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Jim
Grant has been working in the automotive industry for over twenty
years. In addition, Jim is an ASE Master Technician with advanced
L/1 certification. He works as manager and technician in his
family's automotive business in New Hampshire. He writes weekly
automotive consumer columns and is editor of an automotive newsletter
that is circulated throughout North America. |
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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'92 Mazda MPV, Steering Wheel Vibration
Q:
The
moment I replaced all four original tires at Sears on my ‘92 Mazda
MPV with 55k, with Pirelli tires the same size, my steering wheel started
to vibrate like crazy at around 60 MPH. I took it back to Sears immediately
to have the tires balanced, but it did not help. Then I took it to a reputable
GOOD YEAR tire store to balance them again, no help. I then bought a new
set of GOOD YEAR TIRES had them installed and balanced. I still have the
same problem. I would appreciate your opinion!
A:
Are
you sure that the problem did not occur until the first set of new tires
were installed? After the second set of tires were installed was the shake
just the same? If that is the case than it is unlikely that the tires
were or are the problem. Both brands of tires are not only well known,
but are a good product. The odds of having 2 sets of bad tires is highly
unlikely, which would lead me to believe that you have a rim, mounting
hub or a driveline problem. With that, first it has to be determined if
the problem is tire/rim or driveline related. If the vibration changes
as the vehicle is coasting or placed in neutral at the problem speed,
then it is likely there is a driveline problem. If the vibration does
not change then it is likely a rim/tire or mounting problem. Most of the
Mazda MPV’s in our region have aluminum wheels, which create a good
set of age and human related problems associated with these rims. Tire
machines are powerful units they can and will damage/bend rims if there
is air pressure still in the tire when the tire bead is being separated
from the rim. This type of damage is not always easily seen and if damaged
in this manner, tires can never be correctly balanced, even though the
balancer says they’re balanced. Also, the corrosion on the rim can
cause the mounting cone of the balancer to incorrectly position the rim
for balancing, resulting in a perfectly balanced, out of balance tire.
If the rims are questionable there is a procedure for checking the runout
or wobble of the rims. It’s likely that the solution to your problem
is going to be more investigative than replacing and balancing tires.
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