identify radial tire?

Hi, I just have a set of Michellin tires put on my car, and I noticed
the car drifts to the right slightly. Well my car was drifting to the
right slightly after a tire rotation, and the tires were pretty worn,
so I decided to get new tires. But after the new tires were put on, it
still pull to the right.

So I went ahead and did an alignment at a local shop. Amazingly
enough, after the alignment, it still pulls to the right.

The damn shop, I thought to myself, so after a week I took it to my
dealer to have them do the balance. they adjusted it and it was
better, but the damn thing still pulls to the right slightly.

The steering wheel also vibrates slightly at high speed, even after
rebalancing at a trusted shop.

So after a few weeks of more driving, I decided to take it back to the
dealer again to have them check the alignment. They said they put it
on the 'slip meter' and the alignment were well within the spec. They
cross rotated the front tires and said now the car pulls to the left.
So they said it is a radial pull and caused by tire.

I took the car back today and noticed the pull to the right seems to
be less now. However I do notice the steering wheel seem to vibrate
just slightly more at high speed, 70-80....

I've never heard of this radial-pull so I did some research online. It
seems it could cause a pull, and might also cause vibration which
cannot be solved by balancing tire, which is what I am experiencing.
(my tires have been rebalanced 2 additional times due to the vibration
and the last one the shop said the balance was fine).

I plan to take it back to the shop that sold me the tires, as it is
still within 2 months. How do I (or they) identify which one (or more
than one) is the one with the radial pull?

The dealer cross-rotated the front tires and now the vibration seems
to be a bit more at high speed, does this indicate it to be the left
front tire? (as it is closer to the steering wheel?) Could it be the
back tires?

Thanks a lot.

Raymond

VIBRATION --

You have a problem with either the tires or the balancing.

The car should have NO vibration at 6-80 mph.
Not in the steering, not in "the seat of your pants"
Either the tire balancing was done poorly,
or the tire (tires?!) itself is "out of round"

Had problem with new set of Michlin which had
vibration at 60-75.
One of the tires had about 2 oz of weight on one spot -
WAY too much for high quality tire!

After 3 re-trys and failures to get the balance right,
ended-up at another shop ( same chain ) to get the tires
balanced right.

Shop #1 had lousy machine. Shop #2 - OK.

If they **can't** get the vibration out, then the tire itself is bad.

BTW...Differential diagnosis of front vs rear out of balance is this:
Vibration felt in steering wheel = Front Wheels
Vibration felt in "the seat of your pants" = Rear Wheels
Vinration both places = Problem both ends

As to this whole theory about ** radial-pull **
It's news to me. What's it supposed to be???

Rick



--
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
One machine can do the combined work of fifty ordinary men.
There is no machine that can do the work of one extraordinary man.

wrote:
>
> Hi, I just have a set of Michellin tires put on my car, and I noticed
> the car drifts to the right slightly. Well my car was drifting to the
> right slightly after a tire rotation, and the tires were pretty worn,
> so I decided to get new tires. But after the new tires were put on, it
> still pull to the right.
>
> So I went ahead and did an alignment at a local shop. Amazingly
> enough, after the alignment, it still pulls to the right.
>
> The damn shop, I thought to myself, so after a week I took it to my
> dealer to have them do the balance. they adjusted it and it was
> better, but the damn thing still pulls to the right slightly.
>
> The steering wheel also vibrates slightly at high speed, even after
> rebalancing at a trusted shop.
>
> So after a few weeks of more driving, I decided to take it back to the
> dealer again to have them check the alignment. They said they put it
> on the 'slip meter' and the alignment were well within the spec. They
> cross rotated the front tires and said now the car pulls to the left.
> So they said it is a radial pull and caused by tire.
>
> I took the car back today and noticed the pull to the right seems to
> be less now. However I do notice the steering wheel seem to vibrate
> just slightly more at high speed, 70-80....
>
> I've never heard of this radial-pull so I did some research online. It
> seems it could cause a pull, and might also cause vibration which
> cannot be solved by balancing tire, which is what I am experiencing.
> (my tires have been rebalanced 2 additional times due to the vibration
> and the last one the shop said the balance was fine).
>
> I plan to take it back to the shop that sold me the tires, as it is
> still within 2 months. How do I (or they) identify which one (or more
> than one) is the one with the radial pull?
>
> The dealer cross-rotated the front tires and now the vibration seems
> to be a bit more at high speed, does this indicate it to be the left
> front tire? (as it is closer to the steering wheel?) Could it be the
> back tires?
>
> Thanks a lot.
>
> Raymond

