Rep Power: 0

So I been browsing in here lately and trying to gather some info.

My car just hit 30,000 miles and I needed to get new tires to pass inspection. I knew this ahead of time so on the advice from here I ordered some Michelin X-Ones all around and had them put on.

So I got them put on the other day. I get a hopping about 71-72 mph. Nothing really at 70 or 73. Problem is I generally set the cruise at 72 while on the highway. Argh.

Now w/ my old tires it was perfect. No hopping what-so-ever.

I had to work so my girlfriend went in and had them rebalanced for me. They claimed they were fine before and were fine now. They used 2 different methods of balancing, one the first time and another the second time. They claim since I have factory rims (not steel ones, the double 5 spoke ones) that I will have to live w/ it if neither method fixes it.

Of course when I took it out on the highway it still hops ......

Now my questions are:

What are these two methods and whats different?

I read the FAQs about spinning the tire 180 degrees etc. Should this be my next possible thing to try? Why, why not?

What else can I do?

It seems to be the left front mostly. Should I swap this tire to the back where it might be less noticable?


Thanks guys ....

 
Rep Power: 450

id go back to the shop yourself and tell them to do their job correctly

 
Rep Power: 425

The 2 methods are static balancing and dynamic balancing.
Static they balance it with the wheel still (check one side, roll it around and do it again)
Dynamic is when they spin the wheel up to what it would run at 35 MPH and then get the balance read out.

I don't know anything about these tires, so tell me this:
Are they directional
What PSI are they set to
Are there weights on the inside and outside lip? or did they use stickons?

I would suggest you also make sure the torque is even. It sounds odd that they'll shake at 71-72, but no where else.

and when you say "hops", do you mean the steering wheel shakes?
Consider an alignment. That should probably solve the problem, especially if you killed a set of tires in 30K.

 
Rep Power: 0

Tires: http://michelinman.com/catalog/tires/MichelinXOne.html

They are non-directional ....seemed to be rated really well.

Originally the honda dealer used stick-on weights. I haven't looked to see what this place uses. I would assume they have to use stick-on since I have factory rims. There is no lip ...

Maybe I should just go to the regular honda dealer and see what they can do for me? They might know slightly better what they can and can't do.

 
Rep Power: 425

I'm willing to bet the Honda Dealer doesn't no ****. They never do. I would call a good tire place like Tire Rack and see what they say. They know their stuff and if you can describe it well enough they should be able to help you.
If they balanced the last time, then these should balance out too. It may be the alignment. My mom's car shook because the alignment was off.... it explained why re-balancing them 4 times didn't do anything. If you haven't had one yet, its a good idea to get it done anyways.

 
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By hopping, are you talking about steering wheel shake? If yes, then I'm pretty sure it's a balancing issue and not an alignment issue.

I've got Michelin X-Ones with my stock alloys. I love em... smooth and quiet, and rated for 80,000 miles (!!) . A bit expensive, but worth it.

Make sure they do dynamic balancing for you ... static balancing sucks and are done by lazy ***-wipes. And make sure they use stick-on weights if you've got no lip. Sometimes I've had to go back more than once to get the balancing done right.

You can actually see if the weights are stuck on properly by looking through your rims. There should be a line of small flat square weights lined up in a row. They should be very close to the outside of the wheel (i.e., the air valve side), and NOT in the middle or towards the inner side.

 
Rep Power: 0

What about the idea about rotating the tire 180 degrees on the rim?

 
Rep Power: 425

Thats not going to do anything. If the tire is not balanced (like a defect from the mold), you'll just move it to the other edge of the rim. They're Bi-directional. How the tire is mounted should have no bearing on this, unless it's not mounted straight on the rim, which is unlikely.