Cool, you found someone who remembered he had eyes and hands. When the tires are out of shape, no amount of balancing will fix them. You should check with their maker about a road hazard warranty. Lots of tires have that so you might be able to get a deal on new ones. Wear rated likely, but every little helps....
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Many tires will have a white or other color painted dot inked on them, line it with the valve stem and they will usually require less or no weight to balance...don't ask me why, I don't think they balance them when they make them, but then I've never seen a tire factory either...
Could it be the ball joints, tie rod ends, or even the power steering rack? A friend of mine experienced oscillations that worsened with speed because his power steering system was leaking internally.
"jeffcoslacker" wrote
Not sure where I got this, but it's in my "Tires" folder........
Observe match-mounting procedures.
Proper tire and wheel assembly balancing is important from a vehicle safety standpoint. In high-speed driving, improperly balanced tire/wheel assemblies will cause a vehicle to lose stability and not operate in a safe and comfortable manner. Improperly balanced tire/wheel assemblies also cause abnormal tread wear patterns.
To facilitate proper balancing, most tire manufacturers now place red and yellow marks on the sidewalls of its tires to enable the best possible match mounting of the tire/wheel assembly. There are two methods of match-mounting tires to wheel assemblies using these red or yellow marks:
Uniformity (red mark) Weight (yellow mark)
- Uniformity Method (Red Dot) -
When performing uniformity match-mounting, the red mark on the tire, indicating the point of maximum radial force variation, should be aligned with the wheel assembly's point of minimum radial run-out, which is generally indicated by a colored dot or a notch somewhere on the wheel assembly (consult manufacturer for details).
Radial force variation is the fluctuation in the force that appears in the rotating axis of a tire when a specific load is applied and the tire rotated at a specific speed. It is necessary to minimize radial force variation to ensure trouble-free installation and operation.
Not all wheel assemblies indicate the point of minimum radial run-out, rendering uniformity match mounting sometimes impossible. If the point of minimum radial run-out is not indicated on a wheel assembly, the weight method of match mounting should be used instead.
- Weight Method (Yellow Dot) -
When performing weight match-mounting, the yellow mark on the tire, indicating the point of lightest weight, should be aligned with the valve stem on the wheel assembly, which represents the heaviest weight point of the wheel assembly. After match mounting by either of the above methods, the tire/wheel assembly can be balanced.
Hello. It has no leaks and all parts looked as they should. I went to another place that had Force Balancing and the gentleman was kind enough to tell me my tires look a bit egg shaped before he put them on the machine, so I didn't have to spend a dime. So I think that confims it for me, my tires, though they look like 30% used, are bad. So I'm going to wait because each tire on that 17 Inch rim cost around 100. I'd rather get a new set of 15 inch rims and less expensive tires, then replace the tires for some rims I don't like at all. Thank you all for your comments. Saved me from more work.
Do you have a good local junkyard that might sell you a set of takeoff wheels and maybe even tires for cheap?
nate
I'm new to the city, so I'm not sure what I have around me. I will look. But I would like to update that, me being as stubborn as I am, I took the car back for another try at balancing, and the Tech at this shop balanced the wheels again and gave me some advice. He indicated that my rims were Lug Centric, and they were probably not centering correctly.
So I went to a Wheel And Rim shop and bough the apropiate Hub Centric Rings and then installed them. The shimmy was reduced by a ton. I mean, it's a difference of night and day. Now, it's not entirely gone, but, now it's bearable. In fact, the oscilations happen a lot less and disappear very quickly. I took the car out for a few test drives and I would hit 80 without feeling it. Then it would start, but be a lot less and disappear quickly. It can still happen above 60, but I think I can stand that for a while.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.