Vibrations due to bad tires

car_hunter

Last few weeks I have been getting some vibration while driving at highway speeds (50mph and above). Showed the car to a local shop and the guy said that the rear tires were in real bad shape. Even though the treads were looking good, he said that the tire surface was uneven & bumpy. Could have been caused from bad struts or a lot of "dirt-road" driving that made the surface wear off unevenly (he said he could feel the bumps with his bare hands). He recommended changing the struts and getting a pair of new tires. I mostly do highway driving to and back from work - not sure what might cause this. (It's a 95 Galant with 75k miles). Any ideas? Thanks.

zueslewis

and camber adjustments - if your alignment is off, you'll get the "feathering" pattern that you're seeing.

I've always recommended an alignment once a year - more often if you or another driver in your family likes curbs (no accusations, just an idea). People seem to get really mad when that suggestion is made, saying "I don't hit curbs when I'm parking". Yeah, right. Who hasn't?

vidtech

i would feel if the sruts were bad enough to cause
the tires to wear,you would experience a very bouncy ride.if you didn't keep up with regular tire rotation (atleast every 7500 miles )the rear tires would develop irregular and choppy wear patterns on them.once this happens it is too late to save them.if the toe was off you would get a feathering wear pattern starting from either edge and gradually diminishing towards the center.

swschrad

there are many surfaces to a tire. if there is cupping and bumpiness in the tread, there might yet be one or two shops that have a tire lathe that could true those tires up... on the other hand, you would cry a river to see all the tread that will be shaved off, but the mileage is represents is already gone. too many customers must have had heart attacks and died, because almost nobody trues tires any more.

if the bumps are on SIDEWALLS, like giant round or oblong blisters, this is a major safety issue, your casing is delaminating. put the flashers on and creep to the nearest tire store immediately, those suckers are gonna blow out the sidewalls at any moment. that is caused by serious overheat in the sidewalls, aka overload, and bruised belts on terrain can also cause these issues.

not to be confused with the almost-universal sidewall "ridge" where the top belt ends as it wraps alongside the casing. almost every tire now ends up showing this "speed bump" on the sidewall, in a straight line from the center out to the tread. this is excess belt overlap and not a problem.

bretfraz

Well, I'd want to know exactly how many mile were on the tires, how frequent the rotates and balances were and their dates, and if the tires are equal or better than the OE tires.

Also I'll bet a paycheck the shocks and struts are totally blitzed. 75,000 miles? Those things were wasted at 40,000. Lack of maintenance and cheapo tires will cause those problems.

fleetwoodsimca

I have had similar experience. If I understand your description of your situation, you need to get a set of new tires as soon as possible. The type of damage you are describing is sometimes due to internal damage to the layers of the tire in the tread area, and sometimes in the sidewalls as well. Mine occurred due to rocky roads on Kodiak Island, Alaska. I didn't notice it until getting off a "Marine Highway" ferry in Prince Rupert, B.C. My trip from there to Smithers (on pavement) was a little disconcerting. The Canadian made Uniroyals I bought in Smithers were excellent, and cured the problem.
On rereading your post, I would guess that your problem is one of tread wear, and not one of physical damage. I'll bet you have "ruined" your back tires by failing to rotate tires in a timely fashion, and/or your alignment needs adjustment, and/or your struts are allowing "bounce." Fix the suspension, align it, and put on new tires.

jspikey

Just wanted to mention that Goodyear Wrangler AP tires are also notorious with High Speed Vibrations. I used to have them with my Honda Passport and replaced them with Continental Continentrac SUV tires and the vibrations went away. Honda Passports and Isuzu Rodeo's are known to have vibration problems at high speed but the tire problem with the Goodyear Wrangler has not been addressed. The Goodyear tires were quite but whenever I ride on rough roads it seems like it's loosing traction so it felt unsafe that is why I opt for the Continental tires. Better performance overall... Highly recommended!!!

mysteryman4u

I have had a vibration in the steering and body of my 1999 Toyota Camry LE since it was new. Toyota's fix for the problem is ( could not duplicate customers concern ) or lets try this one ( the vibration we are feeling is a normal characteristic of the vehicle ) After three sets of tires it is still there. Now the steering is loose and feels like the struts are shot. Must be owner neglect ( well at least that is the easy way out of a defect ) Oh did I mention the power steering failed at 7,000 miles only 1 day after it came out of the Toyota repair shop for a vibration in the steering. Oh and that pull to the left ( we could not duplicate that either ). Must be the driver ( NOT ) The lesson I have learned from the 2 year battle with Toyota is to never buy a Toyota product again. If anyone is thinking of buying a Toyota Camry come drive mine first ( see if this is what you want to drive for the next x years )

oldharry

On front wheel drive cars, some tires develop what is called "free rolling wear". It is cause by a combination of agressive tread, and very little weight on the rear of the car. When the wheel hits a bump, it moves upward, but it also slows down a little, because the wheel is not connected to the power train. The pattern is irregular bumps and cups all over the tire, not even lined up accross the tread. Several large flat spots running diaganally accross the tread is an alignment problem.

