Wheel Balance Questions

[bluenoise]

I got four new tires on my car at Costco several months ago and all has been great. On Monday morning, car was good. Monday evening, after my wife had run some errands with it, it had a strong shake at freeway speeds. I couldn't tell which corner was causing the shake, so on Tuesday morning, I had the local Les Schwab balance all four wheels.. When the tech was done, he told me the left front wanted 8 oz. and that that tire was defective. He recommended taking it back to Costco to have them replace that tire under warranty. He said he got it all balanced, but the problem will keep coming back until I get that tire replaced. I asked why has it been problem-free for months and then suddenly bad? My assumption was that the wheel tossed some weights, maybe from hitting a pothole just right. He didn't have an explanation other than to say it will just keep going bad and that balancing it is a temporary fix.

I left the shop with my freshly-balanced car and got on the freeway. It was no better. It shakes pretty violently around 65 MPH. At this point, do I go back to Les Schwab and tell them to fix it? Get my money back and go elsewhere? Is there any validity to the claim that the tire is defective and that it can't be permanently balanced?

Such a PITA. 

[Bar-Ang]

i stayed at holiday inn so my suggestion is that credible. how about you put the front tires to the rear and the rear to the front, then test drive it to see if the shake is still the same?

[Scotty]

Is the vibration through the steering wheel?

If you are the speed when it is vibrating, if you give it some steering input like to change lanes, does the vibration go away?

Worn control arm bushings can cause vibrations at a certain speed.

[SandiegoPoopButt619]

I have heard this story before...

My car was fine

My wife drove my car

Something is screwed up now

She said nothing happened... sure.... nothing happened.

[Spike Spiegel]

Did Les Schwab use a Road Force machine?  8 oz. is a good amount of weight. 

[bluenoise]

Is the vibration through the steering wheel?

If you are the speed when it is vibrating, if you give it some steering input like to change lanes, does the vibration go away?

Worn control arm bushings can cause vibrations at a certain speed.

The vibration shakes the whole car, but not any additional shake is noticeable in the steering wheel. That's why I didn't think it was a front wheel as I've had that cause a steering wheel shimmy before. Turning or changing lanes doesn't affect it. I'd be surprised if any bushings were suddenly worn as the car has less than 60k miles.

[bluenoise]

Did Les Schwab use a Road Force machine?  8 oz. is a good amount of weight.

No, their Road Force machine was out-of-order, so they used the old-skool spinner.

LS said they'll refund my money since it didn't fix the problem. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning with America's Tire as they have a RF machine. If they get the same results, I'll be more convinced of the defective tire theory.

[Scotty]

Can you feel which wheel is vibrating?
You can have them do a rotation to see if the vibration follows the wheel to eliminate a suspension issues.

[TheGood]

Just take it straight back to Costco.  But to me it sounds like your wife hit a curb and bent one of the rims.

[bluenoise]

Unfortunately, I'm not a Costco member, so I'd need to go with someone who is.

There are no marks on the tires or rims, so my guess is she hit a pothole and tossed a weight. Lord knows there are more potholes than smooth asphalt around here.

[high_revs]

may not help but a possibility.... i had something similar but always between 40-50. even rotated the tires and while ok, it comes back. tires weren't defective. i asked americas tire to check if wheels are straight or have issues even if no curb rash or anything on the rim edges or tires.

i had to change one cv axle. both changed, and all went better. not saying you have one.. but a last resort check for.

p.s. i thought it was the michelins because it happened not long after i got the new TA something something versions for all weather. didn't have any issues on previous tires

[D-M]

Unfortunately, I'm not a Costco member, so I'd need to go with someone who is.

There are no marks on the tires or rims, so my guess is she hit a pothole and tossed a weight. Lord knows there are more potholes than smooth asphalt around here.

Where are you located? If you're not too far I'll walk you in.

[eaglemike]

As said above, 8 oz is a BUNCH of weight.
I'm in SD, would be willing to help, but I'm not sure if it would have to be the original person that purchased to get warranty support.

[L84Cabo]

I have heard this story before...

My car was fine

My wife drove my car

Something is screwed up now

She said nothing happened... sure.... nothing happened.

This would be the absolute first thing I checked. 

Also, either buy a membership or don't buy tires at CostCo.  It's silly to need to go with a member (ie bug your friends) whenever you need the tires serviced.  What the hell is the point of that?  Just go to Discount Tire or similar.  It's worth a little more to not have to deal with this nonsense when you need to use the warranty, etc.   

[TheGood]

Also note that you can purchase road hazard warranty on tires that were not sold by America's tire.  Of course you would probably need to buy it before there is a problem, but it wouldn't hurt to ask if you bought road hazard for the set, if there was something wrong with that tire that requires replacement if they would cover it.

[bluenoise]

I got it all sorted out now. America's Tire balanced them for free and found that the foam lining in the LF tire had detached and was the cause of the imbalance. The tech removed it completely and was able to get the tire balanced with very little weight.

I was today years old when I learned some tires have a foam lining for noise, apparently meant for electric vehicles.

I stopped back by Les Schwab to tell them what fixed it and got my ~$70 refunded.

[bluenoise]

Unfortunately, I'm not a Costco member, so I'd need to go with someone who is.

There are no marks on the tires or rims, so my guess is she hit a pothole and tossed a weight. Lord knows there are more potholes than smooth asphalt around here.

Where are you located? If you're not too far I'll walk you in.

Thank you. I appreciate the offer!

[eaglemike]

I got it all sorted out now. America's Tire balanced them for free and found that the foam lining in the LF tire had detached and was the cause of the imbalance. The tech removed it completely and was able to get the tire balanced with very little weight.

I was today years old when I learned some tires have a foam lining for noise, apparently meant for electric vehicles.

I stopped back by Les Schwab to tell them what fixed it and got my ~$70 refunded.

Great news!
Thanks for the follow up!