sleepwalker
Member
- :
- 2010 Mazda CX-7 i Sport
Okay, this might be a little bit of a read, because it's a recurring problem that I've been trying to fix as the money was there to fix it. I promise I'm trying to keep it concise. (Ninja Edit for background info - 2003 MP5, MTX, stock except cheap Ebay SRI)
About 2 years ago, I needed 2 new tires. I took it to the TLE at my then-local WalMart and asked to have the front tires replaced, and mount the new ones on the rear of the car, and move the rear ones (which still had quite decent tread) to the front. After a while they paged me back to inform me that one of the rear tires (about to be mounted on the front) had a broken belt in it and, well, I wound up replacing that one, too. So, now, the driver front tire is the only old one.
Sometime thereafter I noticed a strange vibration. I don't remember exactly, because it was a while ago, but I think it showed up *after* I had the three tires put on. It felt to me like a bad tire (which seemed plausible since the tire in question was the same brand as the one that had a broken band last time), and a little over a year ago, I took it to a different tire shop (because they had a cheaper tire than WalMart, and I was damn near broke). They mounted the tire on the wheel, put it on the balancing machine, and 40 minutes later, took it off the balancing machine and informed me that they think my wheel is bent, because they can *NOT* get this damn thing to balance.
I was unable to get a new wheel until about 2 months ago. New wheel in hand, I went to my now-local WalMart's TLE to have the tire swaped onto the new wheel. After they removed the tire from the supposedly-bent wheel, they put the bare wheel on the balancing machine - it's straight as a freakin' arrow. So is the new one. And since I have a new wheel, I just had them put the tire on the new one, with a sinking suspicion forming. Sure enough, the vibration was still there on the new wheel.
So about 2 weeks ago, when I got paid, I went and got a new tire put on the driver front wheel, thinking maybe the cheapo tire the other shop sold me was out-of-round to begin with, which is why they couldn't balance it. Unfortunately, no, a new tire didn't do it. Still shaking.
Last weekend I also replaced the brakes and rotors. Not because I thought it would fix the shake, I just needed to do it. But while I was doing it, I noticed that the driver REAR tire - which is the same age as two other tires, which both look fantastic - is worn really funny. Like, the inside of the tread is worn down more than the outside of the tread, but at the outside of the tread, there are some individual tread blocks that are worn down more than the ones immediately next to them.
Sooo, I'm thinking I might have an issue with the driver REAR wheel/tire/suspension/something. Which is frustrating, since it's felt like it's coming from the front left all this time.
But the shaking itself is weird, too. It's mostly in the body of the car - the steering wheel sits pretty solid, no left-right shimmy, although it vibrates with the rest of the car. At low speeds, below 40, it's there, but not very noticeable. Between 45 and 55 it starts to get pretty severe. At 60 I start fearing for my safety. And at right around 68, it almost completely goes away. (For our Canadian friends, that's all MPH.
)
So... to sum it all up - WTF?
(tl;dr - stupid vibration, spent a lot of money fixing things on the front, now I think it's in the back - looking for someone who's had a similar experience.)
About 2 years ago, I needed 2 new tires. I took it to the TLE at my then-local WalMart and asked to have the front tires replaced, and mount the new ones on the rear of the car, and move the rear ones (which still had quite decent tread) to the front. After a while they paged me back to inform me that one of the rear tires (about to be mounted on the front) had a broken belt in it and, well, I wound up replacing that one, too. So, now, the driver front tire is the only old one.
Sometime thereafter I noticed a strange vibration. I don't remember exactly, because it was a while ago, but I think it showed up *after* I had the three tires put on. It felt to me like a bad tire (which seemed plausible since the tire in question was the same brand as the one that had a broken band last time), and a little over a year ago, I took it to a different tire shop (because they had a cheaper tire than WalMart, and I was damn near broke). They mounted the tire on the wheel, put it on the balancing machine, and 40 minutes later, took it off the balancing machine and informed me that they think my wheel is bent, because they can *NOT* get this damn thing to balance.
I was unable to get a new wheel until about 2 months ago. New wheel in hand, I went to my now-local WalMart's TLE to have the tire swaped onto the new wheel. After they removed the tire from the supposedly-bent wheel, they put the bare wheel on the balancing machine - it's straight as a freakin' arrow. So is the new one. And since I have a new wheel, I just had them put the tire on the new one, with a sinking suspicion forming. Sure enough, the vibration was still there on the new wheel.
So about 2 weeks ago, when I got paid, I went and got a new tire put on the driver front wheel, thinking maybe the cheapo tire the other shop sold me was out-of-round to begin with, which is why they couldn't balance it. Unfortunately, no, a new tire didn't do it. Still shaking.
Last weekend I also replaced the brakes and rotors. Not because I thought it would fix the shake, I just needed to do it. But while I was doing it, I noticed that the driver REAR tire - which is the same age as two other tires, which both look fantastic - is worn really funny. Like, the inside of the tread is worn down more than the outside of the tread, but at the outside of the tread, there are some individual tread blocks that are worn down more than the ones immediately next to them.
Sooo, I'm thinking I might have an issue with the driver REAR wheel/tire/suspension/something. Which is frustrating, since it's felt like it's coming from the front left all this time.
But the shaking itself is weird, too. It's mostly in the body of the car - the steering wheel sits pretty solid, no left-right shimmy, although it vibrates with the rest of the car. At low speeds, below 40, it's there, but not very noticeable. Between 45 and 55 it starts to get pretty severe. At 60 I start fearing for my safety. And at right around 68, it almost completely goes away. (For our Canadian friends, that's all MPH.
)So... to sum it all up - WTF?
(tl;dr - stupid vibration, spent a lot of money fixing things on the front, now I think it's in the back - looking for someone who's had a similar experience.)
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