I'd just like to share my latest Buick experience with the group. Obviously it is tire related. First a background. Front tires - Dunlop GT Qualifiers. Got them used from a friend. I removed them from his rims and put them on my rallyes. They had maybe 30% tread left. 235/60/14 Rear Tires. Brand New Winston Winners 245/60/14 Front tires had been on the car for almost a year. No problems. Mysteriously, about 8 weeks ago I started noticing problems with the front end. At first the car suddenly just developed a rather hard pull to the left if the wheel was let go. Then soon after the tires felt like they were bouncing and the steering wheel started shaking almost violently. The car became increasingly difficult to drive. I noticed that one of my front shocks had no rubber on the top part of the control arm bushings. Ok, my problem is the shocks. I change the shocks. Problem subsides but still a bad steering wheel shake and a pull to the left. The tires started developing some really bad wear patterns. I figured that was it for my front end. I knew the tires would be ticking time bombs until I changed them, but I didn't want to put new tires on till the suspension was fixed. Catch22 Ok, getting sick of the problem. I had a set of 235/75/15 (TALL TIRES!!!) on some American Racing type Steel wheels with a black center and chrome surround. Rusty as hell, dirty, but the tires have good tread. I pulled off all the wheels. I put the NEW rear tires (245/60/14) on the front and put the 15" wheels on the rear. Wouldn't you know, on my test drive I found ALL problems gone. The car rides smooth, no steering wheel shake at all, and I can let go of the wheel and the car rides relatively straight, even when braking. Moral of this story. Before you start throwing money at your suspension, even though a thorough visual inspection shows nothing wrong, CHANGE THE TIRES. I am LUCKY that neither of my front tires blew out or worse. After removing the tires, I noticed signs of tread separation. Man, I am lucky. BTW, I had a little steel wool type bit for my dremel tool, I decided to see if I could clean up the rust on the wheels, wow what a difference, they almost look new. I need to spend some more time but I expect they will look very good with just a little more time. Dan
I agree!! You wouldn't believe how terrible your car will handle if you blow a belt inside the tire. You'd think the whole front end was wrecked.:eek2: This happened on my '92 Taurus, just stock type tires. It seems to be a freak thing. Most people my never experience it, but when you do, you'll never forget it:Smarty:
