It's my fault...

flyboyron · April 19, 2016

When I have the oil changed, I also have the tires rotated in hopes to get the most mileage out of them as possible.

I noticed this last week driving that I now have a steering wheel shimmy, that I feel a couple times a week.

My guess would be that with 63,000 miles on the truck, and even though I have had the tires rotated like I should, they have never been checked for balancing since the factory installed them.

I have checked the tread depth and I still have 2 - 3/32 tread above the wear bars, so I am going to have the tires balanced and then just leave them where they are until I replace them.

Next set of tires, I am going to have them balanced at 25 - 30,000 mile intervals.

Does that sound about right?

newdude · April 19, 2016

Sometimes when they get worn that low they can vibrate/shake. Could have a belt starting to shift maybe even. I'd start with a balance and go from there.

crankman · April 20, 2016

I think thats a good idea, I threw a tire weight while back could feel it at a certain speed everyday. Having your tires rebalanced is not a bad idea at all with the price of truck tires hitting a grand for 4 new ones.

dsr611 · April 21, 2016

My wife's Tahoe developed a shimmy at about 35K miles...took it to the dealer since it was still under warranty. They said the tire was starting to separate and offered me the same tires that were on it for right at $900. No thanks. Left the dealer and went to the tire shop I use and had them put new tires on it for about $250 less and got better tires. They called be back to the shop to show me the old tires and 2 of them were coming completely apart inside

I have mine balanced every time I have them rotated (the place I normally buy tires has a lifetime rotation/balance built into the road hazard warranty cost).

25000-30000 mile intervals between rebalancing? I wouldn't go any longer than every other rotation

FL335i · April 21, 2016

43k on my '14. Still running factory SRA's, factory balanced. Runs smooth. I force balance my tires on a Hunter 9700 or better (other vehicles in the past). If the shop won't let me witness it, then I find a new shop. I think most tires last around 60k. I can't justify spending $100 for re-balancing every 15k. I can see maybe at the tires "half life point" re-balance them. So if your tire starts life with 15/32", around 7 or 8/32" re-balance. That's it. Beyond that it's a waste of money. I'm tracking to hit about 75k on my factory SRA's. Few years back I had a company issued Pontiac G6 with steel wheels and tiger paw tires. I took care of them by checking the pressure bi-weekly and doing the proper rotation myself at oil changes of about 7,500mi. I got 83k out of those factory tiger paw tires. And they still had 3/32" left. It's funny how I've never met a dealership who does the proper GM rotation. They give me that line of 1980 crap about front to back. On my '14 truck and wife's '15 Enclave I use a paint marker to indicate where they should go. I told the SW that on my truck and it comes out with a Front to back. Back in it went. That's why I only used 2 of the 4 free oil changes my truck came with. Wasn't worth the time, hassle and BS. My wife's enclave came with 4 oil changes from GM and 2 from the dealer. So basically 3yrs. I paint mark hers and every time it goes in.... the writers make my wife call me so I can tell them I paint marked them for a reason. the Owner's manuals are very clear and unless they can provide me an amended owner's manual or TSB or something along those lines where GM issued an official change to what is in my two GM owner's manuals.... do it per the owner's manual as I've paint marked. They hate it. That's why I do all my own work. But I am taking advantage of the 3yrs of LOF's on my wife's buick.

flyboyron · April 23, 2016

I called a local Chevy dealer to ask how much they wanted to balance the tires. $ 90.00.

So I called a local Discount Tire shop and they wanted $60.00.

I called Costco and they said it was $5.00 a tire, so $20.00.

I went there this morning and got the tires balanced. They said the tires looked in good shape.

It may be my imagination but the truck does seem to ride smoother.

I would imagine after 65,000 miles the tires would be a little out of balance. I will leave the tires alone until I replace them which should be before winter.