Bad Tire Experience

[odobkins]

The car became unfixed after I had the time to take it out on the highway and try to drive it at a sustained speed of 70+ which is the normal speed limit in my area. It behaved the same as before the tires were switched. As for the alignment people, they thought they were doing an alignment, not looking for a bent hub or something else. It's my understanding you align a car to the hubs. If one were slightly bent, it would skew the alignment off plus the car would act about like it is now. They have the car back now and are taking another look. I'm just searching for some answers.

 

[Zenmervolt]

The car became unfixed after I had the time to take it out on the highway and try to drive it at a sustained speed of 70+ which is the normal speed limit in my area. It behaved the same as before the tires were switched. As for the alignment people, they thought they were doing an alignment, not looking for a bent hub or something else. It's my understanding you align a car to the hubs. If one were slightly bent, it would skew the alignment off plus the car would act about like it is now. They have the car back now and are taking another look. I'm just searching for some answers.

No, you do not align to the hub. The position of the hub itself is what is adjusted during the alignment. The wheel rides directly on the hub. If the hub is bent, then it won't be possible to bring the wheel back into alignment specs. Also, a bent hub would cause vibration and would also be detected during balancing.

As I said before, when doing an alignment with proper tools and proper care, you don't need to be looking for anything because the things that cause problems would result in an inability to bring the car into alignment specs.

We gave you answers, you just didn't like them. What you seem to really be searching for is a way to blame this on the original tire shop rather than a legitimate and impartial answer.

 

[AMCRambler]

Could the car be dog tracking? What I mean is, the car is not going down the road straight. The rear wheels should be directly behind the front wheels when viewed from behind. A dog tracking car will have the ass end pushing out to the left or the right You would really have to hit something to cause this to happen I would think though. Have you hit a curb or anything with the car lately? Does anyone else drive the car that could have hit something and didn't tell you about it?

 

[hanoverphist]

zenmervolt is right. I never knew it was so but this popped up on the forums a while back, new tires really do need to brake in because they can still have some sheen on them and what not.

while thats true, its more like 15 miles instead of 500. unless youre driving on glass.

 

[jtvang125]

I've been through several sets of hankook tires in my lifetime and all have performed as expected at their price point. Never had a problem with any of them. What I'm guessing is you went to a shady tire shop that sold you a shoddy set of tires. When you went back they had the nerve to substitute one tire of a different brand. Even a walmart tech will be able to tell the tread differences between the brands.

 

[Zargon]

The tires have been replaced, the car has had a complete alignment but when you hit a driving speed of 70+, the rear of the car still feels like it's moving back & forth. Even though it is a front wheel drive, it now handles like a rear wheel drive with a bent housing or ring gear & pinion that needs to be replaced. THe car was fine prior to the installation of the first set of tires. This particular tire store does all of their installations outside(this is Kansas) and they use a four-corner lift to raise the car. I'm concerned they didn't have the car on the lift correctly and something has been bent or damaged. I'm taking the car back to my local GM dealership today with the hope they can figure out what's wrong with it.
Any ideas?

try and make them rebalance the tires maybe

poorly balanced tires wouldnt be noticeable till high speeds

check the pressures again as well. they could still be high and not prevent a problem until they get hot(and the air inside expands more) like they would at high speeds

 

[Zargon]

while thats true, its more like 15 miles instead of 500. unless youre driving on glass.

yeah. it doesnt take much.


and I have used some hankooks for racing with zero issues so I doubt it was the tires, they arent knock off chinese tires or retreads

 

[Zenmervolt]

while thats true, its more like 15 miles instead of 500. unless youre driving on glass.

It's definitely more than 15 miles, though I'll grant that 500 is on the far distant end of conservative. I general, I want at least 500 miles on a set of tires before I take a car onto the track, but I suppose that for most people tires are feeling "normal" after 50-100 miles.

