Tire balance issue? Or bad tires?

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Yeah a few years back my dad bought me some new tires online for my birthday, I just had to get them mounted and balanced. Called the shop closest to my house and because they were new tires they wanted double the price to mount them just because I didn't buy from them, plus a disposal fee. Ended up going to a shop on the other side of town and not getting ripped off.
 

El Huapo

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OP, I'm glad my suspicions didn't prove true---I was thinking maybe the first tire shop had some bent rims on one of the worker's trucks and he swapped them for your good ones. You would have been stuck for more costs.
 

Panduh

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Another possibility is that some wheels need an insert to center the wheel on the hub - the lugs alone won't do it. If that insert is missing, the wheel will technically be out of round, something that tends show up right around 60 mph for some reason.
 

DollarBills

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Ok, so I needed to replace my og tires on my 2019, went with the Falken wildpeaks. Bought them off Amazon, as they were the best deal that no one could match around me.. so Monday, I went to a shop by my house that I only used once to have my wife's tire patched. So I decided that I would take my truck here because I could walk back home. Couple hours later, call me and tell me the trucknis done, great. On my way to work this morning I get on the highway and as soon as I hit 60 mph, truck is shaking.. now it feels like a balance issue and I'm not sure of thier balance machine but what is the off chance they are but tires? If the tires were out of round, wouldn't I feel it at mostly all speeds? Not sure if I want to take it back to them as the guys that were running the joint now seemed a little shady compared to the last guys that were there last time I went.. what say yous?
Yeah, I'm thinking they aren't, but if they are, they had to have bent them.. I would have never bought the truck if it shook like it is.. and its strange they said just both rears might be bent... and I checked my tire pressure, my rears are 33, fronts are 45... wtf who does that?
I recently had a tire change from OEM to a new 70K mile. The new tires are harder than RAM OEMs, and the road is felt more. That said, I had the same issue as you. I went back and had them rebalance, with no improvement, then asked them to do a forced load balancing ( simulate road pressure during the balancing), and they found two tires out of spec from the normal balancing method. This improved the "wobble" at certain speeed ( about 50-55 mph), but I do still feel the road much more with the new harder tires.
 

2Tallguy

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Bring it to the shop, but you ask to witness them spin all the tires in front of you on their balancer. If there are any bent rims, you'll see it immediately as they are spinning.

If they are a good tire shop, you'll also see the readout on the balancer and if they are balanced or not.

The other thing I've seen in the past are tires that have belt shifting issues right from the get go, brand new. You should also be able to see this when the tires are spinning (hop and/or wobble on the tires, and not a wobble on the rim)

If you are not confident in the first shop, eat it and go to another shop and pay to have them checked, but, you witness it.

Also, did you check the date code on those new tires as well? Sometimes those amazon deals are done to get rid of old dead stock that's been sitting around for a while. If they were stored incorrectly over a long period, or possibly abused whilst stored and/or in transit, it has potential to damage the tires and/or disturb their structural integrity.

I don't disagree that sometimes in these trying economic times one needs to hunt for a good deal, I do it a lot. However, when it comes to certain things, a great deal may be too good to be true, and with "new tires" from Amazon, one needs to be aware of what that deal may actually be stemming from.
I buy my tires from a tire shop so they'll back them up in the event of a factory defect. Discount Tire sold me some Nitto Duragrapplers. Great tread pattern but man it was squirrely. I drove them for 700 miles and tried all kinds of psi. Nope. They refunded me the money including the certificate cost and ordered some Toyo AT3's. Kosher! They had a set of Wildpeaks going back to the manufacturer for defects. It happens.
 

Stormtrooper1

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I had the exact same issue, from 55-70 mph, when I put on my 22 x 10 wheels & 285/45 Nitto 420's. I thought the rims were bad or the balance job was wrong. Road force balancing found no issues with the tires or rims & an alignment only helped a small amount. I researched everywhere & found several reviews with this issue on the same Nitto tires. One reviewer said it was a "harmonic" in the tire at that road speed & Discount Tire warrantied them. I had bought my setup at Discount & my local store also warrantied them. I switched to Cooper Discoverer SRX tires & the ride is now better than factory. My truck is a regular cab/standard bed with a Belltech 2/4 drop kit & there is no vibration at any speed despite all the tire/wheel & suspension changes. I know you have Falken tires, but, changing the tires solved everything for me.
 

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BOIRD went a different route. The STOCK SRA balloons had to go. So Dealer had buy 3, 1 free, well $1.00 actually. SO out the door, $836 for tires, and I have Falken Wildpeaks AT3W's snow rated, "C" ply tires, which is exactly what I wanted, stock size, stock rim. I also get free rotations from Dealer. OP, I get your trying to save $$$, but be careful cheaping out on tires, brakes, those things that U literally just trust your life and families to, just saying.

ADDED: Neva cheap out on a garage, U get what U pay for, just saying. ALL here IMHO (very humble).

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Agree 100%.

My dealer gives me a small discount on tires, but Road Force balances for free. Plus I get free rotations. Yes, I could get them cheaper at a brand name store, all-in and all-out it ends up getting more for the price at my dealer.

