Four (4) bad Michelins!

[JimF]

Well, never thought that one could get so many 'bad' tires on one car but it happened to me!

My S500 cpe came with new Michelins (235/60/R16) MXV4 Plus. But since I've had the car there's been a some vibration from the front at about 50 to 60mph. After that it's pretty smooth.

So finally took them in and had them 'analyzed' using the Hunter GSP 9700 Vibration System. Link: http://www.hunterengineering.com/pub/product/balancer/Balancer.htm

Would you believe that all FOUR were out of spec. So much so that even rotating the tire on the wheel to match runouts would not work.

After replacing the front two tires, I could then 'feel' the rear tire's vibration through the frame. And when I bought those in today, they were both bad. All four had excessive road force, anywhere from 30 to 60lbs!

So bottom line, ended up with four new M's for just a few bucks. Boy, is it smooth now.

So if you have a vibration problem, this machine can find out whether it's the wheel or tire. Since I've never had a 'bad' M, the wheels were suspect. But they were well within tolerance.

[ymsin]

You ought to bring this up with the ppl at Michelin.

I did this once when I had Bridgestone - 1 faulty tyre. I got 4 in exchange, with a handshake.

[JimF]

but your idea is a good one.

A new set of Ms was part of the deal to purchase the car since it needed tires. However, they had trouble locating a new set. That sounds pretty strange in itself, doesn't it, since Ms are usually readily available.

After a few hours, a 'new' set of M tires appeared from a tire dealership. I think these were rejects that were removed for the same reason I removed them, except I didn't know that!

Because in all my driving years (50 years), I don't remember having maybe one or two bad tires. But to have four on one car, what's the odds on that?

Anyway, the Hunter machine is just great. It aids the tech to be able to end up with a dynamic balance that makes the tires literally disappear.