Good Tires Please!
 

For the longest time I have been having troubles with steering wheel vibration while braking and handling. My gf had some low profiles that she had kept in the garage for ten years. I didn't know this at the time and I proceeded to install them hopeing it would rid me of my handling issues. Of course the worst happened and one of the tires fell right off of my car while I was doing 80 at 8am with a coffee in my hands. One of my other tires went flat twice, so I had it pacthed. I realized this was a horrible mistake, so I took the car to the local tire place and they hooked me up with two new Riken Raptors and two used Bf Goodwrench. Since I was broke at the time, I couldn't do four new tires. Since my tire flew off, the rim was severly damaged as well. I just recently fixed the rim, but was still having bad handling and steering wheel tremours when I hit the brakes. I finally bucked up and got the matching Riken Raptors for the rear. The installer also pointed out that I had another rim that was dented, so he moved it to the rear of the car. She is now driving like her first day off of the line. I cannot stress the importance of good tires, rotors, and rims! I also recently switched out my front struts and rear shocks. That and with the addition of the CAI, I've never been happier with my TI's performance! I just hope I don't have any more issues within the near future. My wallet can't handle it.

If you don't mind me asking, why exactly were you doing 80mph? o_O

Anyways, I'm glad you got this resolved. I hope nothing severe happened.

Are you serious?:confused: Something severe did happen, his tire came off the wheel, I would say that is pretty severe.

Why was he doing 80? Hmmm, 8am, coffee in hand, maybe he was racing a lamborghini...yeah, that's it.:rolleyes:


Anyways, glad you finally got the steering wheel shake solved, it is one of the most annoying things. Rotors and control arm bushings just helped me solve that problem on the Jetta.

Ten year old tires were probably dry rotted and cracked.
Gotta torque those wheels.

Is something wrong with going 80? Even if it's 10 or 15 over the limit.
I assume on a highway.

Rubber should be replaced every 6-10 years based on production date, regardless of wear.

Production date is the 4 digit number after the DOT stamp, first two numbers being the week of the year and the second two being the year.

If you have a 3 digit code I'd suggest replacing them.

Or if in Roman Numerals. :)
Especially look at snows for those who have winter tires since you can easily get several years out of a set.

LMAO!!! I'd have to agree, tire coming off wheel at speed is probably one of the most severe things that could happen at that moment in time:eek:

Your car could go 80mph too if you'ld remove that hood scoop:tongue::icon_poke J/K but seriously...

I had a pretty serious wheel shake at speed issue prior to dismantling my car for the engine swap. Since then, I've installed new tie rods and ball joints but the car hasn't been on the road yet. Bushings seem to be in good shape and an alignment is first on the list once the thing is running.

Another experience I had when I lived in Europe, had 2 bent rear wheels on one of my bimmers. Every time it would get cold at night, my tires would go flat. This was due to the tire pressure dropping so low that the bead was unable to hold a seal on the bent wheels. Had to deal with this for several weeks while I waited for my tires to arrive from tirerack(much cheaper than overseas tire prices). Finally my tires arrived(khumo ecsta supra 712's) and I had the wheels straightened. With fresh rubber and true wheels, I was back in business, so I thought. Part of my daily commute was on back country roads at 4am. I often drove speeds in excess of 150mph(240kph)!!! One morning about a week after installing the new tires, I was driving to work when all of a sudden over the screaming engine, I heard an explosion and my car became very unstable. I managed to maintain control and pull over to the side of the road. I discovered that one of my rear tires had blown out. Upon further investigation, I noticed that the 3 remaining tires had golfball sized bubbles protruding from the inner sidewalls:eek: Needless to say, the car remained parked until my new tires arrived(yokohama parada spec2's). These tires had a much stiffer sidewall and protected the rims well. The wheel that had the blowout was severely damaged and was eventually replaced. Here in the states my cars will never see those speeds, however I'm still very particular when it comes to tires. Speed ratings are nothing to take lightly.

I was talking about the coffee spill smartass :rolleyes:
My dad once spilt hot water on his leg when he was a kid. You can still see the flesh underneath his skin today.
I've gone 125mph the first day I got it. And no, scoop is gonna stay. If the next owner doesn't want it, he can simply take it off. Unless someone funds me on a cf hood (don't worry, I won't do anything to it, including painting it), that's only when it would be coming off. Till then, NO.

Wow, first, I don't think that was too smart for several reasons, one just being it was the first day you had it. But besides that point, I figured that the gearing would limit our cars to 115 or so.

I dont think so buddy :_paper:. The car can only go up to 116mph because of the governer. Unless you have a chip or tune for the removal of the governer. Do you have a chip or tuned? I dont know who you were trying to impress.

Or going downhill.

you forgot to add a strong tailwind.

If you don't mind me asking, why exactly were you doing 125mph? o_O

Anyways, I'm glad you got this resolved. I hope nothing severe happened.

^^^LOL, nice!

[giggle] Thanks... I couldn't resist. Hypocrisy gets my attention lately. heh heh

Back to tires though...

Tires are one of the things you do NOT want to skimp on. When they fail, it's usually catastrophic (meaning the tire is destroyed)... and that's no fun.

I'd rather get tires rated one speed level above what the car can do, even if it costs a few dollars more.

Ironically, I've seen 2 blown tires on tour buses in the past couple of months. (1 rear, 1 front, yes I have photos, LOL) Even those expensive, heavy duty Michelins do fail occasionally, and it's not a fun experience for anyone involved.