Help with vibration

[Marauder281]

I've been dealing with this problem for a month now! I was washing the car one day and find that theres a screw in the middle part of the right front tire. I take the tire down to sears, have them fix it only to find out a week later that they put the tire on backwards. I guess they didnt see the THIS SIDE IN on the inner part of the wheel. :mad2:Anyway, I took it back and had them rebalance it twice. They even told me my rim was bent! We found out that wasn't the case by trying getting two others opinions (including another more experienced guy at Sears) After he balanced the two front tires, rather than just one, it works better but I can still feel something in the wheel. I've been having to drive around in my winter car and I'd like to enjoy the next few weeks before the MM goes away for the winter. What do I do now??

[HwyCruiser]

I'm wondering if they warped the rotor when they jackhammered it back on. Does it do it all the time? Worse when you apply the brakes?

[Marauder281]

I wouldnt let them drive the car...i just brought the tire down

[n00bkiller944]

Warped rotors is it when you brake or all the time??

[jgc61sr2002]

Unfortunaly most of Sears help is inexperienced.:(

[Marauderjack]

Do you have OEM BFG tires??:confused:

If so.....I NEVER GOT THE PULSING VIBRATION OUT OF MINE!!!!:mad2: IT SEEMS TO BE THE "NATURE OF THE BEAST" SO TO SPEAK!!!:argue:

I went to Nitto NT-555's a couple of years ago and NEVER LOOKED BACK!!!:bows:

Sorry about the RANT but the BFG's S-U-C-K!!!:mad2:

Good Luck!!

Marauderjack:burnout:

[Marauder281]

The thing is the tires are only a year old...and I only use the car in the summer. I usually wouldnt think to go to Sears but it was the only place open on a Sunday night. It's so annoying how it does that! How much more am I going to spend on a vibration. i could be using this money on other things!

[sicilianmarquis]

if the screw was in the middle part of the tire, chances are it spread the steel bead inside... causing a " whobble " effect

[whoskal]

I would say get a new set of rotors...I had a simular problem...as soon as I bought better rotors it went away.

[gilby04]

Since your tire was rebalanced twice by two different workmen with very little improvement, I would question the integrity of the tire balancing equipment.
This past summer, my brother had a problem identical to yours, and it was the result of out-of-spec equipment. It was found that the tire store was lax in maintaining certification/inspection of their equipment for accuracy.

[cyclopsram]

Get it Road Force balanced... takes the tickle out of most situations.. selected Ford and other dealers have the special balancers.. I think you will find the locations on Google..

[hbarrett]

I hope that someone will find your problem and be able to fix it. I don't know if the nature of your problem is anything similar to mine, but for the past year and a half I have had vibration and oscillation of the steering wheel, seemingly after having the front end aligned at 20k+ miles. I have spent hundreds of dollars with four different alignment and tire shops with Hunter equipment Road Force balancing the tires, no change. The dealer replaced three of the four wheels and I replaced all the tires, no change. So now, Mercury says that the condition is normal to the vehicle operation - their way out of having to correct the problem. I even had the front rotors slightly cut to see if warpage contributed to the problem. There just appears to be no fix to the problem. Let us know if you find the solution to your problem.
I've been dealing with this problem for a month now! I was washing the car one day and find that theres a screw in the middle part of the right front tire. I take the tire down to sears, have them fix it only to find out a week later that they put the tire on backwards. I guess they didnt see the THIS SIDE IN on the inner part of the wheel. :mad2:Anyway, I took it back and had them rebalance it twice. They even told me my rim was bent! We found out that wasn't the case by trying getting two others opinions (including another more experienced guy at Sears) After he balanced the two front tires, rather than just one, it works better but I can still feel something in the wheel. I've been having to drive around in my winter car and I'd like to enjoy the next few weeks before the MM goes away for the winter. What do I do now??

[Marauder281]

The thing is the car was fine before the I found the screw in it. For now I've elimated the brakes as being a cause to it. I found a guy at Sears who is alittle older and seems to have alot more experience than the younger guys who first helped me did. What Im going to do is, is have the rear wheels balanced by the same guy. (He did the front two) If this doesn't help, I'm going to put my full sized spare on and see if that makes it go away. It only happens at highway speed (around 60) Does anyone know if the full size spare is aluminum too? I know its not polished but it feels just as heavy

[ledzilla]

I know what you're talking about. At highway speeds I have a bit of a vibration that's there even on smooth freshly paved roads, plus it makes the steering wheel squeak. That little squeak goes away with pressure on the steering wheel, but it's not something I'm prepared to do when driving on the highway from one end of the Chicago area to the other.

[Marauder281]

It sucks, Ive had no other problems with the car at all. I have this gut feeling that the tire is the problem. Its right in the middle of the thread. The damn tir has less than 8,000 miles on it.

[Marauder281]

Im having a hard time with spelling today lol getting used to the new laptop!

[burt ragio]

I hope that someone will find your problem and be able to fix it. I don't know if the nature of your problem is anything similar to mine, but for the past year and a half I have had vibration and oscillation of the steering wheel, seemingly after having the front end aligned at 20k+ miles. I have spent hundreds of dollars with four different alignment and tire shops with Hunter equipment Road Force balancing the tires, no change. The dealer replaced three of the four wheels and I replaced all the tires, no change. So now, Mercury says that the condition is normal to the vehicle operation - their way out of having to correct the problem. I even had the front rotors slightly cut to see if warpage contributed to the problem. There just appears to be no fix to the problem. Let us know if you find the solution to your problem.
Partner your problen is the preload on the steering box. To eliminate vibration have the torque reset. Have your local dealer check TSB 98-1-11.

[04MRADR]

You are correct about the BFG tires! I have the KDW2s and would never buy them again. I raved about them when I first got them and admit they are like driving with duct tape on the tires. they really hold thge raod and I've had a coat hanger in one tire and bolt in another, yanked them out and the tire didn't go flat. My gripe is these are the noisiest tires in the world. It sounds like I'm driving a truck. It is not my imagination. Check out this past month's Consumer Reports on Performance tires both all season and Ultra High Performance (not all season) They give the KDW2 tires a solid black circle for noise. I actually have a vibration going through the car at lower speeds. Having the tires re-balanced helped a lot. I wouldn't buy these suckers again. I have 40,000 miles on them and they have worn like iron. They look almost new. I used the Carfixers recommended alignment which is different from factory and it works great. I will replace them probably next spring. The rumbling noise drowns out the new Magnaflows even.

[Marauder281]

Well I just had the rear tires balanced to match the fronts. The same guy did them who they tell me is the best guy in the garage. The puncture in the tire must have done it. I'm going to try putting the spare on and see if the vibration goes away. The damn tire only has 8,000 miles on it! I don't think the next time around I'll be getting BF Goodrichs. This whole thing has been such a pain. I didn't even get to enjoy the last couple warm weeks before the car goes away for the winter

[Marauder281]

I put the spare on today ( I have a 300A), drove around until the tires warmed up and then took it out on the highway. The vibration was gone. I drove around for 45 mins on backroads and the highway and didn't feel a thing. It must be the tire. People I talk to keep suggesting I must have ripped a chord when Sears patched the tire. I called BFG on this and they said if the tire is defective take it to an authorized dealer and they'll pro rate it. Well Sears is saying they'll only do that if I bought the tire there. The dealership had the tires put on at Town Fair Tire. I didn't go there but they did. I wish Sears would just do it since they are authorized to! The tire only has 8,000 miles on it! What a waste if I don't get SOME money back on it. I'll have to talk to the manager at Sears and see what he can do for me.