steering wheel wobble after new tires

[Jc12]

Okay so prior to the new tires (i was running 265/70/16s) i upgraded to 285/75/16's which are pro comp all terrains. When i am driving in the city i get this weird feeling i can only relate to the chu chu train going up a hill.. chuga lug chuga lug. It has to be the tires since it is present whether i am pushing on the gas or just coasting.

The main problem is the wobble and shake in the steering wheel, they are violent shakes which move about a centimeter or so back and forth very fast. It typically happens on highways but is also present intermittently when going about 30mph.

The wobble was not there before the new tires. Parts which are.. well in need of replacement in the near future are right front wheel bearing (i have a little too much play in my wheel pushing at the top and bottom) and rack and pinion bushings ( i have just havent installed). Do you think my wheels were not balanced properly? i am using spacers up front but they are hubcentric.. thanks guys!

 

[Socco]

Sounds like something is way out of balance. I'd get those tires rebalanced asap and then go from there.

 

[CodyX36]

2x on the balance.

Also make sure they are all around a decent air pressure, sometimes (leaky stems) my tires will slowly lose pressure, and it just sounds kind of like what you were explaining, like a drone chuga whatever. Make sure you're around 35-45PSI or so with those tires, I would think.

 

[Slow_T4R]

Sounds like they aren't balanced correctly. Also dumb question but have you checked that the spacers are torqued correctly, ive heard they can loosen up over time. Gl

 

[Jc12]

thanks for advice guys, i also realized i have one mismatched lug nut on all wheels but that never made a difference before.. and for the spacers, yep i just put them on and lloctite'd them and will retorque this weekend

 

[Scat Adams]

Just a heads up and you may know this already but if you re-torque the spacers make sure you apply loc-tire again as you will have broken the original seal.

Im having a similar problem but at about 60-70 mph. 70+ mph is not as bad...

 

[Jc12]

sooo.. are these tire guys just idiots..? I would say these pro comp A/T's are definitely directional.. but they put one side (left side) on in one direction and the other side in the opposite.. note the tread pattern. Im bringing the truck back saturday for them to check the balance (over the phone they gave me a million excuses why it may be my fault).. but then i noticed this, could having directional tires not in the same direction cause my symptoms? thanks!

front left

front right

 

[Socco]

sooo.. are these tire guys just idiots..? I would say these pro comp A/T's are definitely directional.. but they put one side (left side) on in one direction and the other side in the opposite.. note the tread pattern. Im bringing the truck back saturday for them to check the balance (over the phone they gave me a million excuses why it may be my fault).. but then i noticed this, could having directional tires not in the same direction cause my symptoms? thanks!

I didn't know ProComp was branding tires now :shrug:

If they are directional, there will be an arrow on the sidewall showing direction of rotation. If they are directional and they're on backwards, only wet traction should be affected. It should not affect ride, pull or wear etc.
If your tire shop cant follow an arrow on the sidewall, who says they can run a wheel balancer properly? :nono: