Out of round tires?

Anyone run into this problem? New repro Firestone front tires, probably only 400 mi. on them. I had a feeling that the left front was out of balance and when we put it on the balance machine, you could see that it was obviously out of round. No one around here shaves them. Any thoughts, or should I just dump them and replace?
Tom

 

Take 'em back to where you got them!

 

I don't know who sold you the tires, but with 400 miles on them, I'd pay them a visit for a replacement.

Coker replaced one of my Silvertowns after 18 months and they even paid for two way shipping.

 

I would , but they were on the car when I got it and I have no idea where they came from.
Tom

 

Start with a local Firestone store. They should be able to get you the name & number of the local rep. They should want to make you happy.

Bob

 

All the other threads on here mentioned taking them in to have them shaved for about $5-12 each.

 

I would do that, but I don't know of anyone around here that shaves tires.
Tom

 

You live in Wisconsin. Land of dirt tracks. There are plenty of places that do it.

 

Try a truck tire service. Have you goggled it for your area?

 

Truck repair shops that do front end alignments, they shave tires. Got to be one around you.

 

I would still rule out a bent wheel first. How much weight did it take to balance? I've also has some luck breaking down the tire and rotating it on the rim 90* and balancing it again.

Bob

 

I thought of a bent wheel and it did take quite a bit of weight, but wouldn't it be more likely to have the wheel bent to one side? I can't see any visible damage to the rim. Might try rotating the tire as you suggested.
Tom

 

Sometimes it works... go 90* and try to balance it, if that fails go another 90*, in the same direction. It could be a combination of the rim and tire and sometimes both flaws contribute to the problem. This can effectively rule out the tire.

Bob

 

Had the same problem and after Coker replaced a pair, the same problem cropped up. Sent the front wheels to Woodie's Wheel Works in Denver and they fixed the problem. I also switched to Excelsior tires on all four corners. Expensive lesson.....

 

If they were on the car, how do you know they have 400 miles on them? Get in touch with the PO and see if there's a receipt.

 

Coker Firestones are notorius for out of round. I've had three of them, different sizes, whitewall, blackwall no difference. Guys that really drive their cars a lot have switched, usually to the hated "R" word tires. I now run their classic radials and have no problems.

 

The original owner has since moved away and I've lost touch. He barely drove it and the "nibs" are still on the tires.
Tom

 

Yeah, I'd probably do that too as I've heard the same. Just can't afford the switch right now. How the hell can you produce a new tire "out of round?"
Tom

 

When I busted tires for a living, I saw it every so often. Less with radials and much less with the higher-end tires, such as Michelins and Pirelllis.

Bob

 

how old are the tires? how long does it sit in one spot?

 

As said, go to a big rig truck tire place, or alignment shop.
They will have the equipment to shave it. In addition, may be able to balance it on the car which may help in overall balancing.

 

I'm guessing that the tires are around 3 years old. It has sat over the winter, but did it last summer too. I've probably put 50 mi. on it this year. I was thinking that they might have taken a "set" too, but I would have thought they'd work out of it by now. I remember that used to be a problem back in the days before radials. It's o.k up to about 50 mph then it starts in. I'm trying to locate a truck tire service place.
Tom

 

I've had that problem on several Goodyears.

I found one place to shave tires in the Phoenix area and "we only do new tires." So those got junked. Probably shoulda looked harder.

Some others I bought new were warranted through a Discount Tire and I went with a new set of Michelins. Best move I coulda made.

The highway vibes were through!

As for "blame the wheels / bearings / rotors / shocks / bushings / spindles" / anything but the tires that are spinning very obviously out of round... I actually did replace every one of those items on the car over the years because of the availability of parts cars. Remember, none of those can make a tire have visible runout when the wheel has none!

 

I'll start from the beginning. First of all, take the car out for a drive and get the tires good and hot. Then lift each tire off the ground, one at a time. Place a block of wood, or something solid, as close as you can to the tire without touching, and spin them. What your looking for is out of roundness. If there is a bump, or high spot more than say a 1/8th, the tire needs to be trued, or shaved round. I have yet to see a Firestone bias ply that didn't need truing.

Next, if you have any kind of early wheels (I have '35 ford wires) they can't be balanced on a regular tire balancing machine. Trying to balance this type of wheel on these machines is a waste of time and cash. These wheels are what's called ''lug centric'', and won't center on the machine that uses the cone. There are some balancing machines that have lug bolt adapters, either go with that or find someone that can balance the tires on the car. On-car balance also compensates for the brake drum. This make a huge difference. Afterwards, put a dot of paint on the wheel and hub, so if you take the wheel off, it goes back on in the same place.

I had my tires trued and balanced on the car 2 years ago, and up till now they were perfect. But a few months ago, I noticed that the hopping on the right front was coming back. I took the tires off the rims, checked the rims with a dial indicator (something else you might consider doing) and they aren't bad, within like .010 to .015. I put 2 fresh new tires on, and took the car back to the tire shop to have them trued and balanced.

It's much better. The right front did hop a little when I got on the freeway and got it above 60mph, but it settled down and was fine the rest of the way home, about 50 miles. Drove the car on the freeway again earlier this week, no problems.

Another thing some guys swear by is balance beads. These are little ceramic beads that you put in the tire/tube that self balance every time you drive. I know it sounds like snake oil, but it's really supposed to work.

Hope that helps.

 

Try Dyna beads, worked on my Coaker Firestones

 

Did you leave the wheel weights on, or take them off?

 

Go to a big truck tire place around here they have the equipment to take care of that they can do them on the car

 

Problem solved! Bob, you were right. It was a bent rim. I had another rim so I mounted the tire on it. It balanced out perfectly and when I put it on, all was good. Thanks to all that replied, lots of good ideas. It's nice to be able to drive it without problems.
Tom