Towed Tire woes...

[Jim_HiTek]

Three years ago I bought some new tires for my towed car...14". A year after I bought them I banged into a low sharp edged parking lot wheel stop (aka parking chocks). Hit it hard, didn't see it and thought I could drive to the space further on. BANG.

Ever since then I've had a pretty bad shimmy above 45 MPH. So bad that I rarely drove over 60 MPH, even on the freeways. Had the balance checked several times after that and the shops always said the tires were bad, but I limped along with them.

Here in Idaho, I'm often on the I-84 and the section of freeway here has an 80 MPH speed limit. So as you can imagine, only going 60 MPH was a bit dangerous and not appreciated by my fellow drivers. Even the big semis. But it shook so bad above 60 I just wouldn't go above that.

OK, time I bit the bullet and yesterday had 4 new Ironman (Hercules brand stepchild tire) installed. And when the tech drove it out of the shop, noticed it had 2 large and one small balance weight on the drivers front wheel. Whoa. More weight then I've ever seen on a 14" wheel. Asked the tech if it was really that out of balance? He basically just shrugged.

Got on the freeway and had a small shimmy between 60 and 70 on the way to 80 but nice and smooth above 70.

Noticed later that the rear drivers wheel also had all those balance weights on it. The passenger side both wheels had 3 smaller weights. WTH?

Did not like all those weights on there so went back today for an eval. I thought it might be defective tires, or the balance machine out of whack. Turns out the kid used the wrong cone on the spin balance machine. The shop owner watched him and caught the mistake when they tested them again. Now they all only have one or two small weights. The owner was surprised I'd only had a small shimmy between 60-70, he thought it could have been much worse they were so far out of balance. Would have worn out the tires much quicker than the 40K miles they're suppose to get if I'd not gone back.

Anyway, moral of the story for your towed or even your RV tires & wheels: Trust your instincts.

[RD Eagle]

Wow what a surprise on your part. Glad you took it back. I have one shop I trade with and they are good, think I will keep them.

[NeilV]

You are fortunate you did not have a catastrophic tire failure as you likely damaged the belts in the tires when you hit the berms like that while towing the car. When you hit something like that you really need to get the tires, rims and alignment checked in short order especially if it has introduced a shimmy or shake.

[Jim_HiTek]

You are correct, Neil, but keep in mind that I had the tires 'inspected' by at least 5 shops over those 3 years. They would check the balance, even bust the tire and inspect inside the casing. 'Professional' shops per their own ad copies. Les Schwab (2 shops), Tire Pros, Discount Tire, and another I forget the name of.

All of those shops confirmed that the tires were OK to drive on but a couple did think that I should replace them...just not immediately. I'd always mention there was a shimmy and wanted the balance checked. None of them mentioned the tires were unsafe. If you can't trust tire shops, then who?

[NeilV]

If it shimmied then either the tires were bad or there was damage to the rims or alignment.

Too many shops only have one or two qualified techs working at them that are actually trained and certified unfortunately so just like going to a doctor who tells you that your fine even though your feeling lousy you have to push back and insist they find the root cause of the problem and correct it.

Those tires if they had a road hazard warranty should have been replaced under warranty the moment you brought them in with the shimmy. If you did not have a warranty they still should have driven the car, noted the shimmy and if it did not have alignment or balance issues they needed to have kept digging.

Its not that complicated and yes I would have to say those shops were incompetent and recklessly endangered you and your passengers.

You were fortunate that all you got was accelerated wear and tear on your cars suspension and other components from the long term excessive vibration and not a catastrophic blowout, etc.

Remember that an Ad Man is often also considered a "Professional Liar" so you have to be leery and your own advocate many times especially when you have symptoms of a major problem and the "Experts" tell you that nothing is wrong.


Glad you survived the incompetence of so many. Its a sad commentary on the state of the auto service industry and these big chain tire stores.