Mild vibration in my steering wheel at highway speeds. Any idea what might cause this? Bad wheel balance?

 

1. Tires need balancing
2. Tires are damaged (cupping or other uneven wearing, manufacturer defect, etc)
2. Bent wheel
3. Bad inner tie rod

I'd start there.

 

Go to a place that knows how to balance tires. Some of these guys have no idea how to properly balance a tire. I had vibration at highway speeds and went to Sears for a balance. Big mistake. That guy didn't know what he was doing. Vibration remained. Went to a second shop and the guy took off all the weights and didn't put any back on. He said the wheels are perfect no weights necessary. Looked at him sideways and left. Payed the bill but total rip off. Went to a high end shop that does exotics and Porsches. These guys balanced the crap out of my wheels. Smooth as glass at 100mph. Moral of the story get a good balance. Many don't know how to properly do it. Also the EVO seems to be very susceptible to vibration than other cars.

 

When you go into a tire shop for a mount and balance, ask if they know what the colored dots on the tires are for. If they don't, consider going elsewhere LOL

 

And now I know that even though I have the means to mount my own tires, I should learn more about the process

 

Its easy, IF you have access to the equipment. That's where they get ya.

 

a common cause of this is throwing a rim balance weight which is a pain in the butt, either you take it back in or wait for your next set of tyres. A tip is when you get your next set of tyres ask for stick on weights only and when you get home put a strip of aluminium tape over them to secure them to your rim better, never had a fault since.

 

Or ask them to use some carb cleaner before sticking on the weights. They are supposed to clean the surface before application, but.....
I had a new set of wheels that i waxed before install. Oops. LOL.

 

I worked at discount tire (Americas tire in Cali). The dots don't mean dick. What matters is a properly calibrated balancer, picking the best 2 planes of the wheel to put weights on, and putting the weights where the machine tells you. And if it asks for a lot of weight, spin the tire on the wheel. Or, if the balancer has it, ride-match/road-force balance the assembly so the balancer can tell you exactly where to put the tire on the wheel.

 

uhh oh I hope theres not a show down going to happen between the two super heavy weights Kaj and letsgetthisdone, I'll need to reserve front row seats :P

 

kaj is not heavyweight just longwinded letsgetthisdone knows 10x more than kaj and his posts are helpful but dont take it personal its just a forum The roadforce test is the best but costly.

 

No show down over tire mounting LOL. Manufacturers sometimes put a yellow dot at the lightest part of the tire and/or a red at the for the high point. When mounting a tire, you mount the yellow to the valve stem so less weights are needed. However, if there is a red one, you mount that to the valve stem instead (runout is more important than balancing). The exception is if you have a factory steel wheel with a dimple to indicate the wheel's low point; you then match the red dot to the dimple (but obviously does not apply to our vehicles).
Anyway, it's not critical to the tire installation, so it's up to the installer if they want to use them or to say they "don't mean dick". IMO, they should at least know what they are used for.
3gturbo is and always will be a troll, so his comments are unimportant.

 

How do you know the valve stem is the lightest or lowest point of the wheel? Your information is old folk lore. Sorry.

Of the hundreds of sets of wheels and tires I have ride matched, which is where the balancer measures the wheel with the measuring arms, and then the tire with another arm that has a roller on it, the dots never line up with the valve stem. The valve stem is not the low or light point, or the high point, or the heavy point of the wheel. It is the point at which the hole was drilled, nothing more, nothing less. I've had this conversation with a lot of a people. Usually after they had a vibration, and they tried to tell me what you told me while I was aligning the tire on the wheel how the $20k balancer told me to, and the dots were nowhere near the valve. I did it long enough to do it with my eyes closed, and can still do it with my eyes closed. The dots don't matter.

 

You have it kinda backward, but you got the general idea. If there is a better and more accurate way to do it, then that's fine with me. Times change, etc. and newer/better methods are always being developed. The measuring arms sounds to be MUCH more accurate than lining up painted dots.
All I'm saying is i would hope my tire place at least knows why tire companies are putting the dots on there; they are there for a reason, still being used today, and not everyone has the same equipment as you. I.E. America's Tire, in my area, only has computer balancing. If i'm using their equipment, i'm starting with the dots.
Like i said: it's not critical, just a tool for installers to use.
All that being said, i wanna find a place that uses those arms!

 

uhhh ohhhh its started