PhilY

I just got 17X8 Evo5s with 245/45/17 Kumho 712 from Tirerack. Coming from 215/55/16 all-season tires, I must say I like what I feel

Now, after getting my alignment done at Sears, I noticed my steering wobbling between 60-75 mph. My first reaction was the wheel balance but then I remembered that before the alignment, just for one day, I hadn't noticed any balance issues. I just checked the lugnuts to make sure they were tight, they weren't as tight as I had tightened them before bringing into Sears. I didn't have the right socket for my torque wrench that time so I just tightened them a little more with my emergency wrench. Then I drove and the steering wobble reduced dramatically.

I didn't like how they aligned so I bought the car again on Sat and had them align again. I drive the car back and, again, I notice steering wobble. So now I'm thinking maybe they didn't torque the lugnuts correctly ( do they take the wheels off in the first place?). So I bought a socket and used the torque wrench. The torque was correct, about 80ft-lb. Feeling it with my emergency wrench, I knew I had torqued them higher before. So I torqued them to 85ft-lb and drove. The wobble seemed to lessen but still there. Then I torqued a bit higher than the spec, 90ft-lb. I took it to the highway and the wobble lessened even more. My estimate of original torque - when I first mounted them last Tuesday - is between 105 and 120 ft-lb.

So my questions are:

Are my wheels/tires indeed out of balance? Tirerack obviously balances them b/f shipping and I didn't notice any signed of weights fallen off or anything.

Is it possible that this is mounting problem? Is it usual for aftermarket or OEM wheels to be tightened to 100ft-lb+ to get things set or something's wrong with the wheels/hubs? One thing I didn't do, tho, was to sand and clean the rust on the hub cuz I was too excited to put the wheels on. I'll prolly do that this week.

Do they have to take the wheels off to do wheel alignment? I'm not sure how they do it in the first place so I can't even take a guess.

Anyone have had any similar experiences?


Tirerack told me that they will pay for balancing but I don't want the kids at Sears playing with my new wheels if I can avoid it.

PhilY

Alright, it's more than a two-part question. Answer them anyways!

shanabe

You didn't mention (or I didn't see) what year Maxima you're driving. If your car is high mileage and you haven't done any front end maintenance, it could simply be wear related. Likely suspects are tie rods, wheel bearings etc. Although if you just noticed this with new tires, seems awfully coincidental. It could be a tire balance issue, I'd doubt that wheel tightness is the problem, especially since you've checked it. Doubtful that the tires are on "wrong" either. Of course you could check that by pulling them off and remounting yourself.

If the vibe is only while breaking, it's probably a pad/rotor issue. If it's not while breaking, could very well be the tire balance. Not impossible to get a bad tire.

I have a similar problem right now with my 2K2 Max (43K miles), with the same tires you have. I bought the car used so I'm not sure that the Kumho's are original. Actually my problem started last winter, when a distinct thump-thump-thump developed on cold mornings. It got better as I drove down the road and the tire heated. Since spring, it's not as noticeable but is definately present. Interestingly, just today I noticed a bubble on the left rear tire (recently rotated from front right position). I'm going to buy 2 new tires and rerotate soon as the offending tire could have a busted belt and could explain my vibration issue. Doubtful that yours is the same, but take a close look at the tires (inboard and outboard) for any bubbles or other oddities. You might also do a rough check of your wheel bearings and CV joints for excessive play. You'll have to jack up the car and check for too much play/slop in each wheel (try shaking the wheel and drive axle in all directions), but could be worthwhile. If it's a new Max, it's not likely to be the problem, but worth a check.

One last item - Kumho's are good tires - just don't EVER DRIVE THEM IN SNOW. I live in upstate NY and can tell you they are dangerous. But I also have a 10 yr old Explorer for bad weather.