Dodge Caliber Tire and Wheels

dodgeman6 · August 2008

Well, I am not proud to admit that I started this subject about the Dodge Caliber with cupping tires and more. But, it seems to me that what I have been reading from time to time as the other owners of this vehicle keeps coming in to report similar problems as I have, should NOT have to even deal with this in a new car purchase in the first place. I got sick to death of the car dealer for pushing me off to the tire manufacturer more than once. It gets to the point to where you are out of a car while they try to figure out the problem over and over again, money out of your pocket no matter what happens every time you change tires or have to totally or partially pay for another alignment. It gets old. Same on Dodge for putting customers through this until a certain number of them gather together to file a legal suit against them. We have enough stress with the gas prices right now, people losing their jobs that have to have big bucks for the car payment for a new or used car, the list goes on. for a customer to have to keep pointing fingers and waiting for the tire manufacturer/dealer or car dealership who sold you the car to duke it out is a joke.
I dumped this Dodge Caliber 2006 R/T and have not regretted it or looked back.
Good luck to all who can't get rid of the thing because it has lost it's value and you will be stuck with it. Just as soon as they put new tires on mine, I turned right around and went back on the same lot before I left, and bought a used 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GT. The Car dealership was so happy that I was going to actually be out of their hair with me giving this car up for good for them to re-sell to some other poor fool. I tracked the sale of the car and it was re-sold to a person just about
40 miles from me in Traverse City, Mi. I went on line to the CarFax site and reported that this car had a problem with cupping tires and alignment problems.
When I see the Calibers going down the road, I actually want to hold up a sign as I pass them to say "toot your horn if you have experienced cupping tires." It is not funny to say the least even, but it has humor in it for me as I am now stress free from this sorta ugly car anyways. :surprise: I give those customers on this site to never give up if you have to or just walk away from the whole mess if you can like I did.

jsandpc · November 2008

I am having the exact same tire/wheel problem with my Caliber. I live in New York. I drive on good new roads and avoid the bad ones. I have had my Caliber regularly serviced (tire rotations) by my dealer. Shortly after the 2nd tire rotation, I noticed a slight road noise. After a few weeks, the noise became louder. I'll describe the noise like this...If you have ever been standing near the road when a 4 wheel drive pickup with monster mudder tires passed you, then you have heard the exact noise my Caliber has been making. People walking on the road would stare as I drove by and one group of kids covered their ears as I passed them. Even at 5 MPH, there was a noise that sounded like a flat tire.

My dealer has been accommodating so far. They stood in my corner when I contacted Chrysler regarding this issue. The dealer stated he had similar issues with other Calibers, which the Chrysler CSR also admitted. Chrysler purchased new tires for me with a slight deductible. Just for safety measure, I paid for a 4 wheel alignment as well. They checked the suspension and found it was secure and tight. But, the problem is not over. After driving home from the dealer, the noise was gone, but I could still feel an extreme vibration in the front end. It was the same vibration I had in the past, but without the road noise. I immediately took the car back to my dealer and left the keys in the night key drop with a note. I don't want to drive it until the problem is corrected, because I don't want the same thing to happen to my new tires. I still like the car, but I will not drive it until this problem is corrected.

The car is at the dealer right now. I'll post updates as things progress.

Good Luck Everyone!

dodgeman6 · November 2008

Thanks for your recent post and promise to keep all updated on your progress or not. I know I was not crazy to start a post in the first place with my Caliber issues back in 2006 on this site. Maybe, just maybe, we can save others time and most of all money with our own experiences. Nobody these days can afford the car payments, let alone, repairs or issues that won't go away.

spike61 · November 2008

I hope you have better luck finding the problem. The noise is just the tires getting chopped up because something is seriously wrong with the car.I have had trucks with 35 in. tires out of balance that wore better and did not make that much noise. My dealership is not even intrested in finding the problem. The service manager just keeps saying he dosent know and there are only a few cases of this problem.The owner of the dealership who i had to call to get action, tells me they are looking in to it. My 3rd set of tires @ 25,000 miles (on the car) tires 6,000mi. are starting to make that noise again! I don't think I will ever buy an american car again. No wonder they are in trouble!!! Maybe they should go to Germany and learn how to build a car and make them trouble free before they mass produce them. Good Luck!!

