Hey guys,

4 Michelin Latitude Tour HP 265/60/18 on stock rims 10 days ago.

Vibrations continued after 4 balances at the tire shop.

Went to another shop for roadforce balance.

What a difference! Much much smoother.

What's bothering me is the report I was given.

Driver front 5lbs green
Pass front 19lbs yellow
Driver rear 19lbs yellow
Pass rear 54lbs red

The guy said the one tire is out, not the rim but he got it to balance. He was right feel good.

My questions:

1. Should I bring that 54lb tire back to the orig tire shop for replacement?
2. Am I correct I will never be able to rotate the tires ever?
3. Can I call Michelin and let them know about the one tire and ask them to replace it for me? I'd rather not deal with the original tire shop again, there were many issues with them.

Thanks in advance

Best,
Ton

I'm having a similar issue balancing my Michelins, the shop I bought them from is telling me one of my rims is warped, it's not, what exactly does the report mean, I'm not following what the report says...

"Driver front 5lbs green
Pass front 19lbs yellow
Driver rear 19lbs yellow
Pass rear 54lbs red"

What do the weights listed relate too/mean??

But to answer your question I would do whatever it takes to get the 54lb tire replaced, if that means contacting Michelin if you can't get the original shop to replace it then by all means contact Michelin to get the shop to replace it, my tires aren't the Latitudes, but they are still warranted for I think 60,000 miles, which I think your are similar or the same, either way that tire should be covered!!

As far as to if you can ever rotate the tires I would say yes but I would suggest asking the Tech who Road force balanced the tire that question, I would love hearing his reply as well.

AuSeeker,

Regarding your questions, I'll try to clear up for you.

1. "Hunter" is a very well know manufacturer of wheel balancing tools/machines. They make a model called the 9700 that has a feature called roadforce, it's an additional step added to the traditional balancing process that measures in pounds the force an imperfection in tire and or rim can apply to a specific spot on the wheel (up and down) as it spins on the vehicle.

So think of a tire spinning on your car as you drive it down the road, the weight of your car is distributed across all the tires, one of the tires has a bump or imperfection, so with every revolution you get a thump, as you drive faster the thump becomes a vibration. That thump is measured in pounds. (Basic explanation)

Not many tires are perfectly round so they all get a rating. I have 1 almost round tire, the 5lb'r. I have 2 ok tires, the 19lbrs (would be better if they were 16's) and I have 1 really oval or whacky tire, the 54lbr.

YouTube hunter roadforce and it will all make sense.

Then search your area for a place that does roadforce and go try it, you will then get the report and really have a grasp of your whole wheel and tire setup.

Hope that helps.

Best
Ton

Thanks, sorta what I thought it is was referring too, but just want more clarification, I'm sure your explanation will also help others understand the Road Force balancing process.

lugcentic, the balancer needs to use a flange plate to get the tires balanced w/o using a shit load of weight. The flange plate has pins that fit thru the lug holes to center the wheels instead of using the center hole. And If they start telling you its your equipment thats keeping them from getting the tires balanced that total BS.

If you ask the current shop if they have the flange plates that came with the balance machine or that they dont know what a lugcentric balance even is go elsewhere.

Heres a tool that hunter has on their website that allows you to search for shops that have there machine. GSP9700 Locator

1) Yes, you should start with the original shop and see if they will replace the tire.
2) Even with the extremely out of round tire you can still rotate your tires as you would normally. Since everything is road force balanced everything should remain in balance as long as you don't unseat the tire from the rim. Moving mounted wheel/tire combinations from one location to another should have little to no impact on the balance.
3) You can contact Michelin but they will probably tell you to start with the original seller. If the original seller is being problematic, see if the shop that finally got it balanced would be willing to help you get it replaced under factory warranty. 54 lbs is pretty egregiously out of round.

Where I bought my tires they do have the correct adapter for lug centric wheels, which I made sure they were aware that they were lug centric and I watched them use it every time they tried to balance my tires, but they still can't get it done correctly, a different guy each time, the last time is when the guy tried telling me is was because one of my rims was warped, I later check the rim myself and it's not warped, maybe they're doing it all correctly and it's one or more of the tires causing the issue, so I will be going somewhere else that has a road force balancing machine and that should answer the question if it's indeed the tires and if so I will contact Michelin to get them replaced.