Wheel balancing-vibration (recommend good shop in Ottawa)

[fizzerd]

Noticing some vibrating at around 120km/h and above. Also noticing light drifting to the side at around that speed. Only started happening after changing to winters on my oem rims at Commercial tire by KIDS! Any good places to get them checked in Ottawa?

I heard of Parker auto care, called them and the guy said he doesn't know if I need alignment or balancing. He said balancing would cost about $50 and alignment costs $90. What should I go for? Says its $90 just to put them on the machine to see if I need alignment.

Maybe I should just go for alignment and balancing in the summer after mounting the summer tires back on to the rims.

Any help from Ottawa members?:confused:

[Jucius Maximus]

Two common culprits are balancing problems OR snow inside the tire rim.

If you have been going through some deep snow lately, try washing or melting it out.

[fizzerd]

I felt it on the highway actually and the wheels and wells were clear of snow on that warm day.

[rupert]

Have you gone back to the original place and see if they will rebalance your wheels for free ? Since you paid for it already , it should've been done right.

[CRXGSR]

They would probably give a free re-balance if you had it done within the past 2 weeks or so. Anything else, I would even charge you for it as anything could have happened (hit a curb, pothole, etc.). Also, a good excuse for denying you a free re-balance is the saying "you shouldn't be driving over 100 km/h anyways". So don't mention 120km/h say something like 90km/h. :razz: (not that they can tell anyways...)

The drifting could be caused by either the tire or alignment. An easy way to check if it's the tire is to rotate the two front wheels. Put the LF wheel onto the RF side and the RF wheel on the LF side. If it drifts the opposite way, then it's the tire. If it drifts to the same side, it's alignment.

As for the KIDS comment, I'd rather have them, than some 60 year old doing it. We all have to start-out somewhere....

[Pete_Coach]

They would probably give a free re-balance if you had it done within the past 2 weeks or so. Anything else, I would even charge you for it as anything could have happened (hit a curb, pothole, etc.).......

The drifting could be caused by either the tire or alignment. An easy way to check if it's the tire is to rotate the two front wheels. Put the LF wheel onto the RF side and the RF wheel on the LF side. If it drifts the opposite way, then it's the tire. If it drifts to the same side, it's alignment.

As for the KIDS comment, I'd rather have them, than some 60 year old doing it. We all have to start-out somewhere....

I agree that there could be many reasons for the vibration. Is it only in the front? Car? Mini-van? SUV? If the wheel shakes, it is most often the front wheels. Rear wheel vibration is felt in the seat.
The drifting problem is not normally caused by wheel balance but rather an alignment or suspension problem.
As for the kids, issue, I disagree with the statement. I always opt for experience over youth and vigor if I have a choice. Yes, they need a place to start but they can apprentice and at the end of that, they are no longer kids.

[nornet]

Never heard of a $90 charge for a pre balance. You can get the job done for that. I suspect it was a poor mounting job. An unaligned front end can cause premature wear. Have a good shop look at it.

[Rekognize]

Have the tire rebalanced then bring it to an alignment shop if the problem doesn't go away

[Pete_Coach]

Never heard of a $90 charge for a pre balance. You can get the job done for that. I suspect it was a poor mounting job. An unaligned front end can cause premature wear. Have a good shop look at it.
Didn't read the post very well.
Doing a re-balance (for free) and checking the alignment for $90 is about right. A 4 wheel alignment costs about that.

[nornet]

Didn't read the post very well.
Doing a re-balance (for free) and checking the alignment for $90 is about right. A 4 wheel alignment costs about that.

I think I read it as stated. "Says its $90 just to put them on the machine to see if I need alignment. " To me this means diagnostics are $90.

[fizzerd]

I think I read it as stated. "Says its $90 just to put them on the machine to see if I need alignment. " To me this means diagnostics are $90.

Was told balancing $50 and alignment is a separate case ($90 to put on the machine whether needs alignment or not)..Are these both done on the road force machines? Anyone know of a good shop in Ottawa?

[fizzerd]

Have you gone back to the original place and see if they will rebalance your wheels for free ? Since you paid for it already , it should've been done right.

Got them changed in November. Never really got to drive the car on the highway until about a week or two back. It only happens on high speeds. And I dont want to go back to them since it would probably be the same kids doing work on my car.

[Pete_Coach]

Got them changed in November. Never really got to drive the car on the highway until about a week or two back. It only happens on high speeds. And I dont want to go back to them since it would probably be the same kids doing work on my car.
Well, in that case, and you don't do much highway driving, I would just leave it for another month or so and then put on your summer tires. Ensure they are well balanced and take the car on the highway right away to check. Stay under 120 or put up with it for the short times you are above. If you are doing mostly in traffic, in city driving, you will not do any damage.

[fizzerd]

Well, in that case, and you don't do much highway driving, I would just leave it for another month or so and then put on your summer tires. Ensure they are well balanced and take the car on the highway right away to check. Stay under 120 or put up with it for the short times you are above. If you are doing mostly in traffic, in city driving, you will not do any damage.

Yeah I was thinking along those lines too. Around what temperature do we usually change tires?

[thephenom]

Got them changed in November. Never really got to drive the car on the highway until about a week or two back. It only happens on high speeds. And I dont want to go back to them since it would probably be the same kids doing work on my car.
It's wheel balancing, we learned it in auto class in grade 10 back in the days. It's not rocket science, the only thing that's required for the "kids" to do is mount the tires on the machine, let it run, adjust weight, wait for machine to run again, and it's all done.

[Pete_Coach]

Yeah I was thinking along those lines too. Around what temperature do we usually change tires?

It is sort of a combination of temperature and "is it going to snow again". Once the pavement stays above 5 C then the rubber on the snow tires will begin to wear more rapidly. Bare pavement wears them anyway bit warm pavement wears them faster.
I normally pull mine off mid to end March and take a chance if it snows again. This is what I do, no science, no engineering, just my experience. :)

[mangoman]

And yet it wasn't done correctly the first time on my car this year - they told me themselves afterwards which tire was out when I brought it back with my complaint (and it's actually still not quite right but I was away for a few wks this winter and will probably just ride it out until the end of the season).

It's wheel balancing, we learned it in auto class in grade 10 back in the days. It's not rocket science, the only thing that's required for the "kids" to do is mount the tires on the machine, let it run, adjust weight, wait for machine to run again, and it's all done.

[curls00]

Any Frisby Tire location should easily be able to handle this -- they do great work and deal with suspensions and tires all day long, every day.

Sounds to me like a balancing issue on one of the front wheels. Have them checked.

Drifting could be the crown in the road acting on the tires, and if they're newer tires (especially winter tires), tread squirm exacerbates this effect. If you are on the 417 for example, the left 2 lanes should drift you to the left (slightly), and the right lane or two should drift you to the right (as the crown is usually near the middle of the road. Look at the horizon if you can, to check). On most 2-way roads, crown will push you towards the side of the road.

Do you drift both ways or just to the left OR right, all the time? If both, then it's crown. If always left OR always right, then it's likely an alignment issue. It isn't a bad idea to have an alignment done every 18-24 months anyhow... could save you a lot on buying new tires because of a bad alignment. Frisby charges about $90 and probably $12-$15 for balancing, but they're a lot more experienced than your average gopher (kid) shop employee.

[CRXGSR]

$90 for an alignment "check" is an outrageous price to pay.

The place where I used to work charges $20 to "check" and $80 for four wheel alignment or $60 for 2 wheel alignment. If you go ahead with the alignment, the $20 check fee is waived.