jsandpc · November 2008

Well, the Service Manager just called me and told me that I had a tire "out of round". He is ordering a new one. I remember reading a post either here or somewhere else about someone correcting the issue with new wheels and tires. I'm curious about this, but I'm not going to pass judgement until I see what happens. I am going to let things run their course. I will not take any action until they stop working with me. I have lots of documentation and have done everything they have told me to do. I like the guy at my dealership and I think he feels bad about the whole thing.

misscindy · November 2008

I ended up buying new tires and stopped dealing with the dealership. Had my first 6000 mile rotation and check and the tires are just fine. In my time that I took complaining to my dealership and directly to Chrysler I found that my dealer had sold me a car with optional tires not the factory recommened tires and the tire dealership said that those particular tire tended to cup. Will let you know how these tires hold up. But if I had the finances I would still be getting rid of this car. Good luck

spike61 · November 2008

What kind of tires did your car come with? My tires were Firestone Firehawks 215/55/18 ,they are standard on the R/T models. I can only find 3 other tires that will fit this car 2 Bridgstone, 1 Yokohama,and the Firestones that are standard equipment. Dealer said that I could not get different tires under warranty.Did you get the same tires?

jsandpc · November 2008

My dealer ordered Yokohama tires and Chrysler covered it. The tires were about $700, but I had to pay $150 deductible though. I didn't argue, because I had 26K miles on the Firehawks. He told me he did not like the Firehawks. I have the car back now. I still feel a very slight vibration at 60-70mph, but maybe I'm sensitive to it because I'm looking for a problem right now. I'm going to give it some time and see how the tires look in a few thousand miles. The dealer also replaced 1 wheel (why? I have no idea).

cmmessina · November 2008

The dealership put new michelon tires on, i have not had nay trouble since.
I also filed a lemon law against them, i did receive a settment for the inconvience
I did get my money back that I put down on the car. So far I have had the michelons on for a year now. I have them rotated and balanced every 6000 miles.
They have hardly warn at all. It took crysler 3 set of tires before they finally
came up with the michelons.
Good luck.
I will be getting rid of my caliber in about a year. I do not like the way it handles.
I will never purchase a crysler product again.

jsandpc · December 2008

Well, I just got back from the Dealer for the 7th attempt to correct my cupping/vibration issue. This time, they said that my wheels were out of balance.

*****They further stated that they contacted Chrysler Corp and no other complaints of tire cupping/vibration have been reported.

I really dont know what else to say here, so I'm going to leave it at this for now, because I'm a bit frustrated.

donpilot · December 2008

I too am having abnormal wear (cupping and inside wear) and excessive noise. Has anyone found a solution to the problem?

dodgeman6 · December 2008

Honestly, there IS a problem with the cupping/vibration with the tires. I started this chat 64 people ago that also responded. I was so frustrated like you, and the FIRST chance I had to dump that darn car back into Chrysler's face (dealership), I did. The last time the tires were balanced and aligned (and I had to split the cost with the dealership) since Chrysler and the tire co. argued that they weren't going to be the ones admitting to a problem, the dealership felt sorry for us, and shared the cost of the new tires. Once it was over, I traded the darn car in ASAP. I took a loss, but I did not care.....................I dropped down to a 2004 Grand Prix GT, and I love this car despite it being used and not my new shiny Caliber R/T.
So I say, either dump the car, or be frustrated all the time. I HATE that car so much that I can't stand it when I see on going down the road............
Good luck, and I know your frustration. The BIG THREE are losing their butts, and it shows in their workmanship and customer service with Chrysler.
I am in the process of buying a Kia Sorento that has a 10 yr/ 10k miles warranty, and if you took off the KIA emblem and stuck a GM or Ford or Chrysler emblem
on it you would not know the difference. The Japaness and the Korean cars are awesome, and the USA could learn from them. They attack KIA because it is giving them a run with customer service and that huge warranty, and now 7k to 10k rebates out the door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As you can see, I am still trying to get my NEW shiny car back instead of a used one that I had to take to get out of that piece of crap of a Caliber R/T. :mad: :mad: :mad:

lizzp · January 2009

I have a 07 Caliber RT AWD with the factory 17 alloy wheels on it and I have read all 66 posts on this thread. Last year my Caliber had about 7K miles on it. I drove the car in snow about 50 times last winter. Drove like a champ. Handled amazingly well. I could do 50 mph on snowey roads with no slippage. I did however notice the vibration noise people have been mentioning in this thread-it vibrated my steering well so bad that i could go over 40mph. The first time I noticed it I immediately pulled over and emptied all of the snow out from the wheel since I have the 5 star alloy wheels and snow was impacted in the wheel well. Once I removed all the built up snow, the vibration sound was gone and it only occured when I had a build up of snow.

