wobbling sounds from new tires/wheels on 2000 Solara SLE

[Amazingly Smooth]

Here's my story... please read and respond if you know what I should do:

About 1 1/2 years ago I had Eibach springs and Tokico struts installed on my Solara. They gave a great ride, but my tires wore out since I drove it so much harder.

I wanted to replace the tires and upsize the wheels. I ended up at Discount Tire in south Austin. I bought Fittapaldi Flame wheels and Yokahama ES100's (255/45 ZR 17). Three weeks later I took it to Sears for an alignment. All is good, except there is horrible road noise. The noise is not continuous--the sound is a wobbling noise. It seems to be coming from the driver's side of the car. So I took it back to Sears and back to Discount several times each. No one can tell me if this is normal or not. I suspect it isn't normal since I can feel a vibration in tune with the noise. The last time I took it to Discount I went to a different location. Appearantly, Discount Tire didn't install the wheels properly (didn't match the tire to the wheel) since this place took all the tires off of the rims and matched them. Most of the vibration is gone, but at around 65MPH+ I can feel a slight vibration in the steering wheel (shimmey) and on the floor board. However, the wobbling sound is still there. Is this normal? I don't think so, but no one seems to know.

To diagnose if it is one wheel and tire, I took out my spare and placed in both positions on the driver's side (one at a time, of course). The wobbling sound was still there. I also asked Sears to diagnose if the bearings are going. Sears says no--car has 28k miles on it with 2k miles on the wheels and tires. There is no visible damage to the wheels or tires. Also, the car tends to pull to the left a slight amount regardless of the angle of the road. What else should I try?

Is the wobbling sound normal for these tires? For these wheels? Did I buy something bad? How can I tell short of buying new wheels and tires? I'm pretty desperate; any help you can give would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Lumberg]

a shimmy at higher speeds indicates wheels out of balance.

sine it's both in the floorboards and in the steering wheel it would indicate at least one wheel front and back.

if balancing the wheels doesn't work, you can try to find a place that has a machine that balances the wheel ON the car. This allows them to balance the entire rotating assembly (including rotor, etc).

I think you can go to Hunter.com and try to find a shop that has a Road Force balancer.

do you have the old tires/wheels? Did you try reinstalling them and seeign if the vibration went away?

[Amazingly Smooth]

I have the old wheels, but only one has the tire still. I also have the spare, so I could replace two of them. I suspect it could be a balance issue since these wheels are intended to be balanced along the center only--there is no place to add weight to the outside lip.

I did swap the lone old wheel/tire with the left front and left rear (one at a time, of course). The noise and vibration were still there. Sears said that it didn't appear that there was any damage to my suspension, but couldn't check anything in particular. Do you think it is possible that I have the air pressure too high? I set it at 35psi (32 is recommended on the car).

I will look at Hunter.com; thanks for the link. I appreciate some any helpful advice since Discount doesn't seem interested in helping me unless I can tell them something more specific.

Cheers

[Amazingly Smooth]

Can anyone tell me if wobbling sound is normal for any tire? Shouldn't a tire have constant road noise if it is riding flat? Lastly, is it possible that the wheel nuts do not hold the wheel tightly? I noticed that the original equipment wheel nuts have a collar that fits between the bolts and the wheel. The new wheels don't have that. Could the wheels be moving up and down as I drive?

Thanks

[Tubbyc]

you have a 255/45 17" tire on the Solara? that's pretty wide.. you sure there is no rubbing?

[Lumberg]

We may be having a communication problem here; wobbling describes a movement, not a sound. The sound of tire noise is more like a roar, drone, or buzz. The thing you need to worry about is the shake at high speeds.

Did any of the places you took the car to test drive it? That I think is the most important. You need to ride with the guy while either oen of you drives it and show the person exactly what you are talking about.

[Amazingly Smooth]

Fair enough... the sound is like "wa wa wa" and the period between the "wa" changes with speed. It's pitch doesn't change when steering. The "wa" never goes away. I say wobbling since it isn't continuous like a roar, drone, or buzz.

There is no sign of rubbing on the tires.

Sears did drive it and said that it wasn't normal but couldn't offer any other advice. Discount said that the sound was normal tire noise. They also said that they didn't see or feel the vibration--of course. It isn't big, but it is definitely noticeable to me.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Cheers

[Amazingly Smooth]

Sorry... 255 should be 225

[Amazingly Smooth]

Yesterday evening I took an hour long expressway drive from Austin to San Antonio. Posted speed limit is 70MPH, but everyone is doing near 80MPH. The ride just feels so rough and at certain speeds there is quite a bit of vibration. I'm convinced it is the balance. Discount would only balance the wheels in the center (static balance) because these wheels don't offer a place to put clip-on weights.

If it isn't the balance, then my next guess is that the wheels aren't properly seated on the hub. They installed hub rings to help center it and it helped cure a severe vibration but I still have a rough ride. I also notice that first thing in the morning the ride is very bumpy for a few hundred yards. It is like as if the car has settled to the bottom of the wheel and is recentering itself as I drive it. I pulled off the lug nuts and they have an angled mating face that appears to match the angle of the wheel hole. Is it possible that the wheels are off center?

My last guess is that the wheels are "out of round". It seems to me that Discount should have been able to measure that using their Hunter road-force machine. This is not as fancy as the models that work on the car itself, but it does ride the tire on a drum. Everytime he ran it at my last trip to Discount it said not to do a static balance--he did it anyway. He said that it was the only way it could be balanced. I think he is full of it.

I hope I can get this resolved, but I offer this story for others. Buyer beware when getting new wheels and tires. Keep your old wheels and tires so if there is a problem you can experiment. It is so hard to diagnose when no one will help you; so you may have to do the work yourself.

Cheers

[Lumberg]

You need to find a shop that specializes in aftermarket wheels and suspension and stuff. This is dangerous. Cars are not supposed to vibrate at 70,80, or even 100MPH.

[Amazingly Smooth]

Final follow-up:

I was so disappointed with how Discount had handled this that I had just given up entirely. But Wednesday I emailed Discount Tire through their website's contact info. I received an email response that same day from a real person! He had contacted the original store and arranged for me to come in for another round. I agreed and dropped the car off at lunch-time today. By 6PM it was done. They had replaced one wheels since it was slightly out-of-round and then replaced all four tires--at no charge! The switched me to some Goodyears out of the Yokohamas. The tread pattern isn't nearly as aggressive, but I don't care. The ride is 100x better--no vibrations and no rough ride. All I can say is FINALLY!

I'm so glad I persisted, and I know now that Discount Tire is a good place to go.

Cheers

[cam2Xrunner]

I'm glad they finally fixed it. Oh and they can do a dynamic balancing, which is where you put wieghts on the inner and close to the outer edge. All they have to do is mount the sticky weights behind or inline with the spokes of the rim and on the inner edge. But if it is smooth now, wait til they eventually go out of balance and have them do a "dynamic" balance.