Wheel Wobble, Anyone?

[TheZProjekt]

A few weeks after having the winter tires installed by a local mechanic, I noticed a wheel wobble very heavily going beyond 120. It's fine at lower speeds and braking etc. Is this just a normal result of winter tires or am I supposed to spend money getting it balanced and aligned?

[Kiyomi]

make sure the rims are torqued down properly to specs.

[SonicBoy]

You should have gone back to where ever you had the winters installed.

Do you have aftermarket wheels for the summer or possibly the winters that use centering rings? Chances are good that one of those rings are still there and the winter wheel was installed on it not sitting flat thus causing the wobble.

Take it back, get it checked out.

[Pereira11]

most likely the tires are not balanced. Get that done and as mentioned check the lug nuts.

[thirdgen3]

I have a slight vibration too, around 120. I've had them rebalanced twice. Still does it. Not all the time though, seems to randomly start and I can see my passenger seat slightly vibrating...any idea what it'd be if I've rebalanced twice? Never did it with my summers.

[Cab0oze]

Sure you don't have ice/snow stuck to the inside of the rim? That's the culprit 98% of the time.

[Aitch]

Sure you don't have ice/snow stuck to the inside of the rim? That's the culprit 98% of the time.

+1. If not that, perhaps the rims don't have appropriate hub rings installed.

[dambay]

Sure you don't have ice/snow stuck to the inside of the rim? That's the culprit 98% of the time.

This has happened to me a few times this winter, especially after damn snow plows half bury my car in its parking spot. Its possible you threw a balancing weight, in which case you can just grab some from crappy tire and replace, but its likely just snow/ice. You'd be surprise how small of an amount is needed to significantly throw off your balance

[Aitch]

This has happened to me a few times this winter, especially after damn snow plows half bury my car in its parking spot. Its possible you threw a balancing weight, in which case you can just grab some from crappy tire and replace, but its likely just snow/ice. You'd be surprise how small of an amount is needed to significantly throw off your balance

Unless you know what the weight was, just throwing another one on isn't likely to cure anything.

[Pokaroo Kris]

Sure you don't have ice/snow stuck to the inside of the rim? That's the culprit 98% of the time.

+1 I notice that every time it snows heavy. It's just the snow. After a few mins of driving it melts away.

Hoping that just the case for you

[TheZProjekt]

It couldn't of been snow or ice in my car because the day I noticed, it was dry and pretty warm out, about 9 degrees and I was just cruising past Square One on the 403. They are steelies with bridgestone blizzak from Costco, I think. I'll definitely get it checked then ask what the deal is

[dambay]

Unless you know what the weight was, just throwing another one on isn't likely to cure anything.

True. I was under the impression that they are all 2.5g weights, and you would likely be able to see where the one had fallen off, but those are just assumptions.

[midnightfxgt]

If they are from Costco, it would be that they are hubcentric steelies. This means the center bore is large. This is good for Costco, as it fits a lot more cars, but is bad for you because if not centered perfectly, you can get vibrations.

If the wheels are hubcentric it could be the balance is off. Not all balance weights are the same weight, and position matters, so they will need to be re-balanced.

If the wheels are older - its possible one has a bend.

-John

[tdott]

Were they new or used when you bought them?

If new, you should have taken it back right away, maybe they forgot to balance them or they screwed something up. Definately not normal for winter tires.

I remember one lady trying to tell me vibrations were normal because the car she was selling had 'sport' wheels.

[B1gDaVe25]

If there is any snow inside of your rims it will dramatically throw the rim off balance and cause the vibration. If there isn't any snow than one of the counter balance weights may have fallen off

[DarkKilla]

Happened to me as well this winter. Usually never get vibration, but the day after the big storm we had recently my car was vibrating between 100 and 120. It was so much, I thought for a second something was wrong, but then realized it must be snow or ice.