Thread: VIBRATION IN STEERING WHEEL AND SEATS

Has anyone had a problem with what feels like a wheel/tire imbalance?
This occurs between 40 & 50 mph (most noticeable).Â*Â*My Azera is new, only 41 miles when I noticed the problem.Â*Â*It has the Michelin MXV4 S8 tires on 17" rims.

Please let me know if you have had this problem and the corrective action.

Thanks

westex39

The first thing to check would be the air pressure in the tires. Autos are typically shipped with tires pumped up well above normal use, to reduce the possibility of an out-of-round delivery 'cause the car might sit somewhere for weeks or months. Reduce pressure to around 35 psi or a pound or so less. Then it's entirely possible that one or more wheels/tires does need to be balanced, let the dealer know...

Originally Posted by westex39

Has anyone had a problem with what feels like a wheel/tire imbalance?
This occurs between 40 & 50 mph (most noticeable). My Azera is new, only 41 miles when I noticed the problem. It has the Michelin MXV4 S8 tires on 17" rims.

Westex39,

I am having a similar problem with my 2008 Azera Ltd between 40 and 45 mph and again at 60 mph. I brought it back to the dealer twice and I still have the problem. The first time they rebalanced the rear tires and reduced the air pressure to 32 psi in all of the tires. The problem continued. I brought it back a second time and they rebalanced all of the tires. It reduced the vibration, but it is still noticeable. I'll let you know how I make out with my third trip back to the dealer.

Let us know how you make out with your issue.

With balancing being unsuccessful, you both probably have slightly out-of-round tires. A round and balanced tire is a JOY to experience. Ask me, I've not had all that many.

When I picked up my car, there was a slight vibration I could feel in the steering wheel. Luckly, it turned out to be 1/4 oz out-of-balance only. It's like riding on a magic carpet, and I'm running 38 psi in the front and 36 psi in the rear tires. Holds the road through curves like it's on rails.

Good luck with getting the problem taken care of (even if you have to get new tires to do it).

I raised my tire pressure to 40 psi. I drove it long enough to get the flat spots off the tires. It was smooth as silk. From what I have read it may be the tires. These tires are "V" speed rated. It seems that the extra nylon belts used to achieve this speed rating are taking a set while setting overnight. This especially noticeable during the cold days. When they finally become round, they roll that way. I have the Discount Tire lifetime balance. I plan to take them in and have the balance checked and a road force done on them too.
I will take them off my self and let them set overnight so they will not have the flat spots. I'll post later to let you know what I found out.

If your tires have nylon belts, then flat spots were most likely your problem. Nylon's the strongest material for tire cord, but it's always been a problem with flat spots. Polyester doesn't have that problem.

Jacking the pressure up close to the sidewall max will "force" a flat spot out much quicker than a lower pressure would. Glad you found your problem. Try some high speed curves and tell us how the handling is.

I had my tires road force balanced at Discount Tire today.Â*Â*These tires were awful.Â*Â*One tire had a 69 lb reading on road force. Shouldn't be more than 18 lbs.
All four tires had flat spots.Â*Â*These were not because of overnight setting.Â*Â*I had driven it about 10 miles prior to taking it to Discount Tire.Â*Â*I watched them do the procedure.Â*Â*
To make a long story short Michelin is going to replace all four tires.Â*Â*Hope the next ones are round.
BTW, these were factory tires that were made in Japan.Â*Â*Probably spec's by Hyundai to hit a cheap price point.Â*Â*I didn't know that Michelin had a plant in Japan.
Michelin should be ashamed to put their name on these tires.Â*Â*I've owned many Michelins over the years.Â*Â*All of them were great tires.

Originally Posted by westex39

I had my tires road force balanced at Discount Tire today. These tires were awful. One tire had a 69 lb reading on road force. Shouldn't be more than 18 lbs. All four tires had flat spots.

Whatta frappin mess. Could it be that you bought a car that was the recipient of "bad" tires off other cars the dealer had sold previously? I know I bought a used car once that had all new tires, and I didn't notice until later that they were four different brands and/or models within a brand. Funny thing is, I never had a problem with that mix-master set of tires.

WHAT IS "road force balanced?" If these tires came on the car, hows come you weren't badgering the dealer to make it right?

The tires were all the same. They had the same date of manufacture, same DOT numbers. There's no problem about getting the tires replaced. The dealer has been very cooperative. The tires are not warranted by the car manufacture, they are warranted by the tire manufacture. In this case Michelin.
At this time Discount Tire is handling the replacement. They are the main Michelin dealer here.
The road force balance is technology that checks the rotating force of the tire against the road. The Hunter GSP9700 tire balancer is capable of doing this.
Go to the Hunter website. It will explain it much better than I can.
I will update after the tires have been replaced.

Regards,

Westex

Originally Posted by westex39

One tire had a 69 lb reading on road force. Shouldn't be more than 18 lbs.

BTW, these were factory tires that were made in Japan.Â*Â*
Probably spec's by Hyundai to hit a cheap price point.Â*Â*I didn't know that Michelin had a plant in Japan.
Michelin should be ashamed to put their name on these tires.Â*Â*I've owned many Michelins over the years.Â*Â*
All of them were great tires.

"Road force"Â*Â*limits are [/i] pounds for "P" metric tires, not 18 as you've stated.
See: http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/technical/limits.cfm

I didn't know that Michelin made tires in Japan either.
However, I too learned something new today! My car does have tires that were made in Japan.

My tires have "EDJJ" on the sidewalls.
Therefore: MICHELIN --> OKAMOTO TIRE CORPORATION --> BUNKYO --> KU --> TOKYO --> JAPAN

See: http://www.tireaccidents.com/tire_plant_codes.htmÂ*Â*

With your one tire that had a road force reading of 69 pounds, did the
tech try the proper proceedures to correct that very high reading?

The fix is no better than the tech doing the work.
I have never heard of any road force readings being that high.

Many people have reported vibration problems with our cars.
One fellow in Indiana found that with his tires set at only 30 psi or less and left outside in colder
weather, he had this same problem. His dealer tried everything including changing wheels,
installing new tires and several rebalancings. Nothing helped.

On my suggestion, he went up to 38 psi and his problem simply disappeared.

These Michelins will take a "set" when the factory recommended pressures are followed, especially when
the weather turns colder as found in the colder climates and especially if the car is left outside.

This is not a problem here in Southern California and my car is also garaged.

Try raising your pressures up to 37 or 38 psi and see if that doesn't fix the problem.