Now it's winter number 2 and I have 35k miles on the car. Last winter I knocked the alignment out of wack from all of the off road snow driving and took it to the dealership to get it fixed. Once the alignment was fixed it drove like it did when I bought it-no pulling to the left, no vibrations (except when filled with snow). The road noise is still fairly loud but I know it's due to the tires.

So this year winter I have been driving in snow for about 25 days (Seattle got hit with a major snowstorm and I have spend half my time driving up to Crystal Mtn) and the handling is nothing like it was last year. It sucks so bad that I almost crashed more times that I can count due to the car not griping the road as it did before. The car slides and I got stuck in a an area that previously not have been a problem. All 4 tires are spinning. The alignment is not off but what i did notice happen a month ago is that on smooth pavement the car makes this slight thumping noise. So I assume the tires need to be rotated and take it into a Les Scwab. They told me I have a major nail stuck in the sidewall of my tire causing it to be unbalanced AND one of my other tires has a flat spot and told me I need to get all 4 tires replaced at $950.

One other thing I did notice, the tires tread are showing the presidents head on the penny. I'm shocked on how fast the tires wore out.

I love the car so I'm going to get some snow tires for it, so the questions is azcfc, what tires and wheels did you get for winter driving and have you noticed an improvement in the relation to noise and vibration?

dmak · July 2009

I sure am glad that I found this forum! We've been having more and more problems with the tires on our 2007 Caliber SE (yes I was too cheap to spring for the SXT). the Dunlop SP50 tires were ok for about the first year but have been getting more and more noisy every day and the handling is going south, too. Our tread just evaporated in the past 6 months and we need to get tires very soon. I'll have them check the rims for warp and I'll make sure not to get Dunlop tires again.

dodgeman6 · July 2009

I do believe that I started this forum about the cupping tires and road noise with my SXT back in 2006. I was so frustrated like so many of you. I did love the look of the Caliber SXT, but absolutely HATED the issues all the time with the tires needing alignments all the time, and also the cupping of the tires constantly, and the road noise drove me nuts. I broke down and SOLD the car. I now own a 2008 Nissan 3.5 SL which is kick A__ __ in quality and also in looks. Good luck with your Caliber.
I have no headaches anymore after I dumped that car. My tires were changed to Michelins that I had to pay for mostly so at that point I let the car go.

bigtsr · July 2009

How many miles/kilometers do you have on your 2007 SE?
The car is probably 3 yrs old now and "normal" average milage
would probably see the tire near the end of it's safe life if you
have followed manufactures recommended inflation and tire
rotation periods in the owners manual.
I took delivery of my SXT with Firestone Affinity tires (el cheapos)
August of 2006,I have just hit 25,000 miles/40,000 kilometers and
amazingly they still look quite good and perform reasonably well
however due to my personal habit they will be replaced this fall
with Michelin Hydroedge models.

bigtsr · July 2009

Hi how you doing?
How long did you keep the Pontiac that you got after
the Caliber?
If I recall your first post about the tire problems related to an RT AWD.

"HUGE tire issues with my Dodge Caliber AWD R/T by dodgeman6"

There were a number of RT owners who had the experience you had
and it has been/was resolved in most cases with 4 wheel alignment
and better quality tires.Then again you may have just had a "lemon".

Anyway glad to see your happy and all the best.

dodgeman6 · July 2009

I had huge issues with cupping of tires and road noise. Cailbers are well known for this sort of stuff. I liked the inside of it and the exterior look, but NOT the road noise coming from the tires. They were changed out twice and my expense too. Nobody owned up that there is an issue with the cupping and realignments all the time to keep this car??? on the road. Glad you are managing with yours.

dodgeman6 · July 2009

That was not the case with mine. It was a nice looking car......that's it.
I sold my Grand Prix to my grandson!! It is still running great today. Fell in love with the new Nissan Altima 08 just recently too. No problems with Pontiac or Nissan to date.
Anyway glad to see you are happy with your Caliber too.

divamed · September 2009

I too have been having issue with severe tire cupping. It started well over a yr ago. I own an 07'. They can not figure out what has cause the cupping, overinflation (not true as only the dealership inflates my tires), alignment but i have done nothing to put my car out of alignment.

