Alright guys..

I live in Chicago. Temps here are -17 and -50 with wind chill right now after getting a foot of snow over the weekend.

I woke up this morning, rear tire was low. I know this tire is shot but I'm holding off till spring for some nitto Motivos. So I drove to the nearest tire shop.

After getting the new tire, after hitting 60-70MPH the car shakes likes crazy in the steering wheel and I can even see the seat shaking. I took it back and they said the tire is balanced perfectly and that it's possible that there's ice build up in the wheel wells. Is this true or is giving me a load of crap?

 

I've worked at Goodyear Tires for 2 years in the North Country, NY where plenty of snow & sub zero temps is the norm in the winter....I've never heard of or saw ice build up in the wheel wells to cause vibration at such a high speed...

Ice build up in the wheels usually cause this sort of shake starting at a much lower speed.

The wheels could have been mounted wrong on the balance machine and balanced incorrectly... They need to have these placed back on a machine and verify that they are balanced out to .00

 

I've always been told that if you have to replace one tire is alway best to put two new tires on the same axle. What you have is a bigger diameter tire (new one) on the same axle as the shot one (your words) which would be a smaller diameter. Shaking would be inevidible at high speeds, even if was balanced wouldn't it?

Just thinking

 

This would be more a traction issue... I've driven cars with spare tires and never had shaking like this... (Yeah I know, I shouldnt be driving on a spare over 50 mph)

 

Hawks Im in NYC and just had a foot of snow also. i just purchased a 2014 maxima premium last week. It has only 150 miles on it and Im having the same exact problem as you..crazy shaking over 60MPH..so i think it defintely is possible that could be the problem...

 

yeah...happens to me all the time after a snow storm. use a snow broom or a stick to get all the snow and ice out of the wheel. If that fails, go to the car wash and spray it good with warm water. Make sure its not too cold out when you do it, or it will just make the issue worse with more ice on the wheel.

 

I live in chicago as well and my car was doing yhe same thing, took it to the dealership they balanced the tires and washed the car and the problem was fixed

 

Check each wheel. Inside and out. I'd bet one of them is bent.

 

Brought to shop and they de-iced it and heated everything up and it ran after. Wasn't a balancing issue just a bunch of ice build up

 

Was the ice build up in the Wheel well like you were told or was it in the wheel?

 

I didn't even ask. I was in a hurry to get to work and said I would come back if the problem persists. Just glad it's working now. Maybe the wheel wasn't balanced properly and they just gave me a load of BS so they rebalanced it?

 

Ice inside the wheel well has no effect on tire balance, because it is not attached to the tire or wheel. BUT, if the ice builds up inside the wheel well to the point the tire sometimes touches it while rolling down the freeway, that can play heck with everything.

Of course, if any ice is sticking to the wheel, then the balance will be drastically affected, especially at higher speeds.

 

So Hawk, yeah it's frustrating to be told it's ice causing your car to shake, when the only thing that is different is the new tire/balancing. We can only guess how much money is spent by car owners because they've been told that the balancing is fine. Then it's wheel bearings, CV joints, tie rods, axles, etc.
And that Hunter Road Force BS doesn't help because the machine is only as good as the person using it.
SUX

 

Dude I think you just resurrected a year-old thread LOL