Franko T

So I had some OE size PSS installed at Discount Tire. They have now been balanced 2x times on brand new HRE wheels and I get a vibration in the steering wheel 50+

Has anyone else experienced such a thing?

I called Discount Tire and spoke to the manager, and now they are ordering me another set of tires.

SUCH A PAIN IN THE ***

HRE_Jurrian

What balancing machine are they using? Is it a Hunter Road Force Machine or otherwise?

Franko T

Jurrian, they said they had their best guy on it last time balancing and they do have a Road Force Balancer. Could be hot air, I don't know. Manager was really nice and wants to make things good, just super annoying. I can't see it being the HRE wheels.

The Fat Kid

Did he say the "have" or "used" a Hunter Road Force Balancer; tire chains are notorious for having, but not using them

I am guessing they did not use the HRFB, because you would have been told the specs on each corner.

Find a good German indie shop, or P-car dealer, and expect to pay ~$100 for a legitimate tech to use a HRFB. You will know if the wheels and/or tires are out of round, and by how much.

CSK 911 C4S

Just my experience.

I had to change my go to Discount Tire location late last year since they could not balance anything I took them. Very frustrating.

Now nice and smooth.

Good Luck..... I hate vibrations.

NoGaBiker

For 20 years or so I've used a great high-end local chain (Butler Tire) that balances them on the car; MPSS on OEM centerlocks have been smooth as silk for about 8 months now.

Of course, unless your corner of North America is Atlanta, that info doesn't help you but a) MPSS generally balance quite easily in my past experience on Porsches with OEM wheels, and b) somebody else might reference this thread who does live in ATL.

stephen k

It is the tire balancing machine. I had America's Tire replace a full set of tires on my cayenne and my fathers cayenne with new michelin diamaris tires and their balancing machine could not have my set balanced even after the third time. I went to a hunter road force balancing center and the wheels were still 0.50 grams off. Rims have become larger so it requires a more sensitive machine to completely zero out the wheel.

Wheel Dynamics

Best balance will be with the Hunter Road-force and the proper adapter plate which ensures that the balance is the most precision possible.

NoGaBiker

Here's what I was talking about:

http://www.butlertire.com/services/H...heel_Balancing

The first time I went to Butler it was because the Porsche dealer wasn't able to get rid of a 75mph vibration that was minor but driving me crazy. Butler used this machine and got rid of it completely.

LexVan

Cool picture. Nice wheels.

It's possible the tires are out of spec/round, but that's a very rare occurance. Did they do run-out on the bare wheels?

Go to Tire Racks web site, and use their site to locate quality tire installers in your area. They will have the proper equipment and experience to get the job done right.

STG

Franko, try your mechanic in Tijuana?

The cheap oil change guy?

OKB

the rfb machine tells you why its not balancing. it solves the problem.
obviously ignorant tire dealer
first you will balance the wheel and see whats wrong with it. see if its good or bad. Then put the tire on and see if its good or bad
I would call hre and see if they built these wheels in factory, or if they are one piece, if they pre check them. My guess is its bad wheels, new hi quality tires are hardly ever bad

JEllis

My guess is they didn't use the Hunter machine with road force. Or did it incorrectly. As others of have said, if there is an issue, the machine will usually ID the problem.

MJBird993

I have some Continentals on my BMW that shake the car a bit at certain speeds. The balance is fine. The wheels are fine. The problem is the tires.

Two shops, both with the Hunter Force Balance machine, have tried their best, but it ended up being a bad tire. Continental, to their credit, replaced it. I still have two bad tires, but they're "within spec". In fact, the replacement was still off, but within tolerances.

One of the shops said that they see this a lot with Michelins more than any other brand. Which sucks, because I really like Michelins.

worf928

And then not doing what the RFB tells them to. The RFB may tell them to rotate the tire 90 or 180 degrees on the wheel (or even flip the tire on the wheel if the tire's not directional or asymmetric) but that means dismounting and re-mounting the wheel.

That takes time. Time is money. If you're paying only a few bucks per wheel your tires are not going to get moved around the wheel even if the RFB says so.

Unless you watch.