I recently picked up a set of steelies with some decent all seasons from a Maxima at the junkyard, and today finally had a chance to get them on in preparation for the inevitable snowfall.

I noticed that I'm getting a slight vibration/bumping, and while it's not too bad it is still annoying. I'm pretty sure one of the tires has a flat spot from sitting, and my question is how dangerous is it driving it as is? Is there any chance it'll go away on it's own? I plan on getting the problem taken care of, I just have a few days of work/class ahead of me before I'll get a chance to.

 

most of the time tthe flatspot will go away when they warm up and rotate for a while. you might also want to get them rebalanced.....and the rim checked to make sure it's not bent.

 

if its a flat spot, smoke the **** out of them. I had one on my old tires and drove for months hoping it would eventually even out, no such luck in my case. But I agree w/ Irish, Id check the rim first.

 

Yeah I think balancing will be my first course of action, if that doesn't solve the problem then it's no big deal I suppose. I didn't realize how dirt cheap 205/65/15's are.

Thanks for the tips.

 

My fronts are nearly bald and I slammed the brakes as hard as I could the other night (non ABS) and skidded to a panic stop. Immediately after, it felt like a tire was out of balance badly. I stopped and checked it out and there was a visible flat spot across the tread of one of the fronts (I presume of both). Is that what's meant by flat spotting and is it why I have a high speed vibration? I'll be replacing them very soon anyway.

 

balancing usually fixes it...and measures the rim runout to make sure it is straight. OR hold the E-brake and dump the clutch at 7,500rpm....got rid of the feathering of my free tires on my SE-R after a few 100 feet burnouts

 

Just a quick update; I had them rebalanced and it helped slightly, however the vibration is still there. The wheels also don't appear to be bent, but I did find a flat spot on one of the tires. Thanks again for your help guys.

For some reason I don't think my 133k mile tranny/clutch would enjoy that too much