Bat Man

Alright saturday night, I came back to my friends house, got in my car and left. Suddenly I felt this weird thumping feeling from my tires, that radiated up my steering wheel.
IT feels like a stick is or a big rock is stuck perpendicular to my tires.
So when it goes over a certain spot it makes the thumping/thud noise.
ITs really bad at low speeds, not bad at the high speeds.

But its really annoying.


Also I think i need an alignment, if i let go of the steering wheel it wanders to the right big time.

What specifications should I get it aligned to?

Jeffvette

Might have chucked a wheel weight....or hit a pothole and dented the rim, although those seem like it would be a high speed problem. But a possibility

vader86

sounds like somethings badly out of balance, you sure you didnt dent the rim? are your tires warping or anything?

bogus

could be a bad wheel bearing... how many miles???

merrick

If your ABS malfunctioned, you may have a flat spotted tire. Or a bubble on the tire (broken reinforcement plies)

Bat Man

I have 128k miles.
Its extremely annoying. Where should i take it? Chevy dealer? Or just a tire/alignment shop?

Nathan Plemons

Personally I would take it to a good tire shop and have them check out the tires / wheels for balance, etc. If they find everything to be alright then you might take it to chevy, but I'm willing to bet the tire place will find your problem.


[Modified by Nathan Plemons, 3:49 PM 12/4/2001]

Ed Ut

First thing that came to my mind was a bubble on the tire. :confused:

Fastguy

Yup, sounds about right. Mine was thumping, worse when the tires were cold. They were just beat up and out of round dry rotted craptacular tires.

Bat Man

From what I hear my tires are pretty good, Pilot GT's.

Also my left rear tire, on of the lug nuts is stripped :( I'm guessing the tire shop can still get that off?
I can't tell whether the thumping is coming from the rear or front.

Also how much will a good tire shop charge for the fix?

Steve85

Whatever shop you go to make sure they have a Hunter 9700. This is the most advanced vibration control system out there. It will measure road force, tire and wheel roudness and rim runout, all possible causes. We have had many customers go to wheel/tire shops that don't have this machine ($$$) only to return with new tires and still a vibration. This machine can also find the high and low spots on the tire and rim and determine exactly where the tire should be mounted on the rim. Best of luck.

LT4Abe

If you have the Low Tire Pressure Warning System, maybe one of them came apart. It happened on my car, and it felt like it was going to fall apart. Just my 2 cents.

6spd89

Sounds like a tire to me.The lugs you can take off yourself and have a
shop press them out.
Matt

Bat Man

My car is an 88 so thats not a possibility