Rotating the tires every 5 to 10 k miles is usually enough to prevent it. Tires with "ribs" of tread running around the tire instead of blocks or lugs do not have this problem in most cases.

Harry

fleetwoodsimca

The original set of tires on our 1997 Geo Prizm could not be rotated again, as a result of letting them "wear in" too long before one particular rotation. Rough, shaky, bumpy, and vibrations, are all descriptions of what happened upon that attempted rotation. After moving each wheel to its original spot, everything was fine. We ran the tires until they were 2 or 3 32nds deeper treaded than the depth markers, and replaced them. The next set of tires worked out just fine, and they were rotated every 6K to 7K miles.

bburton1

Thanks for that post-never knew what this condition was called. Yeah on my accord, you have to rotate the tires at least every 10K or they cup like crazy. Was a little late on my last rotation and for a few K's, the tires did a wow wow wow on the front with the cups till they wore down. Got so bad on an old accord I thought I had a bearing going bad.

On occasion I hear a car going by that is absolutely screaming wow wow wow-some people never ever rotate.

car_hunter

I wasn't sure if it was the tires or struts or alignment (thats why I posted here). After reading all the comments here, I took the car to another tire shop and they told me by simply looking & feeling the tires that there is some damage to the tire belts and separation had started (the guy didn't take more than a minute to diagnose - made me doubt if he was making the right recommendation). He did not take the tires off and didn't say if it was one or more tires that had gone bad. He said I should change all four tires and get new ones. Of course, he had the new ones in stock if I wanted to change. Is he trying to just sell or is he fixing the problem?

Is there a way to check if the belt separation has started and whether I need to change just one bad tire instead of one bad and three good. It is funny that from the outside the tire and treads look good (the treads stand out and still look good).

Thanks to all of you the key point that I have realized is that I should have rotated tires more frequently. I think I had mine rotated almost 15k miles ago.

dshepherd3

Relating to rr tires cupping, you may also see this on a fwd car with irs, that has weak rear struts, this also causes tire cupping, very common issue on early 90's Toyota Corolla.

fleetwoodsimca

A tire shop technician in Smithers, B.C. showed me the evidence of separating belts. He had me observe under my truck (head on view of tires) while he hand spun each of the four wheels. I could plainly see the tread bobbing and weaving from side to side, and some lumps on the surfaces were also visible. The spinning and looking episode made it very plain why my truck was a bit "scary" handling. The new set of 4 Uniroyals I bought there solved the whole bloomin' problem.

venanzik

i have a 92 accord and within the past month or so i have been noticing a slight vibration comming from my front left wheel (think thats where) its not realy much of a vibration, sort of feels as if there is a flat spot on the wheel. you can feel it when coasting the most and feel it in the pedals the most. i rotate the tires and the tires have very good tread on them. the car tracks straight and when i let go of the wheel it is very hard to detect any woble in the wheel. any ideas what it is?

fordnightmare

Change the struts along with the tires. 75K is way too long to keep original ones. Don't forget to rotate the new tires.

My 91 w/80K had the same problem (tires with flat spots). Sounded like a truck. I only had 40K on the 80K tires. My struts were shot and the bad roads led to the tire flatness. I thougt I had a rubbing brake rotor, but it was OK.

A full alignment is part of the strut replacement, and you will have to pay for it ($60 for alignment). You'll have a smooth drive once you replace both. Expect to pay under 1K for the complete job. Tires: $90 pop and struts around $75 each (not including labor). Of course, you can find cheaper priced tires and struts). Don't forget to take advantage of the free tire rotation if you purchase at company X. Make sure it's near a mall so you can shop during the free rotation

Good luck..

poisondartfrog

The Goodyear Eagle LS tires are known as badyears on the Chrysler 300Ms w/225-45-17 tire size. From excessive weight required to balance, to the steering wheel shake at speeds under 40 mph, for some reason the tire cannot stay round.

