Scary tyre fit

VERYinterested

Yesterday I got two new tyres fitted to my car (05 Mondeo, Dunlop's) cost €110 each and the reason I was changing was the tyre on the front passenger side was wearing badly on the outside. Same on the back as I had the tyres changed back to front in October so there was obviously a problem with alignment. Was charged €50 to have the alignment done. Left it with them for the guts of an hour and called back to collect it. The place was busy, but I paid up and asked what was the optimum tyre pressure for my car as the manual raises as many questions as it answers. I was told 30 in the front and 32 in the back. He then thought for a moment and said, "Wait I think I put too much pressure in one of your front tyres" So I pull it around and he checks and lets out some air and off I go. Today I was going down to the in laws in Camolin and was looking forward to the drive with the Gorey bypass now open. After getting on the M50 at Sandyford and when I got passed the 60km speed limit at Carrickmines I was accellorating off up the road and noticed that when I went above 60km the steering wheel was shaking like mad. It seemed to improve slightly as we went on our merry way and at times got up to 100km but it was uncomfortable and decided to ease it back to 80km to stop the shudder. I pulled in at a garage to check the tyre pressure and in the front wheel on the driver's side it measured 46 and 39 on the passenger side. I let out air to bring these bullets back to 30. The drive improved somewhat but it still shuddered once I got up over 80km. So obviously this guy is half blind given that he can't read a pressure gauge (I pulled in to another garage just in case the first one hadn't got an incorrectly caibrated air hose) and as for the alignment?? Well I know my tyre was wearing but I never experienced this level of shuddering, none in fact. Should I demand the €50 back for alignment and go elsewhere or make him do it right? I could have had a bad accident today with the tyres 50% harder than they should have been on one side and not far off on the other.

colm_mcm

Complain to the owner.

VERYinterested

I think he is the owner, been there as long as I've been getting punctures fixed over the last 15 years. Seemed like a decent sort.

OKenora

Mistake 1: You checked your tyre pressures when the tyres were hot, they are always above the stated when hot. You should always check them cold, so you cannot rely on the wrong readings at all. If anything your tyre is now under inflated if it read correct when hot.

Mistake 2: You got new tyres, and an alignment, nowhere did you say you got the wheels balanced. I would have thought the garage would do a balance as a part of the tyre fitting service but it is a seperate job and if they were busy and you hadn't asked for it then they may not have done it. The symptoms you describe are 100% a wheel out of balance and what you need to do is go get them balanced.

Just for safety though, make sure all your wheel bolts are tight, if they are then go get it balanced, if they aren't go shout at the garage.

peasant

Shudder would usually be an indicator of something being amiss with the wheel balancing ...they probaly forgot that too.

stratos

I know this is hard to believe but tyre places I have come across charge extra for balancing and don't do it unless asked. Another place I arrived back early and they were statically balancing the wheels in my opinion not good enough. So maybe thats what happened, annoying though.

VERYinterested

Ok I checked the pressure just now and the front were at 28 so I gave them another 2 to bring back up to 30. But still, 46 and 39 were very high even if hot. I checked the bolts and they are all tight. I don't know if they balanced the wheels or not when they were aligning them. If it's important, they should do it without having to be asked, I wouldn't know but it's their job, that's why I gave them €270. I forgot to mention that the car is pulling to the left badly. Prior to getting the new tyres on Saturday none of these things were happening. Going back in the morning to get it sorted.

OKenora

Pulling (maybe better described as drifting) to the left on Irish roads is not unusual even in a properly aligned car due to the silly heavy cambers they tend to use. Having said that, heavy pulling or "diving" to the left would indicate alignment possibly being off.

Most tyre centres seem to balance wheels as part of changing tyres but a lot do not and treat it as an added extra. Wheel balancing is more important for comfort than safety, though long term use with tyres badly off balance could cause excessive wear to other compoments. It still is essentially more a comfort adjustment than anything else.

IMO any decent tyre centre should have done it as part of the service, not as an added optional extra.

Henry Ford III

Incorrect tyre pressures will not give a steering wheel wobble.

Suspect wheel balance, or perhaps worns bushes somewhere.

VERYinterested

Thanks for all the replies, it was reassuring. Went in to them and he had the grace to be mortified. (Yis were right) The balancing was way off, don't know why. I suspect they were so busy on Saturday it was overlooked. All fixed in 15 minutes, took it for a scorch on the M50 and it behaved impeccably over 120km/hr. He also pledged to throw his pressure gauge in the bin as it has been acting up lately. Happy camper again!

Henry Ford III

Delighted it worked out 100% for you.

stratos

Yes glad it worked out. Nice to get closure on a thread.