Tires are out-of-round

[Yousuf Khan]

I went on vacation for a couple of months, and left my Outback sitting inside my garage during that time. Got back and there is a severe vibration in the steering above 90kph (55mph). Took it to the dealership to have them rebalance the tires, and they came back and said that it can't be rebalanced, everytime they add weight to it in the balancing machine it asks for more weight to be added. They suggested that the tires are "out of round". Now these are expensive tires (Nokians) and I'd rather not have to completely replace them. I was wondering if there was an accepted way of getting tires back into round. I was thinking that maybe I would overinflate them to say about 45psi or something and leave them that way for a couple of weeks of normal usage. Would this work?

Yousuf Khan

 

[TT]

Uh, don't overinflate. That's a serious safety compromise.

You may be able to have the tire "trued" or shaved to put it back in round?

Take it as a lesson learned and next time you leave your car sitting for months, put it on blocks or have somebody come by & drive/move it every couple of days.

Tires are an important part of vehicle safety. I personally would replace all the tires.

-T

 

[Frank Logullo]

I went on vacation for a couple of months, and left my Outback sitting inside my garage during that time. Got back and there is a severe vibration in the steering above 90kph (55mph). Took it to the dealership to have them rebalance the tires, and they came back and said that it can't be rebalanced, everytime they add weight to it in the balancing machine it asks for more weight to be added. They suggested that the tires are "out of round". Now these are expensive tires (Nokians) and I'd rather not have to completely replace them. I was wondering if there was an accepted way of getting tires back into round. I was thinking that maybe I would overinflate them to say about 45psi or something and leave them that way for a couple of weeks of normal usage. Would this work?

This used to be a problem with tires with nylon tire cord. I was called flat spotting and related to nylons glass transition temperature. Spots would iron out after running on the road for a while. Your's too may return to normal. The higher pressure may also help.
Frank

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Uh, don't overinflate. That's a serious safety compromise.

Why would it be a safety compromise. Don't these cars come out of the factory floor with heavily overinflated tires while they are being shipped or transported to their destiny?

You may be able to have the tire "trued" or shaved to put it back in round?

Take it as a lesson learned and next time you leave your car sitting for months, put it on blocks or have somebody come by & drive/move it every couple of days.

Tires are an important part of vehicle safety. I personally would replace all the tires.

Actually, I did arrange to have it driven around from time to time while I was away, but the person who was supposed to do it (my brother) never did it.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Guest]

Yousuf Khan wrote:

rebalanced, everytime they add weight to it in the balancing machine it asks for more weight to be added. They suggested that the tires are "out of

Why would extended sitting around change the weight distribution of the tires? Is there some leak sealant inside that flowed down and collected on the bottom?

 

[TT]

It has nothing to do with weight distribution. The shape of the tire has changed causing an inability to balance and a vibration at speed.

Check this link out for a device which you put under your car tires to prevent flatspotting.

http://www.tirecradle.com/tcradle.htm

If you leave a car sit long enough, the tires will get flat spots/go out of round. It just happens. I don't know why. I have had it happen on my restored VW bug and a honda that I have parked indefinitely.

-T

 

[David (2)]

I had a car sitting with a flat for awhile. Pumped it up. It thumped a little at first then behaved like a round tire and worked fine. It was an old belted, bias-ply tire, on an old car, a long time ago, so modern tires may behave differently. But mine bacame round again pretty quickly.

Good luck.

 

[TW-Ohio]

Re: Tires are out-of-round

Why would it be a safety compromise (that *was* a question, right?) ? Don't these cars come out of the factory floor with heavily overinflated tires while they are being shipped or transported to their destiny?

Maybe, but doubtful as it would serve no purpose as the US built cars make it to the dealers in as little as 1-3 days, and the imported Subies can make it to the US midwest in 10-14 days from their build date in Japan. Neither of our Indiana-built Legacies were driven with more than 14 miles on the odometer prior to delivery.

Actually, I did arrange to have it driven around from time to time while I was away, but the person who was supposed to do it (my brother) never did it.
Yousuf Khan

Good advice.. Well, except for your brother! Use my neighbor - he always moves my old heap to the other side or end of the drive - just to keep the appearance of someone being in the house! But if the tire became permanently flatspotted I'd complan to your dealer (which you've already done) or then to Bridgestone and ask for replacements or at least a decent discount on the next set. Terry - '02 Regatta-Red 5spd Legacy GT wagon, 29,000 miles, Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack. '03 Silver Legacy SE auto-sedan - 6150 miles. '85 CH250 - 4060miles! To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

 

[CompUser]

Why would extended sitting around change the weight distribution of the tires? Is there some leak sealant inside that flowed down and collected on the bottom?

