Hey Luke, you sent me out a couple of Michellins for the front of my 96 SL500. After getting balanced and aligned I still have a slight right pull, more pronounced on braking, and some vibration up front that was not there before (even with the performance tire and A/S tire combo I used to have). The alignment shop said they tried to align the car a bit to the left to compensate, but they said it was the tires, and to drive it for a bit to consider sending them back. They said to give it 500 miles to see if the tires settled into a pattern and the pull and vibrations went away.

Just wanted your take on this, I really want the ride to be perfect, especially for $250 a pop!!

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2007 Corvette Convertible Torch Red
1996 MBz SL500
2008 Harley Davidson Night Rod Special

a pull and vibration ... I don't buy that excuse from the installer ... I have seen a radial pull but, it is very rare and the vibration issue also which they ar etrying to claim is an out of round condition .... 2 very rare occurqances in 1 set of tires ... if that is the case go buy a lotto ticket !!!! and find a different / better shop

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I spoke to the shop this morning and had them go into detail a bit more. By the way this is the best shop in the area, the dealer uses them as does my mercedes specific independent shop. They use a high speed balancer with the wheels on the car up to 130mph.

From what he told me sometimes if the molding process is just a hair off on the tire it could cause a pull and/or vibration. He told me that this usually goes away in the first couple of weeks of wear as the tires settle into a pattern. Since I have a right pull they adjusted the alignment a touch to the left so the pattern would be established sooner. He will recheck it for free in a couple of weeks if this does not change. The suspension and front end were looked at very meticulously before I bought the auto by my mercedes indie shop, and I did not have the pull as pronounced before (I never had the pull with my old Yoko's, only when I had an A/S on the right side), and never had the vibration, so I tend to believe him. But as he said, I guess this is a common occurrence on performance tires, especially directional ones.

I don't think there is an issue with the tires, I'm sure this will smooth out in a couple of weeks as I drive them. Just wanted to let you know in case you run into it in the future.

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2007 Corvette Convertible Torch Red
1996 MBz SL500
2008 Harley Davidson Night Rod Special