Before I make a replacement claim on a tire...

A/T tires aren't normally supposed to give you that washing machine wooga-wooga vibration through the steering wheel and cab at 60-65, right?

I recently installed a set of new A/Ts on my new truck, and with it came a persistent highway vibration. Got it back from the dealer today (again) and they say everything is balanced according to the road force, and confirmed my wheels are not bent.

I went out there and counted wheel weights:
Driver's Front
3.75oz outside, 1.25oz inside
5oz Total
Passenger's Front
1oz outside, 1oz inside
2oz total
Driver's Rear
2.5oz outside, 0.75oz inside
3.25oz total
Passenger's Rear
6.75oz outside, 4.25oz inside
11oz total

I'm thinking that passenger rear tire needs to be claimed for replacement. That's an awful damn lot of weight. I mean hell, that one tire is taking more weight than the other 3 combined! I think maybe the tire is just out of spec... I looked for the telltale signs of trouble too, like balancing weights directly across from other balancing weights.

I understand A/Ts are a different sort of beast from normal light truck and passenger's tires, but it seems like this isn't normal.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

What brand of tires ? Try taking it to another shop and have them re-mount and balance them ?

 

We already did that song and dance- road force balancer, popping the bead, turning, re-mounting and everything. No dice.

I just don't know if A/T tires are supposed to vibrate like that.

 

No there should be no vibrations unless somethings wrong, my Cooper ST MAXX ride with no problems as does the wife's AT/3's on her vehicle... I'd prob take the tires back and get a different set, what brand are they ?

 

I have never had the AT vibe you describe and I have ran AT tires for many years. My newish KO2's ride like highway tires, they are amazing.

 

I was reluctant to mention the tire brand because I didn't want people to think I was shit-talking... I love these tires otherwise!

They're Falken Wildpeak A/T3W's in 265/70R16. Mounted up on some SCS F5's, that I also love.

The wheel and tire combo is great, just need to get 'em to balance out!

So then, am I possibly mistaken in thinking that only the rear passenger's side is the culprit? None of the other tires really took all that much weight, all things considered. It's roughly a 60-ish lb combined wheel&tire weight.

My first job ever was a tire monkey at a shop, so I've balanced thousands of tires and never had one take 11oz... Of course this was before the days of this newfangled road force balancing stuff.

 

can you see if the tread is separating somewhere? tires usually dont vibrate unless they are aggressive tread. There might be bearings or something else going on that makes you think its the tires but in actuality its something else. How are your ujoints and bearings?

 

Less than 2,000 miles on them. Truck is brand new. 2016 bought in May of this year.

This problem only cropped up when I added the new tires and wheels. No jiggle from the OE wheels and tires.

 

have you tried swapping that suspected bad tire to the front and see if theres a difference in vibration?

 

FALKEN you say

LOL

Sumitomo tire.....


yes get it replaced you got boned or those aftermarket wheels are shit

 

On a tire that small they should be nearly as smooth and vibration free as the originals! Thats a lot of weight, even for balancing 35's. I'd fight it for sure, sounds like a defective tire.

 

Make your claim sooner than later. I agree you have a at least one bad tire.

Falken is not inherently a bad brand, but I don't know about their 'truck' type tires. I do know that in the SoloII performance area they dominated events for years. I never heard anyone having difficulty with a claim on a flawed tire from Falken. You should be fine.

 

I already got in contact with the place I bought them from, got a guys name and extension # and he has a note in my file about it. Seemed pretty no-nonsense about getting me a replacement. He just asked me to give it another shot at isolating the issue before we moved forward with a claim, which is what I did. I've been told the wheels are true, so at this point it looks like it is the tire(s?). I just wanted to make sure I wasn't barking up the wrong tree and that's just what any A/T tire is supposed to do. I'll start with that one that took 11oz and go from there.

I don't think the one that took 5oz to balance out is unreasonable, though I might switch it to the rear axle. Correct me if I'm wrong, of course.

I've had great experiences with Falken before this which is what drove my decision to buy their tires again. Their Azenis 615 summer tires are seriously kick-ass.

 

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you can (tire and balance dude can)

a) paint the tire and wheel where the weights are

b) remove tire, spin back on rim, rebalance

does the weight follow the tire or the rim ?

 

I just got off the phone moments ago, I made the claim and they're sending me 1 new tire- to replace the 11oz one.

The original place (Toyota dealer) that installed them did use a road force balancer, which does tell you how much to rotate the tire on the wheel if it detects that you can do so. I don't think they swapped tires from wheel to wheel, though.

I'm gonna see if I can find a place (dealer, independent shop, whatever) that seems like they have their head on straight and have a road force balancer. I'll try to get slotted in this week and we'll try the new tire and potentially do some musical chairs with tires and wheels.

 

Bumpin'. Turns out the Falken tire wasn't the cause, it was the wheel that was taking 11oz...

This, of course, after I specifically asked those lazy dingleberrys at the Toyota dealership to swap a wheel and tire to 100% verify. Oh, how they insisted they absolutely, positively knew it wasn't my wheel.

Well anyways, got a warrantied replacement wheel too, this one took something like 5oz. Much better...

I still get a vibration though!

Everything is showing up balanced properly, alignment is fresh, and the truck has under 2500 miles so it sure as shit isn't worn components. I'm starting to doubt my sanity here, because it seems like it almost could be the road surface causing it. These tires do have a much stiffer sidewall, and the 65 MPH shimmy is now intermittent enough that I can hold it at 65 dead on and be smooth as glass, then a few miles down the road it's wiggling again.