I've experienced radial pull on 3 occasions I can think of off hand. Usually
with less expensive tires but have seen it with name-brand (Goodrich - not good
namebrand but namebrand just the same). Anyway, in my case, car pulls to
right, swap front tires left to right and now car pulls left... I rotated
front to back and pretty much took care of the problem but in 2 cases, one of
the rear tires had the tread seperate soon after. I assume it is related but
not sure (as tread begins to seperate, the rolling resistance changes. You
cannot see it at first but becomes obvious when belt starts to break out).
Cannot say this is your problem since swapping tires didn't really help or
change the pull (unless they did really cross rotate them left rear to front
right, right rear to left front, and you have 2 bad tires). You may try
swapping fronts left to right again in the event they "cross rotated" more than
just the fronts.

bb

In rec.autos.tech Rick A. > wrote:

> BTW...Differential diagnosis of front vs rear out of balance is this:
> Vibration felt in steering wheel = Front Wheels
> Vibration felt in "the seat of your pants" = Rear Wheels
> Vinration both places = Problem both ends

> As to this whole theory about ** radial-pull **
> It's news to me. What's it supposed to be???

Thanks for the reply.

When they swapped the front tires, the pull to the right seems to be
less than before. the vibration on the steering wheel seem to be
slightly more.

radial-pull is a detect in the tire that can be caused by a some
number of tire problems, or so i've read. I do not know more than that.

The pull is not a lot, but noticible. driving on a highway at 70mph
going straight, the car will begin to drift to the right after about
3 seconds. seems to be less going down hill...

Raymond

wrote:
>
> In rec.autos.tech Rick A. > wrote:
>
> > BTW...Differential diagnosis of front vs rear out of balance is this:
> > Vibration felt in steering wheel = Front Wheels
> > Vibration felt in "the seat of your pants" = Rear Wheels
> > Vinration both places = Problem both ends
>
> > As to this whole theory about ** radial-pull **
> > It's news to me. What's it supposed to be???
>
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> When they swapped the front tires, the pull to the right seems to be
> less than before. the vibration on the steering wheel seem to be
> slightly more.
>
> radial-pull is a detect in the tire that can be caused by a some
> number of tire problems, or so i've read. I do not know more than that.
>
> The pull is not a lot, but noticible. driving on a highway at 70mph
> going straight, the car will begin to drift to the right after about
> 3 seconds. seems to be less going down hill...
>
> Raymond

You could be describing a bad ball joint or maybe sloppy tie rod end.

Roads have a crown that leans to the right so if something is sloppy it
will track down the bank....

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

...I've experienced radial pull on 3 occasions I can think of off hand.
Usually
...with less expensive tires but have seen it with name-brand
(Goodrich - not good
...namebrand but namebrand just the same). Anyway, in my case, car
pulls to
...right, swap front tires left to right and now car pulls left... I
rotated
...front to back and pretty much took care of the problem but in 2
cases, one of
...the rear tires had the tread seperate soon after.

Sounds like the BELTS on the radial tire have "moved"
.... tire falling apart shortly thereafter.

Radial Pull = a new name for Bad Belts ????

--
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
One machine can do the combined work of fifty ordinary men.
There is no machine that can do the work of one extraordinary man.