OK, I bought that used 97Max SE and realized it was pulling a bit to the right. I brought it back to the dealer to do a thrust alignment and fix the problem. He called me back and said it was just "tire drift". I never heard of this before. He said he swapped the 2 front tires and it rode straight and true on the highway. I said OK, never heard of this, but will head home. I decide to jump on the highway to test out his work. It tracked straighter (I think) but now has a nice vibration in both the steering wheel and in the seat at approx 70 + mph. WTF!?? I do not have time for this crap with work and all. I am thinking now the wheels are either out of balance or maybe he messed up a wheel bearing or 2. Any ideas? Its got to go back and my fat a$$ ain't doing this on a weekday. Thanks: e3

 

They may have underinflated your tires. That happened to me after an alignment.

 

Or the rear tires they rotated to the front might be out of balance.

-V

 

I just had new tires all around and I get a steering wheel vibration around 65-70mph also. I'm gonna have to have the guy recheck the balance. He put the balance weights on the inside of the tire because there was no lip on the outside and he said it might not come out as accurate. Does that make any since?

 

OK, the tires appear to be pumped up evenly on both sides and the car sits well. I did not put a gauge on them but they look fine.

At 65mph + the car gets a decent amount of vibration AND still pulls to the left. I brought the car onto the highway to work today, tried all 3 lanes, at like 70mph, and the car slowly pulled to the left in all 3 lanes when I let the wheel go. The steering wheel moved in that direction too. (I used 3 lanes to remove the lane slope factor) Sadly I think the guy lied to me on "wheel drift" or he does not know his $hit. I will call him back and tell him to fix it or I will bring it to Mieneke and have them directly billed.

What a pain in my a$$. I just do not feel safe at 80mph like this. My f-ing 94 crappy tercel rides like dream compared to this! Thanks all. Peace; e3

 

Give me your max and keep driving the tercel

But, seriously get you wheels balanced and aligned.

The search feature is you friend, there have been a few threads about this recently...

 

I always use tape weights on the inside. I don't like wheel weights on my rims. The machine calculates weight values based on rim size. Placing the weight inside may not properly balance the wheel. This is usually picked up by the operator when he spins it one final time after weights are in place to verify a ZERO reading. If the computer comes up ZERO, then the job is done. Sometimes after placing weights on the inside of the outter area of the rim, on the next SPIN to verify your at ZERO you may be 1/4 oz. off or so. They just adjust again and respin to verify ZERO. So bottom line, if the machine says ZERO, your wheels are balanced no matter where the weight is located.

 

Yeah, I spoke with him finally and he said he did not balance the wheels since he only moved them from each side. I told him it NEEDS and alignment and NEEDS all the tires balanced. I do not want to go back and forth. I have other things to do. Like eat and sleep! peace and thanks all.

Sorry I did not use the search function. Next time I will. e3

 

I'm having the exact same problem except mine's pulling left.

The guy has checked the alignment twice. It is right in the range, the steering wheel vibrates and the car pulls left. I tried all lanes on the highway and it still pulls... at around 25mph the steering wheel vibration is really noticeable, and at slower speeds, it is visible. I do know I had a tire balance problem and that may have created a tire problem for me like a separated belt or cupping which might make a tire more aggressive. I am wondering though if i may be something more serious.