Wheel - Tire problems - looking for advice

[alphadog]

So i took my car to the dealer for an oil change and tire rotate and balance.....

They asked why i wanted the balance and i told the guy i felt a slight vibration sometimes it could be the pavement, but I have 13K miles and i like to rebalance every now and then.

I wait for my car and get it back an hour later - 1/4 mile away at 40mph and the steering wheel is shimmying back and forth at least an inch each way and gets worse as i get up to 50mph. I take the car back and tell them to take a look at it - it didn't come in that way.

An hour later, they want me take a ride as they re-rotated. Now at 50-60mph it still has a bad shimmy - they put the tires back the way they are. Anyway, they put in a loaner and tell me they will call me later - maybe a belt separation in a tire.

They call me in the evening and say that it is the tire, but different warranty with michelin, so they will see what they can do. Day 2- they call and tell me a tire is on order and they will get Mazda to cover it - car will be ready tomorrow.

Day 3 - i get call in the afternoon - sorry, you have a bent rim - we should not have missed that. Hold tight we will see what we can do.

So my questions to the forum -

1. If the tire had a bad belt - would it have balanced and later shimmied all over?
2. if the rim was bent - would it have balanced and later shimmied?
3. could a competent tire guy miss this at all? either case

It is pretty obvious that the dealer did something - i have the 2010 GT with the AL rims - but how could they have screwed up so bad OR how could they miss this. The car drove FINE when it came in.

Ideas? Suggestions?

[BSUBigMac]

If there was a slipped belt the machine that balances the tire would have indicated a serious number of balance. After they added weights it most likely would still be off. It is damn near impossible to balance a tire with a slipped belt and a professional would have caught that.

Same with the bent rim, while removing old weights or adding new ones someone should have caught it.

A competent person shouldn't miss either problem, but a lot of tire technicians aren't usually certified mechanics. I used to work in a garage in high school and I was only trained by another employee in the garage. If the person missed it, he either was an idiot, lazy and didn't care, or blind and dumb. I guess he could have been having the worst day in his life and wasn't focused, but its still pretty obvious to find either problem with the right equipment.

Hope this helps!

[fateexceeds]

I just had new tires put on Friday by my mechanic (who is very competent and also an enthusiast and autox'er), and I had to take the car back in to have the tires rebalanced due to vibrations at highway speeds. For what it's worth, he told me that balancing is fairly difficult with these wheels due to the stick-on weights they have to use (as opposed to the old clip-on weights on other wheels).

I suggest you go back to the dealer and politely insist that they rebalance it properly, or you will take your business elsewhere. If they can't get it right, take it to someone who will.

[hwdp pl]

If you have a bent rim then you need to get that fixed, they will not cover it.

[alphadog]

The dealer still has the car - 3 days later. They already offered to refund my money for the rotate and balance. I need to find out if they mounted the tire on the same wheel that they say is bent - and maybe they bent it.

@hwdp_pl - I know what is covered under warranty and what is not. If you read my OP you will see that I went in for routine maintenance - nothing was wrong. After a rotate and balance the car drove like crap - first they tell me a the tire has a belt issue, now they tell me the the rim is bent - After 3 days they should be able to figure out what the problem is.

Could I have driven on a bent rim or slipped belt and not noticed until after a rebalance - I don't think so.

But I am looking for flaws in my logic - what would any normal person think after going in for a standard Rotate and Balance and there car goes from great to crappy - that the dealer F-d up.

[fateexceeds]

Originally Posted by alphadog

The dealer still has the car - 3 days later. They already offered to refund my money for the rotate and balance. I need to find out if they mounted the tire on the same wheel that they say is bent - and maybe they bent it.

[...] the dealer F-d up.

I didn't realize the dealer still has the car. Sounds like you need to find a new dealer, if possible.

[alphadog]

I am going there today to speak with the service manager and get this fixed one way or another...

They can't get their story right which makes me think they did it, but we will see what they say. One question i will ask is "why should i ever come back when you guys can't rotate tires and notice if something is wrong?"

[BSUBigMac]

Originally Posted by fateexceeds

I just had new tires put on Friday by my mechanic (who is very competent and also an enthusiast and autox'er), and I had to take the car back in to have the tires rebalanced due to vibrations at highway speeds. For what it's worth, he told me that balancing is fairly difficult with these wheels due to the stick-on weights they have to use (as opposed to the old clip-on weights on other wheels).

I suggest you go back to the dealer and politely insist that they rebalance it properly, or you will take your business elsewhere. If they can't get it right, take it to someone who will.

That is a very good point that I completely forgot about when I originally wrote my post! Yes, stick on weights do make for a very difficult balance. A mechanic sometimes needs to balance and re-balance several times in order to get it perfect!

Thanks for adding that fateexceeds!!!

[Toyotech]

Originally Posted by BSUBigMac

If there was a slipped belt the machine that balances the tire would have indicated a serious number of balance. After they added weights it most likely would still be off. It is damn near impossible to balance a tire with a slipped belt and a professional would have caught that.

Same with the bent rim, while removing old weights or adding new ones someone should have caught it.

A competent person shouldn't miss either problem, but a lot of tire technicians aren't usually certified mechanics. I used to work in a garage in high school and I was only trained by another employee in the garage. If the person missed it, he either was an idiot, lazy and didn't care, or blind and dumb. I guess he could have been having the worst day in his life and wasn't focused, but its still pretty obvious to find either problem with the right equipment.

Hope this helps!

A Slipped belt can still measure out 0/0 on a wheel balancer. sometimes you just need to use your eyes...

and for anyone getting balance done. ask them to roadforce balance the tires and for a printout if possible just like you would get when doing an alignment.

a shimmy is still possible with a 0/0 depending on static or dynamic balancing.

and for the comment about the stick-on weights, any decent tire machine from say...2002+ has an alignment arm to assist... any decent dealer would have at least 1, especially for those working on 18"+ wheels.

[BSUBigMac]

Originally Posted by Toyotech

A Slipped belt can still measure out 0/0 on a wheel balancer. sometimes you just need to use your eyes...

and for anyone getting balance done. ask them to roadforce balance the tires and for a printout if possible just like you would get when doing an alignment.

a shimmy is still possible with a 0/0 depending on static or dynamic balancing.

and for the comment about the stick-on weights, any decent tire machine from say...2002+ has an alignment arm to assist... any decent dealer would have at least 1, especially for those working on 18"+ wheels.

Thanks for the insight on the newer technology that is out. I haven't balanced a tire since the late 90s!