Sounds like they "flat-spotted". The RE-92 OEMs
on my WRX do that if they sit even 24
hours...takes about a mile before it abates.

I'd try the inflating em to max sidewall pressure
and driving for a week or so. If that doesn't do
it, they're probably done for.

Steve

 

[Edward Hayes]

I would set tire pressure to the maximum pressure indicated on the sidewall and leave it and drive it for a few days and your trouble may go away. If the tires have nylon in the cords, the nylon will stretch causing your problem and should go away. If this doesn't work contact the tire manufacture for advice or in retrospect may do this first. Depending on tire mileage you may have a warranty issue. Repost here to keep us informed. Ed

 

[Rick Courtright]

them to say about 45psi or something and leave them that way for a couple of weeks of normal usage. Would this work?

Hi,

Don't know if it will work with your tires, since this is definitely a YMMV situation, but I've had tires on a car that sits for months at a time (not on blocks) "round out" after a couple of weeks of normal inflation and use. You might try this, keeping the speed below the vibration point as much as possible, before going for new tires. (Those who were around in the days of nylon cord, bias ply tires may remember this as being almost a daily problem!) I've heard of people shaving tires with varying degrees of success, but I think it worked better for a tire that was made out of round as opposed to being flat-spotted from sitting.

Good luck!

Rick

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Yousuf Khan wrote:

Why would extended sitting around change the weight distribution of the tires? Is there some leak sealant inside that flowed down and collected on the bottom?

Yes, actually there was some leak sealant in that tire. Would that cause that much of a difference?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Don't know if it will work with your tires, since this is definitely a YMMV situation, but I've had tires on a car that sits for months at a time (not on blocks) "round out" after a couple of weeks of normal inflation and use. You might try this, keeping the speed below the vibration point as much as possible, before going for new tires. (Those who were around in the days of nylon cord, bias ply tires may remember this as being almost a daily problem!) I've heard of people shaving tires with varying degrees of success, but I think it worked better for a tire that was made out of round as opposed to being flat-spotted from sitting.

Well, the vibration point seems to start just around my normal highway speeds (55mph and above), so keeping it below that speed would darn near impossible, considering the local traffic patterns.

But I will try the inflate to maximum technique you suggested.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Guest]

If you mean the leak sealant that you spray into the tire through the valve, then yes it does make a difference. That stuff can totally mess up your balancing.... You need to clean out the gunk and re-balance the tires. Might fix your problem....

 

[Yousuf Khan]

If you mean the leak sealant that you spray into the tire through the valve, then yes it does make a difference. That stuff can totally mess up your balancing.... You need to clean out the gunk and re-balance the tires. Might fix your problem....

Actually, just talked to the service manager at the dealership and told him about the Gunk, and he said that they were all requiring more and more weight to be added, even though only one of them had the Gunk in them. He did note that the one of them was acting more funky than the others, which would likely be the one with the Gunk in it.

Yousuf Khan

 

[TT]

Keep in mind as tires heat up, so does the internal air pressure. I'd probably keep it 4 or 5 PSI below maximum to stay safe.

-T

 

[John O]

Keep in mind as tires heat up, so does the internal air pressure. I'd

probably keep it 4 or 5 PSI below maximum to stay safe.

Isn't the max pressure stated as cold pressure? That is, if my tires say 33 psi, I can safely inflate them to 33 when cold and not worry about when they heat up...they're designed to handle the increase.

-John O

 

[Rick Courtright]

psi, I can safely inflate them to 33 when cold and not worry about when they heat up...they're designed to handle the increase.

Yes. In fact, you will often see specific warnings AGAINST reducing pressure when the tires are hot.

Rick

 

[CompUser]

Yes, actually there was some leak sealant in that tire. Would that cause that much of a difference?

Oh, HALE yes!

That's probably your entire problem right there.

Steve

 

[Edward Hayes]

Right on John O. The maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall is the max recommended cold pressure. Ed Hayes