So I’ve been dicking around with this for a while.
I took it to Dunn tire, told them it gets vibration at random speeds, at random times… I can’t replicate it… Although 90% of the time when I start my drive in the morning, it will feel like I’m driving on a tire that’s shaped like a D. That will last for about 1/4-1/2 mile down the street then all will be good.
They checked it out, said all tires are balanced fine.
So I said ook thanks for that.
A few hundred miles later, it turns in to a terrible terrible shake, ALL the time. I drive like this for about 30 miles, progressively getting worse… Jack it up, realize 4 lugs came loose. I’ve NEVER had that happen before, my fault I guess. So I look at everything on the front end, I realize the boot on a tie rod end (driver outer) is cracked and garbage… So I call up Dunn and they replace it the same day… They also do a full front end check + alignment.
Still the same problem of random vibration at random times of varying intensity.
Sometimes pretty bad… Lately around 50-60 It will be a very rapid fine vibrating. I don’t know how to describe it exactly. It’s not very shaky, but it’s very high speed. It will do it for a min or two, then go away.
The tires are LOUD as all fuckme, and are slightly cupped. I even asked the guy at Dunn tire, and he said they weren’t cupped that bad.
When I had my Nokian Hakkas on for the winter, there was no vibration of any kind. What should I do here? Rotating is the only thing I haven’t done yet.
Outside shot but when my front upper control arms went bad they gave similar symptoms. It was intermittant so I knew it wasn’t a bad balance. Thought tires were shaking but it was actually the suspension. Had to grab the tire like checking for wheel bearings and look way up in there. Bearings a possibility too now that I mention it. Rotation is the first good check though.
Wouldn’t this have been checked during Dunn Tires “complete front end check”? After that visit I kind of ruled out any components that could’ve been causing the problem.
I took a look at the tires when I got home… I looked at the drivers front, checking for bulging… Noticed a little bit of cupping when I ran my hand over it.
I checked the drivers rear, and holy smokes… It felt so… weird, you can even see the cupping. I’ll go take a picture of it after I’m done eating my salad.
The car also “skips” over bumps on turns. Like on an offramp, when I hit a bump the rear end will seem to slide out a little bit… But when I had my winters on it, that problem was nonexistent.
I just figured it’s because they’re crappy tires.
Could this be my problem?
With the alignment and tie rod replaced, will the cupping “wear down”? Or should I buy new tires?
There’s only maybe 1/16" left until the wear indicator/bar.
Tires look pretty bald. What brand of tires are they? I’ve seen certain brands of tires ride like that even if they balance out perfectly. Also, what kind of car are we talking about here? Is the shake in the steering wheel or the car itself?
The alignment was way off on front and rear before they aligned it. He said he checked it before he replaced the tie rod. I got a printout of the spec sheet somewhere…
There’s still a bit left on them, at least until the snow comes around Nov… Probably another 5k for me.
They’re Wanli S-1091s, Chinese tires from the guy at the flea market that looks like Popeye. My dad bought them for me years ago as a Christmas present when I was in school and working Part time… Bailed me out of a bind big time, so I have no complaints about them 225/50/16, '04 Grand am.
Long story short here… These used to be on my '99 GA GT, but a lovely old man totaled that car and I bought a new one using all the parts from the 99 as a spare. So I bought an '04 GA GT, ran the rubbers it had down to nothing then put these back on… I was unsure if the cupping happened on my old car, or this car. My Snow tires (Hakkas) didn’t show any cupping after about 4-5k. They actually didn’t even wear down 1/32" I was very surprised. The 9/32 wear indicator is still there on all tires. I doubt that was enough time to cup however.
Shake is in the steering wheel and in the feet… I even gave a buddy a ride to/from work for a few weeks and he made comments about it. Usually complained about the noise though. Since we have to talk rather loud just to hear each other.
The vibration is VERY bad in the cold… I put them on in March or so… We still got a few 30-40 degree days, and until I drove for about 10-15 minutes they were bumpy as alllllll hell… Then they were still bumpy, but not as bad. As the temp outside warmed up, it got much less noticeable. Or I got more used to it.
Thanks guys, I checked it visually and nothing obvious is wrong. No fluid or anything around that I can see. I did the bounce test, it’s pretty stiff. Once I did get a bounce going, it would stop dead on the following bounce. I tried all corners several times.
I just noticed on the alignment I got at dunn (7/14), it says Grand Am 2004-05 with 15" Wheel. Does that go by rim size or something? Because I have 225/50/16 tires, so I don’t know if that would throw off the alignment.
Would this old alignment have been part of the issue? Am I better off taking it somewhere and having them figure it out?
Intermittent vibration isn’t tires. My guess is the Dunn tech just sucked. Need to get the front end up and have someone competent go through it looking for loose or worn parts. I’d start by taking a real good look at the wheel bearings and inner/outer tie rods, as well as the steering stabilizer if it has one.
So uh… Maybe I’ll just take it somewhere and have them look at it?
Recommendations?
Could it just be because the tires of low quality rubber? After all they are Chinese, they are Blems, and try googling Wanli S-1091 and see what you get… Not many reviews, but the ones that do say the tire blows nuts. I’ve read that cheap tires are more susceptible to cupping than high quality tires.
Is that alignment not acceptable? Should I go in the store and start throwing things until I get a refund?
I do remember reading about the coils nitro, but IIRC it was only on 99s. I’ll check though, I think it was just the front springs under the recall.
