I know this has been beat to death, but I gotta see if anyone has any thoughts here that I might have missed searching the forums.

I am on a second set of tires, Avon Tech m550's, after replacing a set of Firestone Wide Ovals, due to balancing issues. The Avons have also developed a steering wheel shake at around 65mph+. The tires were smooth as glass when new and it lasted about 800 miles. They were Hunter Road Force balanced, and it was determined a tire was out of spec. Replaced the tire, did a Road Force balance on all four again, and all where within spec. But I still have a shake at 65mph+, no difference. I do notice the car has been pulling to the right at about the same speeds as the shaking. Does anyone think it could be an alignment issue? The car was realigned when I had the tires mounted and balances originally. I don't think it is the brake rotors being warped, but I can't be sure. I am taking it to the dealer, as this is really annoying to have a new car with this issue, as you who have had this issue know.

Is there anything else other than rotors, balancing, or alignment that I am missing here? I know the dealer will try to say that it is a tire issue, but can the Hunter Road Force Machine be wrong? Any input would be appreciated.

I am also asking them to look at a metallic clicking I hear from time to time when I shift from Park to Reverse, or Drive with the automatic. I think I saw there was an issue with the 05's and something realated to clicking in the rear axle??

 

[QUOTE]First, the lecture . . . I hate to tell you this, but I believe it's the tire brand. This is the classic case of where saving money ends up costing time and money. The upshot is that tires are by far the #1 most important investment for grip and safety for any car, but especially for a performance car.

Firestone and Avon are cheaper and off-brand tires that just don't have the quality controls that name brand tires do; hence, the:

1) difficulty in balancing
2) out of spec tire brand new
3) pulling to the right issue (known as a radial pull)
4) lasting about 800 miles before performance degrades.

Your solution is to buy high quality performance tires that you should have bought in the first place: Michelin, Bridgestone, Yokohama, even Goodyear. Also, don't forget to get a 4 wheel alignment any time you replace all 4 tires (and of course balancing using adhesive weights, not the hammer on type).



Warped rotors would not cause shaking, and would only create pulling upon braking, not when cruising.

 

yeah, i have heard this lecture, and yet so many reviews on tirerack.com have been positive on the avons. that's why i went with them. it really wasn't a dollar thing, more of a "everybody loves them" thing. but i agree i may have made a mistake here. i will wait to see what the dealer says, and then talk to tire rack again. they have offered to replace the tires for full credit. but i really don't know what to put on this car in the original size, 215/55-17, or the often used 235/50-17 size. or try a 225/55-17? only thing i do know is that i don't what the eagle rs-a's on the car......

 

Your only option with the stock rims is the Goodyear GS-D's that came as original equipment on my Sport Tuned Suspension car. I did the research, and the 235 option is too wide in my opinion and the 225 was too tall.

The GS-D's are fine, but wanted something more cost effective and wanted a different look so I swapped out the rims to 18 x 7.5 and put on 225/45/18's of which there are plenty of options. In Yokohama, this size is near equal in number of rotations to the stock tires so there were no VDC or odometer issues. Though I paid slightly more overall because I had to buy rims, I will save money long term because of my tire options. I also did not want to be reliant on tire availabiliy of an oddball like the GS-D.