dodgeman6 · September 2009

I see lots of Calibers driving around, but I always wonder if they will experience cupping tires with loud road noise. They are telling you the same thing they told me about inflation and alignments. Keep on them or try to dump the car without hurting yourself even more financially with the trade in. Now that I am out of mine, I like a more roomier vehicle even. We purchased a Kia Sorento Suv and WOW that is a great all around vehicle, I tell ya. Kia sure is putting out great products these days.
My Nissan Altima 3.5 is tops as well. Good luck with your Caliber, and I am sorry you are having these issues like I did.

azcfc · October 2009

Had the same problem at 14,000 miles. My service department must have received a memo from corporate not to deal with it and to tell customers to try new tires. There were only four manufacturers of this size at the time, so I went with the highest rated set (Kumho). The dealer has since folded and in talking with the former service crew, they were told it was the Low End Firestone tires that were seperating earlier than expected. I now have 56,000 miles on my Caliber and not one problem with the tires or noise since.
If you like the car, just change the tires.

dodgeman6 · October 2009

I did like the Caliber design, etc. But, dealership and tire co and Dodge Mfgr., would not work together with me to get this issue with tires/noise/cupping fixed. I went along with it until they stopped helping me since it kept happening. It was going to be a cost for me to suck up with new tires over and over..........so I ditched the car.
It was brand new at the time. You are the lucky one. The costs to fix vehicles that is the tire co. fault or the car mfgr's fault should not be placed on the customer. That is my beef. They said they would make me pay for repeated alignments, and new tires everytime the the issues came about in the future. I said..........I'M DONE...and walked away from the mess.

misscindy · October 2009

For me it was the cheap firestones that the dealer had on the car. Once I broke down and spent the money on new tires have not had a problem since, no cupping no loud noise. But I do seem to need to have my brakes done more on this car than on other cars I have had of approx same size. Good luck

77mac77 · November 2009

Hmmmmmm.
"Big Mac" here--[Germany]-- I've got 44,000 miles on MY 2008 Dodge Caliber
RT / AWD. Just had the brake-pads replaced, but no problem with MY tires--
knock on wood. However, I DO have a DIFFERENT set of tires I use from
October to April (long winters).
The only problem that I THOUGHT I had was "NOT" being able to see over
my backseats. It IS a S=A=F=E=T=Y issue as I'm tall. I've discovered you
CAN tilt those back-seats back a notch-- giving a better view. Ditto with re-
placing the back-window wiper with a bigger-- after dealer' purchase-- arm&blade.
I can NOW see through MOST of the back window, instead of about, what?,
seven-inches? MUCH better view... and bigger wipers LAST longer! I did the
same on front... I look out over the TOP of the windscreen/shield-- not the
middle. This allows a fella over 6'5" to see out the back-- even in a heavy Ba-
varian snow-- or rain, for THAT matter!
If you've followed my pearls-of-wisdom, you'll remember [see] that I put 100-
miles-a-day, at 100-MPH, usually, on cruise-control. The recommended
speed-limit IS 90-MPH, however, driving at THAT speed is usually during in-
clemment weather with fog-lights on. A heavy rain will bring the speed down
to maybe 70-MPH, depending upon the traffic. There IS traffic that COULD
make you wish you HAD depends on. Ha! Other than my horrible linguistic
skills, it's very enjoyable driving my white Caliber around the rolling European
countryside. Wish I had one of those newer ones {but they QUIT making
AWD-Calibers} that have the words "DODGE" emblazzened atop the Ram.
Often, a German will ask "Cool! What's the Make?" The Caliber is, now,
VERY popular, here. Maybe THAT is WHY the new ones-- finally-- have
"DODGE" on them. My previous car had DODGE badged on the back, and
Chrysler on both sides... about time.

:shades:

:P

dodgeman6 · November 2009

Hi Big Mac! I love your humor, and I love Germany!! We visited there last year around Oktoberfest time. My husband is full German, and I am half German.
The speed limits that you drive at in Germany is unbelievable! Wow!!! I did love the Caliber 2006 AWD look when I had the car for sure. I hope it keeps improving for those that like it. Now if I would have driven my Caliber in Germany at such fast speeds, I probably would have went deaf from the road noise, and the tires would have shredded off from the wheels.....lolol. My Caliber had severe cupping of the tires, and no alignment could correct it either. Tires were changed, but no improvement. Back then rumors were surfacing that Chrysler knew it had a problem but would not admit.
Since mine was only 6 months old with same problems over and over, and NEW, I became very leary of owning it. I am glad you are enjoying your Caliber on the speedway!!!

Dodge Caliber Tire and Wheels

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