Need advice on fighting the dreaded steering wheel vibration

[Jimmy N.]

You're definitely on the right track, too, way ahead of most. All you seem to be missing is that good tire shop.

There was an excellent one in Yuma, but the truly great owner (who I learned an awful lot from and still do) sold the store.
There has to be others, guys. Keep looking.

 

[AeroF16]

Well my car says it's 110 F in the garage right now, which checks because it's like 108 outside and I had the door open.

Tires checked at 32 psi, which is where I set them the other morning, so they are back to their "cold" condition. I just put them to 35 psi, though maybe 36 would have been the correct pressure based on the 1 psi per 10 degree increase rule of thumb I've read about.

I'll report back tomorrow after my drive to work. If this doesn't solve the problem I am either going to A. Buy myself a damn tire balancing machine or B. Trade this one in on a new leftover 2019 I am working a deal on!

 

[Jimmy N.]

If this doesn't solve the problem I am either going to A. Buy myself a damn tire balancing machine or B. Trade this one in on a new leftover 2019 I am working a deal on!

You may find that it'd cost less, maybe a lot less, to get that '19. Hunter balancers aren't cheap.

 

[AeroF16]

The tires still suck for the first 5-10 minutes on the highway in the morning but the ride got noticeably better when they were nice and warm. I drove a little extra today on my way to work and gave it about 30 minutes @ 75mph, max tire pressure I saw was 36 psi from the TPMS. I got out and checked the pressures manually and they were reading right around 36 psi at their highest operating temp. So I may try and give them each 2 psi or so more cold and see how it goes.

 

[AeroF16]

The tires still suck for the first 5-10 minutes on the highway in the morning but the ride got noticeably better when they were nice and warm. I drove a little extra today on my way to work and gave it about 30 minutes @ 75mph, max tire pressure I saw was 36 psi from the TPMS. I got out and checked the pressures manually and they were reading right around 36 psi at their highest operating temp. So I may try and give them each 2 psi or so more cold and see how it goes.

For clarity, incase some poor son of a bitch has to come searching this thread for answers, the set of tires I am talking about above are the Pirelli All Seasons that are only 3 months old.

 

[AeroF16]

Now to rap this up, the problem is fixed. The fix was new tires.

So Discount had been trying to balance my PS4s and the problem was always similar but slightly different. I finally rotated the fronts directly to the back, just to see if the vibration changed and it did, significantly.

I told Discount about the change and they put 2 new PS4s on order to replace the rears, which were suspected to have at least 1 bad tire now. Today they installed them and I put all 4 (2 older and 2 new) PS4s on, with the 2 new ones in the front this time.

Problem solved. Car drives amazing again.

 

[AeroF16]

Now, I am going to work with Discount to send all my Pirellis back and purchase something else from them.

I didn't purchase the Pirellis from Discount, I bought them from a dealer out of state (car needed tires and thats all I could get in the time frame I had) 3 months ago but im hoping Discount can help with the process.

 

[ChargerChallenger]

Now to rap this up, the problem is fixed. The fix was new tires.

So Discount had been trying to balance my PS4s amd the problem was always similar but slightly different. I finally rotated the fronts directly to the back, just to see if the vibration changed and it did, significantly.

I told Discount about the change and they put 2 new PS4s on order to replace the rears, which were suspected to have at least 1 bad tire now. Today they installed them and I put all 4 (2 older and 2 new) PS4s on, with tje 2 new ones in the front this time.

Problem solved. Car drives amazing again.

Damn wish I was that smart since some of my fillings have come out

 

[Hellcatcfp]

Now to rap this up, the problem is fixed. The fix was new tires.

So Discount had been trying to balance my PS4s amd the problem was always similar but slightly different. I finally rotated the fronts directly to the back, just to see if the vibration changed and it did, significantly.

I told Discount about the change and they put 2 new PS4s on order to replace the rears, which were suspected to have at least 1 bad tire now. Today they installed them and I put all 4 (2 older and 2 new) PS4s on, with tje 2 new ones in the front this time.

Problem solved. Car drives amazing again.

What PSI are you running in your PS4s. My vibration was gone with brand new PS4s and now is back after first tire rotation in June. Brought my PSI back up to 36 PSI vs 32 PSI, hoping that is the solution? Want to say my PSI was higher than after dealer performed rotation. Going to test tomorrow or Sunday. Thanks AeroF16 for the follow-up.

 

[AeroF16]

I set mine cold at 32 today.

What you're describing pretty well matches what I experienced with mine. Drove great when I first had them but didn't seem to wear well. Probably 4k miles on them when it got bad enough for me to start trying to solve the problem.

Rotated once when I pulled this setup off my Shaker and put them on my Hellcat.

I wouldnt hesitate to get them replaced. Took a little elbow grease on my part, rotating the tires around and driving to try and isolate the problem, but I'm so happy it's fixed.

I'm going to keep my eye on how these new ones wear though.

 

[ChargerChallenger]

What PSI are you running in your PS4s. My vibration was gone with brand new PS4s and now is back after first tire rotation in June. Brought my PSI back up to 36 PSI vs 32 PSI, hoping that is the solution? Want to say my PSI was higher than after dealer performed rotation. Going to test tomorrow or Sunday. Thanks AeroF16 for the follow-up.

Welp here your first problem....when you tow your Charger behind your Motorhome put the tranny in neutral this helps no flat spots

 

[AeroF16]

I'll say this and it may be completely incorrect:

My 2 new tires almost look and feel like completely different tires to the touch. My old tires, which are 3 months old, seem very "hardened" compared to the new tires.

Not sure if that's normal or not with such minimal usage at such a young age.

 

[Hellcatcfp]

I set mine cold at 32 today.

What you're describing pretty well matches what I experienced with mine. Drove great when I first had them but didn't seem to wear well. Probably 4k miles on them when it got bad enough for me to start trying to solve the problem.

Rotated once when I pulled this setup off my Shaker and put them on my Hellcat.

I wouldnt hesitate to get them replaced. Took a little elbow grease on my part, rotating the tires around and driving to try and isolate the problem, but I'm so happy it's fixed.

I'm going to keep my eye on how these new ones wear though.

Thanks. About 3,300 miles on them and then rotated. Tech cross rotated due to some uneven wear, now minor vibration again...damn. Guess I will have to investigate further as well to get them right. Very helpful info...thanks.

 

[Jimmy N.]

My 2 new tires almost look and feel like completely different tires to the touch. My old tires, which are 3 months old, seem very "hardened" compared to the new tires.

Not sure if that's normal or not with such minimal usage at such a young age.

You mentioned those tires coming from some other source, and refer to them as three months old.

That makes me wonder if that's the age of the tires, according to the DOT code, of how long you have owned them.
You also say that they feel different, which could indicate that they are many years old, and could've been stored in a hot warehouse the whole time.

It's a bit like that your "new bride" could be a 50-year old prostitute. Yeah, new to you, but...

But since you're buying a new car, none of this matters, right?

 

[AeroF16]

3 months was how long I owned them. I didn't look at the DOT date on all 4, but the 2 I have left were mid 2019, so roughly 9 months before I bought them. The two new ones are the beginning of 2020, so roughly 9 months before I got them haha.

When I originally purchased, my local Discount Tire only had 3. Another Discount Tire across the city had 1. So I went to that store and snagged the tire while my local store worked on the other 3, then they installed the 4th when I got back with it.

Tires rode great until about 4k miles. The two old ones on the car, with the mid 2019 date, still ride great.

I may get a new car but probably not that 2019. The issue with that is they won't beat the deals you can get on 2020s. And the moment I drive a 2019 off the lot, kbb says it's worth about $7k less than if I bought a 2020 and drove it off the lot.

The value just isn't there for me on the 2019.

 

[Jimmy N.]

Alright, so you're still buying a new car, just a newer one. Good!

 

[AeroF16]

Alright, so you're still buying a new car, just a newer one. Good!

If the deal is right!

The only reason I bought used originally was because I was skeptical if the Hellcat was worth paying that much more than my Shaker for.

Now I know it is!

 

[Hellcatcfp]

When I got my new PS4s, tech told me 2 wheels had to be balanced with the Hunter Elite Balancer. Other than weights falling off, uneven wear developing...rotating shouldn’t require wheels be balanced again? Why were they fine for 3,300 miles than not once rotated?

 

[Jimmy N.]

When I got my new PS4s, tech told me 2 wheels had to be balanced with the Hunter Elite Balancer. Other than weights falling off, uneven wear developing...rotating shouldn’t require wheels be balanced again? Why were they fine for 3,300 miles than not once rotated?

Sounds like you got two correctly balanced tires, or close to it, which were put up front.
Then when you rotated the tires the two okay ones from the rear didn't feel so good anymore.

Why wouldn't they balance all four correctly in the first place?

 

[Hellcatcfp]

Ok, filled my tire to 36-37 PSI (used truck tire guage, couldn't find my digital) and went for a drive. Vibration is gone for now. Tested on smooth roads. Not sure what to make of it, but I guess a solution for now. Thanks for the suggestion @Heminized, really appreciate it.

Any idea? Two that weren't done on Hunter machine have been somewhat corrected by increase in PSI? @Jimmy N., any ideas other than the 4 door curse 😅🤣😂🤣😅.

Great thread and great info...thanks everyone.