Yeah that's how they are supposed to be balanced Dynamic balancing. The bubble balance will not correct for side to side wobble balance problems as the wheel spins. Around here they only charge $5 per tire for Dynamic balancing. The way you can tell sometimes is if equal amounts of all the weights are on the inner and outer lip of the rim then it was probably bubble balanced. Dynamic balancing would have different weights all over the place if they need it. I didn't think any shops were still doing the old bubble balance any more. If your tires were balanced that way then that is definately the problem and what can happen is if both front tires are wobbling they get in and out of sync as each tire ligns up with the others wobble and it can get worse and better as you drive - usually you notice it on a long high speed curve in the road as the inside tire turns a little slower than the outside tire they get in and out of sync with the wobble.

 

i got the wheels and tires road force balanced,most of the vibration is gone, but there is still some there, its really starting to agrivate me, all my suspension and drive train parts need to be looked at, back to the dealer we go or i might take it to a mechanic i kno, but in my mind i still think its the tires,on my old car i had michelin mxv's and i never had vibration, not even a little bit.

 

Are you running with or without hubcaps? My racing disks made my wheels vibrate just a little conpared to the stock plastic ones which were perfect and a bit lighter.

 

I had my wheels rebalanced today at the dealership. This is the 2nd time in less than 1000 miles. I was told today that one of the tires didn't take the balancing? So, they rebalanced all of them again. I love how the service writer says "the vibration is definitely gone now". Really? Did you take my car out on the freeway at 70 mph to road test it?

Anyhow, I've only driven it for about 25 miles since then and initial impression is the vibration is still there. Dang..... More to post after driving some more.

 

i got mine rebalanced saturday morning, i took it on different roads, some roads it had the vibration and some roads it didnt, what tires do you have? I have the dunlops

 

I have the stock dunlops. The vibration is not a continous one. Sometimes it vibrates, sometimes it doesnt. However, the road is smooth that I drive when this is occurring.

It feels no different than prior to the rebalance.

 

The only thing else I can think of is your tire is defective and is breaking apart slowly in the belts causing it to change shape slightly and go out of balance as you drive it more and more.

 

Uhh, I thought the xD has EPS?...

Anyway, you shouldn't have to pay anything to the dealership because this isn't maintenance. Raise some hell until they fix it for free.

 

Yeah that could be - I'm not up to speed on the newer models of course it could still be a problem.

 

yea i got my tires and wheels road force balanced, it still has the same vibration, im not very happy about it, i took it on a 40 mile highway trip, the car handled horribly. It felt like my car was gonna fall apart. The steering wheel and the floor board were vibrating and i could feel the vibration in my seat. I called my sales rep and told him about it, now i gotta wait for a call from the service manager, this needs to get straightened out ASAP!!

 

watching.

 

Wow.. mine is not that bad, but none the less, there is some sort of a vibration. I'm not real happy, but I'd really be ticked if mine was as bad as yours. I hope it gets resolved for you. Please keep us posted.

And yes, the xD has electric steering. I am not sure that there is a belt for it. I just keep wondering if the electric steering also has something to do with the vibration. Guess I can google it and see. Wonder if other cars also have electric steering?

 

i took my car to the dealer today to meet with the service manager. He decided to take the car home for a test drive. He lives 30 miles away from the dealer, he has to go on highways to get home so hopefully he feels the vibration i am talking about, im praying he does. He's gonna call me in the morning and let me know how the drive went. I will post back with an update...wish me luck

 

I hope he does too!

 

The Mini Cooper has electric steering which is understandable if you ever looked under the hood of one- it doesn't have room for a belt drive. The Prius and any other Hybrid has electric steering since the engine stops turning when running on electric drive and something has to provide power to the rack.

 

hey im back guys. The service manager drove it. He felt the vibration. there was nothing wrong with the suspension or tires. They diagnosed that the aftermarket wheels i have on the car are causing the vibration. These wheels have the hub centric rings on them so they will fit snug on my hub bore. Apparently even with them on all four wheels im still getting vibration. The wheels are perfectly balanced. I've always had problems with aftermarket wheels that you have to use hubcentric rings on. GRRRRRR!!! They suggest putting my factory wheels back on(Steelies)...i will get back to you guys when i make my decision

 

Didn't you mention you had the vibration even with the steelies?

 

Didn't he also mention he'd be putting the steelies back on just so they wouldn't come out with this diagnosis?

 

Yeah he did - jeeezzzz all it takes is a few thousands of and inch off on the adapters to throw the center of the wheel off and it is out of balance - they should be illegal!

 

even though the dealer told me its the wheels that are causing the problem, i still think its the tires, because like i said i had the vibration with my steelies. My new wheels are brand new from tirerack.

1. Im gonna take it to a tire shop and let them spin the wheels and make sure one of them is not bent(im just not trusting the dealer right now lol)

2.Im gonna have my steelies reinstalled(mounted and balanced)

3. Im gonna test drive it and test for vibration

4. If the vibration is still there, it will go back to the dealer.

Hopefully the vibration will still be there so they cant blame it on my aftermarket wheels but i will have to see what happens. I might get my alignment checked at the tire shop when i get my steelies back on, just to be on the safe side, even tho the car is not pulling to the left or right, you never know. I will post back to keep you guys updated......