 

[Budmantom]

Way back when I mixed radials and bias ply tires...... that made for a very interesting ride on the highway.

 

[Throckmorton]

Here is a tire recommendation for you: Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS. I just got a set put on my Miata and they handle extremely well, great grip, and good treadwear rating.

 

[LTC8K6]

I had a problem with some new Goodyear Assurance Triple Treads on my old Taurus. The car just didn't feel right after they were installled, and it shook a bit at 65mph. Took the car back and they assured me everything was fine.

Drove the car again, same feeling. Not quite right, and a bit shakey at speed.

Took it back and told them it still wasn't right. Told them that I drive the car all the time, with quite a bit of time on I-40 above 70mph, and I know how the car drives, and it is absolutely not driving like it did before. They finally discovered a problem with one of the machines they used on my car. They gave me the car back a little later, and it was perfect.

I just had to be persistent.

 

[spidey07]

Here is a tire recommendation for you: Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS. I just got a set put on my Miata and they handle extremely well, great grip, and good treadwear rating.

Wait until you get some snow then you'll change your mind. But they have good wet and dry performance.

 

[lurk3r]

try and make them rebalance the tires maybe

poorly balanced tires wouldnt be noticeable till high speeds

check the pressures again as well. they could still be high and not prevent a problem until they get hot(and the air inside expands more) like they would at high speeds

I think we have the winner here, tires were probably fine, just not balanced properly. I saw this issue on a subi I test drove once, car was fine under 50, once I hit the highway it was completely unpredictable, a couple bits of lead and the car was fine again.

 

[SooperDave]

If you think the hub or something along those lines is bent have a mechanic
check the total runout with a dial indicator at each wheel. I don't think this is
your problem.

Have someone from your dealership or tire shop ride with you so they can experience
the problem and help diagnose it. I don't think you are actually fishtailing but that
is the closest term you know to describe it.

Your problem started when you changed tires. Have you considered going back to the tire type you had before or as close as you can get to it?

Lastly, and I almost don't want to mention this because of the shitstorm that may come but, have you checked the tire pressures? If the originals were at door jam (or less)
they would have given a softer, slushier (is that a word?) feel. If the new ones are
at higher pressure they may feel twitchy to you.

Good luck with this. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Throckmorton]

Wait until you get some snow then you'll change your mind. But they have good wet and dry performance.

No snow here. I don't know where the OP lives though

 

[odobkins]

Took the car to another large tire and alignment shop. They said the alignment was way off so they did a front & rear alignment and rebalanced all of the tires. It still didn't help. They had no other suggetions or answers as to what happened to cause this when the car was fine before the first set of tires was installed. Long story short - I traded the car in for a brand new Chevrolet HHR tonight. I'll probably never know what happend but at least I have something safe to drive.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

took the car to another large tire and alignment shop. They said the alignment was way off so they did a front & rear alignment and rebalanced all of the tires. It still didn't help. They had no other suggetions or answers as to what happened to cause this when the car was fine before the first set of tires was installed. Long story short - i traded the car in for a brand new chevrolet hhr tonight. I'll probably never know what happend but at least i have something safe to drive.

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

[SparkyJJO]

dunlop is crap, if you can get a good price on the goodyears, go for them.

O rly? What do you have against them?

My dad gets good service and life (60K+ miles) out of a set of Dunlop SP60s and I do pretty well with them too on my car. Obviously not as good at 30k miles as when they were new but still not bad at all.

 

[fleabag]

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

:thumbsup:

 

[SooperDave]

Took the car to another large tire and alignment shop. They said the alignment was way off so they did a front & rear alignment and rebalanced all of the tires. It still didn't help. They had no other suggetions or answers as to what happened to cause this when the car was fine before the first set of tires was installed. Long story short - I traded the car in for a brand new Chevrolet HHR tonight. I'll probably never know what happend but at least I have something safe to drive.

Wow! Talk about throwing out the baby with the bath water Enjoy your new ride :thumbsup: