Tire Balance. I have notice that this past winter if just a handful or two of snow gets on or inside my rims my tires goes nuts out of balance. Wont get over 30mph before the car feels like it gonna shake its self apart. Now this in on my 86 firebird but close enough too a Buick??? And it kinda hard not getting snow in or on the rims when driving. They are just stock size rims nothing fancy. Other than that they seam great. But just a bit of snow and it like all the lug nuts are lose. -Matt
Matt, you may need to have your tires/rims balanced, if just the tiniest bit of snow stuck on the rim causes that much trouble. They are likely quite a bit out of balance already. A tire balance isn't very expensive. Might also want to check your lug nuts to make sure they are all tightened up.
Everything is tight and nice. I inspected and greased the wheel bearing last month checking things out. All seams well till just a bit of snow build up and it goes insane. -Matt
Sounds like a balance is needed then. But it doesn't take very much weight from something like packed snow/ice to really throw the balance off, especially as you reach higher speeds. I've had the same thing happen to me, and found packed snow that, once cleaned out, cleared up the shaking problem.
I Guess Im gonna check with SEARS. I bought my tires online but had them install them. I most likely went for the lifetime warranty balance crap. I just wonder if they still got it in the computer. They kinda owe me as they put all my tires on backwards the first time. -Matt
I used to work at "a major Tire store" doing Tires. In the winter time, people would come in all the time and want their tires balanced- we would bring the car in the garage, knock the snow out, and send them on their way. If the customer was polite, then we wouldn't charge them. (If the customer was a ding-dong, we would take the tires off the car and actually re-balance them so they would have to pay, even though they usually didn't need it. But heck, they asked for the service...) If the car runs fine when there is no snow in the rims, then your tires don't need a balance, they just need the snow out of the rims. Tires are typically balanced to 1/4 ounce- a pound of snow can create havoc. Maybe you can park it in a heated garage for a few hours? -Bob Cunningham bobc@gnttype.org
It just seams strange as I never had this problem on any other car in my life. Guess thats what I get for having the tires balanced. Only car I ever bought new tires and rims for and did all the right stuff. I usualy carry them in my self for the 3 buck mount and split. -Matt
