Tires Balanced -- what a difference!
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,100
Likes: 4
From: 34°0′34″N 95°30′53″W Indian Territory
Tires Balanced -- what a difference!
My '10 GS is almost 6 months old and I have right at 6,000 miles on it and yesterday I had the tires rebalanced. (I should have done it earlier...) This not being able to rotate tires is entirely new to me so I guess all one can do is keep a check on the tire pressure and keep them balanced. I had bought a set of pucks from a seller on Ebay (the genuine hockey puck variety with eye-hooks) and they worked well. The tire shop didn't even attempt to put my car across the floor lift and worked on my car with it sitting on the concrete outside the building. 
They did a terrific job but it seemed a little expensive at $60... 
Today I got to drive up our local "Autobahn" (the Indian Nation Turnpike) and the car drove a whole lot smoother than it ever has -- it makes me wonder if the tires weren't very well balanced from the beginning. While on my buyer's tour my guide showed the the semi trailer the tires & wheels arrive in -- they feed out automatically and are loaded in the order they will go on the cars being built. I didn't think to ask where they came there from. Everything about my car was much smoother feeling -- steering & ride.
Just had to share!
They did a terrific job but it seemed a little expensive at $60... Today I got to drive up our local "Autobahn" (the Indian Nation Turnpike) and the car drove a whole lot smoother than it ever has -- it makes me wonder if the tires weren't very well balanced from the beginning. While on my buyer's tour my guide showed the the semi trailer the tires & wheels arrive in -- they feed out automatically and are loaded in the order they will go on the cars being built. I didn't think to ask where they came there from. Everything about my car was much smoother feeling -- steering & ride.
Just had to share!
Last edited by Supercrewbear; Aug 15, 2010 at 09:55 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 25,015
Likes: 2,709
From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
My experience was similar to the Bear. Our 2009 never seemed quite as smooth as our identical 2006, finally had the Supercars rebalanced (Discount Tires, Hunter balancer) at about 10k miles and the car is much smoother.
Discount Tires would have cracked the rocker panels if i hadn't intervened, so keep an eye on anyone lifting the car.
Discount Tires would have cracked the rocker panels if i hadn't intervened, so keep an eye on anyone lifting the car.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 4,024
Likes: 13
From: Loveland CO to Central Coast CA
You might also consider getting a wheel alignment.
My 09 didn't track well on the highway, tended to veer right. Local dealer aligned it at no charge under warranty... that was done a week after I bought it new.
2 years later the highway tracking is still great. And tire wear is very even.
My 09 didn't track well on the highway, tended to veer right. Local dealer aligned it at no charge under warranty... that was done a week after I bought it new.
2 years later the highway tracking is still great. And tire wear is very even.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,100
Likes: 4
From: 34°0′34″N 95°30′53″W Indian Territory
You might also consider getting a wheel alignment.
My 09 didn't track well on the highway, tended to veer right. Local dealer aligned it at no charge under warranty... that was done a week after I bought it new.
2 years later the highway tracking is still great. And tire wear is very even.
My 09 didn't track well on the highway, tended to veer right. Local dealer aligned it at no charge under warranty... that was done a week after I bought it new.
2 years later the highway tracking is still great. And tire wear is very even.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 25,015
Likes: 2,709
From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
You might also consider getting a wheel alignment.
My 09 didn't track well on the highway, tended to veer right. Local dealer aligned it at no charge under warranty... that was done a week after I bought it new.
2 years later the highway tracking is still great. And tire wear is very even.
My 09 didn't track well on the highway, tended to veer right. Local dealer aligned it at no charge under warranty... that was done a week after I bought it new.
2 years later the highway tracking is still great. And tire wear is very even.
This is our third new Corvette, I take each one in for an alignment check at about 2k miles. You need to say something like "it handles funny on the highway, I think the alignment is off." That gets it covered by warranty if you are between something like 1k and 10k miles (the dealer should know).
Each of our new Corvettes has had at least one setting that was outside the specs, some of them were seriously out.
Pro
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 549
Likes: 1
My 2010 GS had the alignment done at 2500 miles and it was out, make sure you use a newer top model alignment machine, our large wheels and tires can be an issue for older machines, and make sure the guy knows what he is doing, so important.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
You might also consider getting a wheel alignment.
My 09 didn't track well on the highway, tended to veer right. Local dealer aligned it at no charge under warranty... that was done a week after I bought it new.
2 years later the highway tracking is still great. And tire wear is very even.
My 09 didn't track well on the highway, tended to veer right. Local dealer aligned it at no charge under warranty... that was done a week after I bought it new.
2 years later the highway tracking is still great. And tire wear is very even.
As to tire balancing, I think it's similar to (but not exactly the same as) alignments: there is no such thing as a balance that's good forever. Tires wear, different road surfaces, different tire pressures, different weather conditions, different weights in the car and BOOM! the tire(s) is slightly out of balance. It doesn't take thousands of miles, either.
But Super's warning is a good one: if we want those tires to last, it will take some maintenance and not just looking at the DIC.
I guess that kinda goes for the rest of the car, too, now that I think about it.
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Team Owner
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 41,732
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From: Springfield MO
My '10 GS is almost 6 months old and I have right at 6,000 miles on it and yesterday I had the tires rebalanced. (I should have done it earlier...) This not being able to rotate tires is entirely new to me so I guess all one can do is keep a check on the tire pressure and keep them balanced. I had bought a set of pucks from a seller on Ebay (the genuine hockey puck variety with eye-hooks) and they worked well. The tire shop didn't even attempt to put my car across the floor lift and worked on my car with it sitting on the concrete outside the building. They did a terrific job but it seemed a little expensive at $60...
Today I got to drive up our local "Autobahn" (the Indian Nation Turnpike) and the car drove a whole lot smoother than it ever has -- it makes me wonder if the tires weren't very well balanced from the beginning. While on my buyer's tour my guide showed the the semi trailer the tires & wheels arrive in -- they feed out automatically and are loaded in the order they will go on the cars being built. I didn't think to ask where they came there from. Everything about my car was much smoother feeling -- steering & ride.
Just had to share!
They did a terrific job but it seemed a little expensive at $60... Today I got to drive up our local "Autobahn" (the Indian Nation Turnpike) and the car drove a whole lot smoother than it ever has -- it makes me wonder if the tires weren't very well balanced from the beginning. While on my buyer's tour my guide showed the the semi trailer the tires & wheels arrive in -- they feed out automatically and are loaded in the order they will go on the cars being built. I didn't think to ask where they came there from. Everything about my car was much smoother feeling -- steering & ride.
Just had to share!