Knocking sound on driver side wheel fixed, problem was crazy

[astatcamry956]

so A couple weeks ago i posted a thread saying that everytime i would let go of the accelerator i would hear a knocking sound, well today i decided to change my brakes could they would screech and make loud noises, so when i was gonna loosen the lugs 2 were missing, one was completely torn off had to buy another screw thngy, and to top it off all the rest (3) were not even tight.

now i feel alot safer and better knowing that i finally fixed this, CRAZY STUFF.!
imagine if my wheel woulda came off while on the highway er something O_o

[fenixus]

geeez, man, glad you touched it before your wheel fell off and passed your car on highway

I would keep an eye on all wheels and periodically check the torque with a 1/2'' torque wrench and 1/2'' deep wall impact socket (21mm if yours are same as mine).

any weirdness again and go ahead and prep for replacing all old studs and even maybe lug nuts. loose wheels are dangerous!

[JohnGD]

Definitely get a 1/2" drive torque wrench (Harbor Freight has them on sale often) and a deep impact socket from the rack nearby. I think it's $2.99 for regular chrome vanadium deep sockets and $3.99 each for impact sockets. This July 4th weekend is great for picking up some tools, but Black Friday usually has better deals.

My guess is some shop used an air impact gun to tighten the lug nuts. I always use Costco because they hand torque the lugs. (And their Michelin prices are decent too).l

[pmesfun]

Harbor Freight had the 1/2" torque wrench on sale for $12.99 and $11.99 for 3/8" and 1/4" IIRC.


John, what makes Michelin tires so expensive? We got new tires on the 07 today and the Michelins were close to $1k so instead I decided to go with Yokohoma YK520 for $850 before the $100 rebate. This was at Discount Tire btw.

[SilverSoarer]

Michelin is the only co. that inspects each tire at the factory-- so better quality control, they also have stiffer sidewalls, and tend to last longer, less chance of flats due to tire compound used.

On fleet vehicles you'll only see Michelin.

[JohnGD]

I'm a Michelin man, so there's that bias. IMO their tire technology is superior. Some say Michelins are overpriced, others say they can handle better, and some even say they suck. I think they work fine and wear smoothly and evenly to the end. There are many satisfied drivers of Yokohamas too. The YK series is made for chain stores. I could go for Yokohamas, but I wouldn't touch Bridgestones with a 20' pole.

Just for comparison, P215/55R17 93V OEM Michelin for the 07 Avalon Touring is $194.99 + $14 installation each at Costco. That's $765 with the $70 rebate they're running now. Plus tax of course. But smaller 16" Camry tires are $143 (Pilot Exalto A/S) to $164 (Energy MXV4 S8). The "S8" is a cheaper OEM version however with less performance and owners don't care for it from surveys on Tirerack. The 60K mile tread wear warranty "Primacy MXV4" would be a better choice for the Avalon IMO.

[pmesfun]

Originally Posted by JohnGD

I'm a Michelin man, so there's that bias. IMO their tire technology is superior. Some say Michelins are overpriced, others say they can handle better, and some even say they suck. I think they work fine and wear smoothly and evenly to the end. There are many satisfied drivers of Yokohamas too. The YK series is made for chain stores. I could go for Yokohamas, but I wouldn't touch Bridgestones with a 20' pole.

Just for comparison, P215/55R17 93V OEM Michelin for the 07 Avalon Touring is $194.99 + $14 installation each at Costco. That's $765 with the $70 rebate they're running now. Plus tax of course. But smaller 16" Camry tires are $143 (Pilot Exalto A/S) to $164 (Energy MXV4 S8). The "S8" is a cheaper OEM version however with less performance and owners don't care for it from surveys on Tirerack. The 60K mile tread wear warranty "Primacy MXV4" would be a better choice for the Avalon IMO.

I knew that Costco would be cheaper, but they didn't have Primacys for my Dad's car, the Energys were actually pretty noisy and the sidewall was real thin, smaller width than the actual wheel width=lovely curb rash from my mom. So far the new tires seem really quiet, we're going to San Antonio and Houston tomorrow so I'll see how good they really are. We have the Avid TRZ on the Quest and they're wearing well, vans are known to eat tires.

I may try Michelin tires on my car next, since they are much cheaper, ex. Michelin Destiny @ $112.00 a tire. That would have been $391 total, $70 off and $100 rebate.

