2006 Hyundai Elantra with 72,000 miles. The tire shop put my car through an alignment test machine and I don't need an alignment. He was quite certain new, quality tires would end the vibrating. After reading the responses, I am starting to think he could be right. Maybe I'll get them.
He was quite certain new, quality tires would end the vibrating. After reading the responses, I am starting to think he could be right. Maybe I'll get them.
He may well be correct, but before you shell out the money for decent-quality tires to replace the Chinese crap that you currently have, it behooves you to have those tires balanced with Road Force balancing equipment. This is a more technically-advanced type of wheel balancing, and it can frequently eliminate imbalance problems that were not corrected by "conventional" wheel balancing.
If you use this link, you can locate garages near you that use the altogether superior Hunter GSP 9700 balancing equipment: http://www.hunter.com/gsp9700
sometimes, though not as often these days, new tires need to be "trued", meaning to make them properly round when mounted on the wheel. what they do to true a tire is to put it on a huge lathe, and while the tire is being spun while fully inflated, they cut the high spots off the tread.
I had a vibration at freeway speeds. Today I had it checked out. The tie rod on the driver's side was worn out. So I had them put in a new one. It seems fine now vibration has stopped.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