Someone in the family installed aftermarket front hubs on his 2500 last summer. He saved big time money buying from AutoZone compared to OEM hubs. Now he has to do it again! He contends that aftermarket is "just as good or better," but the factory originals went eight years and 130,000 miles. Another "you get what you pay for" example, in my opinion.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 3 June 2018. Now at 83038 miles
 

Justin33

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I had some duratracs put on at Tire Warehouse 275 65 20 and at 70 to 80 have a noticeable vibration like something may be out of round. I had a used set same tires and size from brother and could see inner belts and I don’t think they even vibrates like that new ones. I prob have less than 2 or 3k on these.
 

Yardbird

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I had some duratracs put on at Tire Warehouse 275 65 20 and at 70 to 80 have a noticeable vibration like something may be out of round. I had a used set same tires and size from brother and could see inner belts and I don’t think they even vibrates like that new ones. I prob have less than 2 or 3k on these.

You need to get to someone that can road force balance. That way the heavy spots on the tires can be marched to the light spots on the rims.

They will also check for out of round tires.

When I bought my truck I had to throw away an almost new set of Firestone tires because they wouldn't balance out at 65+ mph, even with road force balancing. Tires were out of round.
 

Dean2

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You need to get to someone that can road force balance. That way the heavy spots on the tires can be marched to the light spots on the rims.

They will also check for out of round tires.

When I bought my truck I had to throw away an almost new set of Firestone tires because they wouldn't balance out at 65+ mph, even with road force balancing. Tires were out of round.
Just for future info, I have had out of round tires but I never had any issues getting them replaced by the Tire maker or dealer, depending on the situation.

For everyone reading this I suggest if a tire is out of round NEVER let them be mounted on your truck. Same for rims. No matter how good the balance job they still have a negative effect on the bearings etcs.
 

Yardbird

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Just for future info, I have had out of round tires but I never had any issues getting them replaced by the Tire maker or dealer, depending on the situation.

For everyone reading this I suggest if a tire is out of round NEVER let them be mounted on your truck. Same for rims. No matter how good the balance job they still have a negative effect on the bearings etcs.
My problem was I bought the truck used with the tires already on there, and didn't know where they came from.

The Michelins drive so much better and are much quieter, so I'm satisfied. Hated spending almost $1200.00, but love the tires.
 

Dean2

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My problem was I bought the truck used with the tires already on there, and didn't know where they came from.
That does make it a little trickier but just for future reference, I would have still gone to any tire shop that carried Firestone and had them do the adjustment. Have done that with a set of Coopers I got on a used Jeep.

It is quite surprising how many out of round large off road tires there are. Have seen it across all brands. I love Duratracs for an all around tire but the last set I had mounted on my 2021 2500, Fountain tire went through 7 tires to get 4 good round ones. The bigger the tire the harder it is to get them round it seems. Poor tire shops mount them anyhow, good ones don't.
 

Justin33

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That does make it a little trickier but just for future reference, I would have still gone to any tire shop that carried Firestone and had them do the adjustment. Have done that with a set of Coopers I got on a used Jeep.

It is quite surprising how many out of round large off road tires there are. Have seen it across all brands. I love Duratracs for an all around tire but the last set I had mounted on my 2021 2500, Fountain tire went through 7 tires to get 4 good round ones. The bigger the tire the harder it is to get them round it seems. Poor tire shops mount them anyhow, good ones don't.
I bought duratracs from a tire warehouse I have receipt so will they honor that I bought from them and road force and or get good tires? I get vibrating at70 75 with my tires now?
 

Dean2

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Goodyear's basic warranty, and fit for use obligation are separate from whoever you bought them from. Some tire shops offer things like free lifetime rotation and balancing over and above the basic tire warranty and you have to go to their outlets for that, but the Goodyear warranty can be done at any store that is an authorised Goodyear retailer. Look up the goodyear tire site and it will tell you what the warranty coverage is. If your tires are out of round, or the belts aren't laid down even, both qualify for replacement of the tire. If the tires can't be road force balanced there is likely something wrong with the tire or the rims. If it takes too much weight to balance them there is also an issue. A good tire shop should be able to figure it out.
 

Justin33

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Goodyear's basic warranty, and fit for use obligation are separate from whoever you bought them from. Some tire shops offer things like free lifetime rotation and balancing over and above the basic tire warranty and you have to go to their outlets for that, but the Goodyear warranty can be done at any store that is an authorised Goodyear retailer. Look up the goodyear tire site and it will tell you what the warranty coverage is. If your tires are out of round, or the belts aren't laid down even, both qualify for replacement of the tire. If the tires can't be road force balanced there is likely something wrong with the tire or the rims. If it takes too much weight to balance them there is also an issue. A good tire shop should be able to figure it out.
Yeah I can’t have more than 2k on these tires atm if that. At70 or higher it is definitely shaking maybe not death wobble bad but it’s vibrating. I’m not sure how much my four inch super lift matters as I had brothers old duratracs on and you could see the belt on inside where it was wore down and it wasn’t vibrating then. Something must be out of round.
 

Justin33

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Right now I’m trying to find a place that can actually road force balance. At 70 or higher on interstate I get a vibration so something clearly isn’t right.
 

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