[astatcamry956]

i actually have a impact wrench but that time i dont remember if i used it or not. but either way i bought 2 new studs since 1 was completely chomped off dont know how that happened and another one was all....idk the word, it was all messed up the lugs wernt able to screw on. so my car was on 3 for a while. HA

[fenixus]

I might be one of those non-Michelin guys
not that I hate the brand or something, but it's just not for my wallet for starters hehe. plus I have friends using some of thsoe tires and they complain about terrible tire loudness on road (because it's made of hard rubber 700+ thread wear usually).

I like 16'' tires below or around $100 each (with installation and balancing LOL), for 15'' I want to pay even less
would never pay ~$800-1000 for a set of tires, no matter what they are made of.

my 2 nice tire examples which I am quite proud of (money and quality wise) are those purchases from tirerack:

a) Dunlop SP Sport Signature 205/65/R15 94V (~460 AA A)
no more than $80/tire + s/h and local installation.

b) Yokohama AVID Envigor 205/60/R16 92V (560 A A)
around $80-90/tire + s/h and local installation.

I have a local shop doing $10 installation & balancing (on HUnter GSP9700) per any "normal size" tire purchased on tirerack and shipped to them.

So far I really like both of those choices and am happy with them. Surprisingly that Dunlop tire model is excellent and comparable with Yokohama I have on other car

Originally Posted by JohnGD

I'm a Michelin man, so there's that bias. IMO their tire technology is superior. Some say Michelins are overpriced, others say they can handle better, and some even say they suck. I think they work fine and wear smoothly and evenly to the end. There are many satisfied drivers of Yokohamas too. The YK series is made for chain stores. I could go for Yokohamas, but I wouldn't touch Bridgestones with a 20' pole.

Just for comparison, P215/55R17 93V OEM Michelin for the 07 Avalon Touring is $194.99 + $14 installation each at Costco. That's $765 with the $70 rebate they're running now. Plus tax of course. But smaller 16" Camry tires are $143 (Pilot Exalto A/S) to $164 (Energy MXV4 S8). The "S8" is a cheaper OEM version however with less performance and owners don't care for it from surveys on Tirerack. The 60K mile tread wear warranty "Primacy MXV4" would be a better choice for the Avalon IMO.

[pmesfun]

Every tire for my dad's car is expensive. The cheapest tire starts at $114.
I found a tire with a full 5 star review. Dunlop SP Sport Signature. I have 2 regular Signature tires on my car, but they are defective or just crap.

[Silent Runner]

I have a new set of 215-50 17' Michelin MXV4 Pilots mounted on my OZ's.
They were really expensive, but I had managed to find a Kijiji pair with 1/2 a season on them for $180. That was less than the best, per-tire cost for the two brand new ones. They are noisier, ride rougher and don't run as smooth at speed as the set of Gooyear RSA's I had to give up on, because they were one size to wide (225's) and rubbed on the rear fenders. I guess time will tell whether they last. Handling? I really don't notice much better transient responce from them, than I had on my old Nexus (Wal-Mart) brand 215-60 15's, and I'm taking time to explore their cornering adhesion and characteristics. (don't want to curb smack the OZ's) I'm not blown away at all by Michelins so far, their OK but thats all.

-I retorque the wheels lugs every time a shop touches them.

[RichieRichJP]

Yeah, I had a similar near catastrophe experience about 2yrs back.
I took my car in to get aligned and a day later, I felt a wobble and thought that maybe the alignment made a imbalanced tire more prominent.
Come to find out 3 days later I asked my GF to follow me as I drive and found out my wheel was wobbling all over the place (wanting to come off). I found out I lost 2 lugs and the other 3 were halfway from coming off.
I went back to the garage and they claimed no responsibility for it (was fine before I got an alignment).
Once you get any weird signs of anything, you got to check it right away!

[fenixus]

I would really consider getting the Dunlop SP Sport Signature (V speed rated) model the next time comes. those tires seem cheap, but actually I have a feeling they handle better than my more expensive Yokohamas!

That Dunlop line seems to be actually the only line they did right. I am not the only one around here liking them a lot
At least one other TN Member had very good experience with those tires

Originally Posted by pmesfun

Every tire for my dad's car is expensive. The cheapest tire starts at $114.
I found a tire with a full 5 star review. Dunlop SP Sport Signature. I have 2 regular Signature tires on my car, but they are defective or just crap.

[touringcamry]

Check out Discount Tire Direct also when you are shopping for tires. When I was shopping for tires, I found that Tirerack had a lower advertised price per tire, but once shipping was added in, their price was higher than Discount Tire.

[fenixus]

^ makes sense.

however the real advantage of Tirerack is shipping straight to a shop and having a list of recommended installer shops locally that do the job at discounted price (as advertised on tirerack Installers program details)... normally they charge double or triple of those rates if you come in with own tires purchased elsewhere.