A couple of weeks ago, my car got stuck on a snowy hill which caused me to leave it until later in the day to dig it out . . .I was able to dig it out with no incident.

The next day . . inexplicably my right front tire was flat. Again, I had to leave it until that evening since I had to get to work . . .I filled the tire with "Fix-a-flat" and then pumped it back up. No further tire problems.

Then last weekend, I started to experience a harsh shaking and vibration at 75 to 80 mph. The car would vibrate so bad that it almost felt like the wheel was going to fall off.

Okay, so I take it to the dealer . . .and demonstrated the vibration to the tech. . . .the dealer calls me in the afternoon and then tells me that the passenger front and rear rims have a slight bend on the inner lip of the rims (the outer edge of the rims are in perfect condition). This is where I have a problem with this purported diagnosis . . .

1. I have never hit a pot hole with this car. Never.

2. I asked the dealer whether the wheels balanced out . . and he said yes, they balance to a perfect 0. How could the wheel balance out to 0 if the rim is bent.

3. I proceeded to drive the car and while the vibration is still there . . .its much better . . .


So am I to believe that the rims (both of them mind you . .) are bent in the same place (on the inner lip) . . seems too hard to believe . ..especially when the dealer wants $854 per rim!!

What do you think?

 

I'm no expert on this but just IMO wouldn't the spare tire fix, which to my knowledge I believe is nothing more than a latex goo that plugs the hole by the pressure trying to push it out, cause the front tire to be out of balance to some extent....if you say nothing happened while you were driving....maybe they were screwed up from the factory or shipping to the dealer....sorry guy,,,,hope you can get it straight...2old4this

04 cpe ivory pearl/willow/5at/prem/sport wheel pkg/clear corners/Piaa's

 

I do know this...Fix-A-Flat is designed to get you temporary relief to get home or to a tire shop. It's not meant to seal your tire so you can drive around until its time to get new tires, etc. They only suggest that you fill it up and get to a tire place immediately so that the flat can be repaired. Not only that, but that stuff destroys the inside of your rims!

 

http://www.fixrim.com/
cheaper then getting a new rim



2003 G35 Coupe 6mt Diamond Graphite
1992 Jeep Cherokee Blk 5.5 RE lift /w 33s
AIM= bkchang79

 

Fix-a-flat is a temporary solution. Get your tire professionally fixed NOW! About the rims, why not just take them off yourself and check for the bend? It would be easy enough to check for yourself.

 

1- You may never have hit a pothole (or whatever) with your car, but can you be 100% certain that nobody else has? Your car had at least a few miles on it before you picked it up at the dealer, right? Dealership techs drive cars as part of the pre-delivery inspection. Or perhaps someone took the car for a short test-drive. But the point is that I'm sure you cannot be certain that the car has never hit a pothole.

2- A slight bend on the lip of a wheel can still be balanced perfectly. The high-speed balance machines will just adjust the wheel weights accordingly.

You should be able to look under your car and see the edge of the wheel where it's bent. If it's just a tiny, slight bend, then don't worry too much about it. If all the wheel/tire assemblies balanced out perfect, and you're still experiencing vibration, you must look at other suspension components to find the cause. The problem could even be in the tires themselves. Did the dealer remove the tire with the fix-a-flat in it and clean it out and properly plug/patch it?

 

well, if you feel compelled to jack the car and spin the wheel to see if its bent, dont put your head under there with that factory jack.. too many have collapsed.


bs g35c lth/prem

 

Be sure there is no ice embedded in the rim somewhere.
I've had that happen with the shaking at certain speeds in and Audi quattro (which resists imbalances better then 2WDs), no less. Once the offending ice dam is removed the car remarkably starts driving well again.
I hope your problem is a s simple as that.

 

the fix-a-flat is likely the problem. The goo throws the balance off. When there is too much in the tire, some of it remains liquid and sloshes aroung inside the tire causing a vibration. The bend in the rim can also cause a problem. You can get that fixed somewhere for $70- $100.

2003.5 5AT
Premium Package
Tire/Wheel Package
K&N Filter, Z-Tube, EGK

 

Problem solved!! Thanks everybody for the input . . .The vibration was caused by the fix-a-flat. I took the car to a tire place that took the tire off the rim . . ..which caused a waterfall of liquid to come out . . . .The technician dried the rim and the tire out . . repaired the tire (had a screw in it which made me use the fix-a-flat stuff to begin with) . . .and confirmed for me that the bend in the rim was cosmetic and minor on the inner lip. He said that it was no where near the balancing edge of the rim. After he re-mounted and balanced the tire . . . the car was amazing . .. .probably felt smoother than new . . .

I'm psyched because this car is too good not to be 100% on the highways.

Thanks again for all of your input.

 

Good to here you got it fixed. Some notes about the fix-a-flat for everybody:

1. Despite what the destructions may say, it is a temporary fix. Get to a dealer/tire shop. Be sure to tell the tech you used fix-a-flat, some of the older/cheaper brands can be dangerous (the original could actually explode if you deflated it too fast, but that mix isn't sold anymore).

2. The cold weather could have prevented the fix-a-flat from setting up properly. Hence the imbalance.

3. My can says "Do not use on Z rated tires." Also, it should not be used with flat tire sensors, it could mess up the sensors.



On-On
S&S

 

"...it should not be used with flat tire sensors, it could mess up the sensors."

Perhaps it is my own ignorance, but isn't the "flat tire sensor" nothing more than an rpm sensor associated with the ABS; it senses when one wheel is turning faster than the others ( due to low air pressure and thus a smaller rolling radius ) and sends the signal low tire to the computer. There is no hole in the rim for a pressure gauge to monitor air pressure - is there?