OK, so a couple months ago I noticed that the tread on my front tires was slightly deteriorated. However, the two rear tires where nearly perfect. Hence, I decided to swap the front two wheels with the rear two.

After some time, I began to notice vibrations, which weren't there before, even with the more deteriorated tires in the front. These vibrations occur after 65+ mph, during which my steering wheel shakes.

I have OEM Maxima SE wheels. I do have balancing weights on all wheels. I also take care of my wheels - they are in perfect condition. I check my tire pressure quite frequently and my suspension setup is stock.

I spoke with a few mechanics who told me that what I describe has to do with wheel balancing. I first thought it may have something to do with alignment, but they insisted that vibrations over 40mph are NOT alignment, but rather, unbalanced wheels.

Now I'm confused. I thought that once a wheel is balanced, it is balanced, period. Right? So why would swapping the wheels cause them to be unbalanced?

 

Uneven tire wear will cause them to loose their balance. The loss of tread is loss of weight which leads to loss of balance. It doesnt take much to unblance a tire really, a few grams or so. Usually on a tire rotation the tires get rebalanced. Am I making any sence?! Just tell me to shut up....

 

Maxima10to1 - makes sense... each time I get my tires rotated, I have them rebalance my wheels... usually, but not always, alignment problems cause the car to pull towards a particular side (on a straight road, with little crowning)... balancing problems are usually felt as vibrations by your butt-dyno or in the steering columns..

Vibrations can also be caused by uneven tire inflation, uneven tire wear (out of round tires), out of round rim, and worn suspension components.

 

Thanks much. I guess I always thought one balances wheels ONLY when putting on new tires. It looks as though one might have to rebalance wheels once in a while even with no new tires.

Just wondering, how many of you actually rebalanced your wheels?