warped rim vs. out of round tire

[rh71]

Apparently I have both... a warped rim on the left rear, and an out of round tire on the right rear. I've been having vibrations in the seats at 60mph+ only, as soon as these wheels/tires were mounted (not a bent rim from damage). I had taken it to a Hunter road-force balance place and this is where they showed me both issues. They said the machine only spins up to 20mph and that's where they zero'd out the balance at, but the vibration is still there at 60mph+... perfect at anything under even before the balance.

My question is what would cause the vibration more? The warped rim where I can see it spinning out of shape on the balancer or an out of round tire that has a hop on it? The tech said the hop can be compensated for by the balancing, but the warped rim is the primary problem. Do you agree on both points? I am going at this one step at a time to see if it gets rid of the problem with the least additional cost. I would claim a warranty on the tire and get it replaced free but they don't make it anymore in that size, so I'd have to upgrade all 4 if that were the case.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Wow, that sucks. How did you bash the rim?

 

[bruceb]

First, you can thank those fine NYC potholes for the damage. Second, if the tire is out of round, replace it. Third, any good tire shop can balance the tire / rim off the car and the machines will take it up to about 40MPH or so. On the car balancing is another story and is usually done to compensate for minor bent suspension or other issues.

 

[rh71]

I didn't damage the rims at all, the vibe existed as soon as I got on the highway after having them mounted by the place I bought the tires from (rims came shipped and I brought it to them). I had them spin it before mounting and they said they were fine, so I figure it's just a balance issue. A week later I brought it back to them, they rebalanced, and same thing. Not wanting to have them work the rim even further in case of forced damage, I brought it to another place a year later (a tad busy with 2 newborns, and I only put 6k mi. in a year and don't drive that much, especially highways) to road force it and they also did not indicate out of round. I finally pushed the issue as I've been driving highway more and brought it to the dealer since road force guys said they were "balanced perfectly" and to check for mechanical defects with the vehicle... dealer spun the wheels on a lift and the pulsing was evident on the left rear. Brought it back to the same road-force place today where they (we) saw the results and determined the culprits, on both rears, per my request. Lots of fail as far as thoroughness goes here. They don't give a sh!t unless you're in their face. Who's face I'm going to get in is the next question... rim guy or tire guy.

 

[DivideBYZero]

I'd resolve the wheel issue before the tyre. You're never going to be happy until that is fixed.