Tires, tires, tires

7006 messages, Last post on Oct 29, 2009 at 11:24 AM

You are in the Maintenance & Repair Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright

What is this discussion about? Tires, Wheels, Steering

Edmund's Feature Article: Tire Safety: Don't Ignore the Rubber on the Road

For dedicated winter tires, also have a look at the Snow/ice winter tires discussion topic.

Outline

Messages Page 693 of 702: 1; ...; 690; 691; 692; 693; 694; 695; 696; ...; 702; Prev; Next; Last

#6913 of 7006 Help Me Out Some More by oldfarmer50 Jun 01, 2009 (2:12 am)
Way back in December I mentioned that I put a new set of tires on my older Chrysler and it changed the track of the car while driving. Before the tire change the car had a very slight drift to the right and after putting the new tires on it drifted to the left. When checked, the tires had equal pressure. Fast forward 5 months and while in for some other work I asked my trusted service guy to check the alignment and any other factors (such as worn steering gear) that might have caused this. When I picked up the car I saw they had rotated the tires but done no other work related to fixing my "drift" problem. To my surprise the simple rotation almost totally cured the problem. The service guy said this was a common problem with new tires and mentioned something about a tire that might have "thrown a belt". As he was very busy I never got a further explaination. Does any of this make sense to you tire experts? I have never even heard of this kind of thing before let alone had it happen to me. I could see an out of balance tire causing vibration or handling problems but changing how a car tracks doesn't seem logical. And how would a rotation of said tire fix it? Replies to this message: obyone (Jun 01, 2009 2:21 am) capriracer (Jun 01, 2009 4:00 am) obyone (Jun 01, 2009 1:09 pm) ruking1 (Jun 03, 2009 8:49 am) jeffyscott (Jun 01, 2009 9:41 am)
#6914 of 7006 Re: Help Me Out Some More [oldfarmer50] by obyone Jun 01, 2009 (2:21 am)
Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Jun 01, 2009 2:12 am) Do you have any play in the tires? When lifted can you move the tires in and out from the car pulling on the top then the bottom? Just curious cause rotating the tires will coverup a lot of problems, temporarily anyway.
#6915 of 7006 Re: Help Me Out Some More [oldfarmer50] by capriracer Jun 01, 2009 (4:00 am)
Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Jun 01, 2009 2:12 am) No, this does not make sense at all. If a tire had "thrown" a belt, that's a failure - and you would see a steel belt instead of tread. It's possible he was trying to say "shifted belt" - and that's also incorrect. Belts are encased in rubber and CAN'T change position. This is sometimes used to describe a "tread separation", and a "thrown belt" is the last thing that happens in the sequence. And that is also not possible for a new set of tires. (and rotating tires doesn't "fix" a "shifted belt", so your mechanic is terribly misinformed.) But there is a simple test that is run: Swap the front tires, side to side: 1) If the pull changes direction, it's the tires. 2) If the pull doesn't change, it's alignment. 3) If the pull disappears, it's both. Since you have completely different tires on the front after rotation, and there isn't a pull, then you can't be sure which is which. BUT You did have a pull to the right before new tires and a pull to the left after new tires - and that is also inconclusive. So I'd recommend either: 1) Leave it alone, knowing that when the tires are rotated again that you will get the pull back, and the direction will tell you if the vehicle is out of alignment or not. 2) Put the rear tires back on the front and do the diagnostic work to see if it is the tires or the alignment. If it's the tires, you are well passed the point where the warranty would apply, so you are stuck with the problem for a while. But if it is alignment, then fixing that will help prevent the tires from wearing out prematurely. Replies to this message: obyone (Jun 01, 2009 1:09 pm) ruking1 (Jun 03, 2009 8:49 am)
#6916 of 7006 Re: Help Me Out Some More [oldfarmer50] by jeffyscott Jun 01, 2009 (9:41 am)
Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Jun 01, 2009 2:12 am) I think the normal term for that is "tire pull". I have had this a few times with tires, if they are new it is considered to be a defect. I have had tires replaced under warranty for tire pull. Other times when there was not much warranty left, and because of past hassles over "is it a tire pull or is it an alignment issue?", I just drove with them. The reason the rotation "fixed it" is because while there would still be a pull with the tire on the rear it is less than if it is on the front.
#6917 of 7006 Re: Help Me Out Some More [capriracer] by obyone Jun 01, 2009 (1:09 pm)
Replying to: capriracer (Jun 01, 2009 4:00 am) Without input from the tire person who's to know where the tires went on rotation. Most of the old timers would just swap the fronts as that would take the least amount of effort. Replies to this message: ruking1 (Jun 03, 2009 8:49 am)
#6918 of 7006 Re: Help Me Out Some More [obyone] by ruking1 Jun 03, 2009 (8:49 am)
Replying to: obyone (Jun 01, 2009 1:09 pm) Indeed if it is a tough nut to crack, the Hunter GSP 9700 link title is the system that can make pretty short work of what used to be trial and error and with a pretty high level of reliability.
#6919 of 7006 Michelin vs. Pirrelli tires... by 0311vn Jun 10, 2009 (9:33 pm)
I'm looking for some quiet running tires for a passenger car. Which if these all-season tires have people had good experiences with? Replies to this message: obyone (Jun 10, 2009 10:54 pm) capriracer (Jun 11, 2009 3:06 am) obyone (Jun 11, 2009 5:57 am) mz6greyghost (Jun 11, 2009 3:51 am) imidazol97 (Jun 11, 2009 4:18 am) and 8 more...
#6920 of 7006 Re: Michelin vs. Pirrelli tires... [0311vn] by obyone Jun 10, 2009 (10:54 pm)
Replying to: 0311vn (Jun 10, 2009 9:33 pm) Michelin ownz. Replies to this message: capriracer (Jun 11, 2009 3:06 am) obyone (Jun 11, 2009 5:57 am) mz6greyghost (Jun 11, 2009 3:51 am) imidazol97 (Jun 11, 2009 4:18 am) mz6greyghost (Jun 11, 2009 7:06 am) and 7 more...
#6921 of 7006 Re: Michelin vs. Pirrelli tires... [obyone] by capriracer Jun 11, 2009 (3:06 am)
Replying to: obyone (Jun 10, 2009 10:54 pm) Obyone, I am hoping you don't mean that Michelin owns the Pirelli brand name - as that is not true. Pirelli is an Italian based tire manufacturer, and while they own the rights to the Armstrong brand (and a couple of others) they do not have any connection to Michelin - other than the obvious one. BTW, while Michelin owns the rights to the Uniroyal brand in the US, Continental owns the rights to the Uniroyal brand in Europe. And to complicate things further: The Dunlop brand is owned by three different tire manufacturers who are only allowed to use that brand name within a particular part of the world. So be very careful when reading about who owns a particular brand name. Replies to this message: obyone (Jun 11, 2009 5:57 am)
#6922 of 7006 Re: Michelin vs. Pirrelli tires... [obyone] by mz6greyghost Jun 11, 2009 (3:51 am)
Replying to: obyone (Jun 10, 2009 10:54 pm) Michelin = overpriced Which specific models are you looking at? For what vehicle will these go on? Do you drive in any snow/ice conditions? Replies to this message: imidazol97 (Jun 11, 2009 4:18 am) mz6greyghost (Jun 11, 2009 7:06 am) canadice (Jun 11, 2009 8:02 am) and 5 more... imidazol97 (Jun 11, 2009 9:54 am)