Have 48K miles on car, 3rd set of tires, rotated every 5k and tire pressure checked every other week. Every set starts out great, then the ride quality tanks really fast... Michelin, BFG, or yes, even Bridgestone (haven't decided), here I come!

zueslewis

and is definitely not as good as normal replacement offerings by the other companies and Goodyear, too.

OEM tires are completely different in quality and design, no matter what tire manufacturer you're dealing with. Just like most bid situations, the one with the lowest bid gets the bid - where does that leave quality? (on the shelf)

fleetwoodsimca

Goodyear Eagle GA-- 225/60/16
My original set of 4 are still on my 1996 Chrysler Concorde, and going strong. Just yesterday I was "cruising" homeward at the end of a 300 mile round trip at a brisk pace, uuuuuuh, yeah, the scenery was going by very swiftly... no problems with those tires at all.
My point is, I guess, that not all OEM squatty tires on Chryslers are shoddy. Maybe that 45 profile is a problem? By the way, I am no fan of Goodyear, but I believe in giving credit where it is due.
I remain unhappy about the excessive balancing weights used to put Wranglers on my Ranger, as a free deal for my recalled Firestones. I have not had a problem with those Wranglers, but I am waiting...

car_hunter

The guy at the shop rotated the tires and showed me that one of the rear ones had irregular bumps. I had it changed with a new tire and the vibration is no longer there.

fleetwoodsimca

...belt separations. I'm glad you got that resolved. It was the same problem I had with 4 tires, which I replaced in British Columbia, as related earlier in this thread.

fordnightmare

as stated in earlier threads.

Get ready for new rears down the road...

fleetwoodsimca

...can set in, when the damping effects of the struts or shocks are reduced significantly. You end up with the rear tires "bouncing" up and down on the road, and the entire tread area may eventually show flat spots. Tire rotation every 6K miles is said to reduce that effect, but is not likely to eliminate it.

fordnightmare

bad struts. OEM struts are not made to last that long.

tccmn1

Took my Camry into local tire dealer for vibration over 50MPH. I have lifetime warranty for roadhazards and balancing on the tires I bought through them. They stated that 2 of the tires had plys coming apart and needed to be replaced. All 4 tires have 30K miles on them. Should I just replace the 2 tires and place them on the front or have all 4 replaced (at more expense)? They said that the two that were good only had 3/32 of tread wear at this point and should NOT be replaced. The 2 bad tires were pro-rated to 40% cost for me..not too bad. The tire life by mfg. is about 75K miles.

I'm a little nervous about having 2 new tires with 2 older tires...any comments?

fleetwoodsimca

I recently had a deal where two tires were in need of replacement and the other two were still okay (Uniroyals). The warranty covered the replacement of all 4 on a prorated basis. I took the offer, in order to keep relatively equal tires on all 4 corners. You might want to inquire about doing the same. It makes keeping track of the tires a little less complicated, perhaps.

bretfraz

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't legal minimum tread depth 2/32"? If so your tires at 3/32" are basically worn out. I'd replace them. You'll have to soon enough so might as well get them replaced now.

tjlean

I didn't have any vibrations but when I got a flat at the right rear, I was surprised that the inner thread was worn out. I drove it for 12,800 miles when I bought it used and was rotated only once since the second time I brought it to the dealer for rotation they said that the tires on the front still have better tread wear and shouldn't be rotated(strange that they didn't noticed any uneven wear during that time). After I bought 4 sets of tire, I had the alignment and suspensions checked but were ok. What could have cause this?

wrightt

I have a 95 suburban not 4wd and some slightly oversize tires (wider) have had tires checked and re balanced several times. I have a vibration that comes and goes mostly over 65 MPH. Some times the vibration is unbearable and some days or road conditions the vibration is hardly noticeable. I have tried shifting into different gears makes no difference. Suggestions

fleetwoodsimca

Your tires may need to be replaced.
Make certain that the wheel/wheels are running true (not bent). Hand spin tires on the truck on a lift rack and look for lumps and bumps on any tire surfaces, and look for tire running true. Does the tread rise and fall as the tire spins? That would mean out of round, very likely. Does the tire circumference move from side to side as the tire spins? Broken cords can do this. Balancing cannot fix these problems, and only new tires can do it (presuming you do not have a bad wheel or more).
By the way, I strongly recommend that you run the prescribed size of tire for this vehicle-- there are reasons for this decision. I learned this the hard way with a 1993 Explorer that I bought new and replaced tires on, due to mileage wearout, two times before selling it.

jinmo

Hello. I have a 98 CL 3.0 and have a slight vibration between 1500 and 2000 rpm when I lightly accelerate. Dealer says there is nothing wrong. Any ideas. Thanks.