Unbalanced, warped or just F’d

Back in September I bought a brand new set of Icon 6 Speeds and BFG KO2 295/75/17s. I bought at DT but had my lift installer mount the wheels and tires. All was great. A couple of weeks ago I felt a little wobble and actually thought it might just be the road - it was in a very specific spot and I didn’t feel it again until earlier this week. Then I noticed that I was feeling it at 50 mph and decided they were out of balance.

so this morning I went to DT to have them balanced and rotated. They did the work, handed me the keys and told me that 1 tire was out of balance but they fixed it. I headed out and got to the street and started hearing a clicking sound. Click click click. I thought maybe it was a wheel weight hitting a caliper so I went back. They took a look and found the offending weight and moved it. They then checked another tire and suddenly they couldn’t get it balanced. They said it was warped. Now I’ve only driven these for about 2500 miles almost exclusively on the street. They don’t know how it warped so they ordered a new rim.

so I left. This time I drove around the parking lot with the windows down and it was still clicking. I made them drive it and they confirmed that they heard it as well. They said it sounded like one of the weights had maybe not adhered all the way and was flapping. Anyway they went to fix it. It seemed to be taking a long time so I went back there. Now the guy had another tire that wouldn’t balance. He said I had a second warped rim. So they ordered another one.

So to recap, first they said all were balanced. A block later one wheel was suddenly warped. Then after a lap around the parking lot a second wheel warped. Seriously???

is it possible that the placement of the weights could make it appear that the wheel is warped? He showed it to me on the machine and it definitely had a side to side wobble. So they either did not balance them the first 2 times and said that they did, or they somehow messed them up.

what do y’all think?

I’ll try to get some pics tomorrow

thanks!

 

I call BS. I’m thinking someone effed up somewhere along the line. I’d have them recheck all wheels and rebalance all tires. Didn’t you say your lift installer mounted tires and install them? But now DT is trying to fix it? Could your install shop have boogered them up?

 

I’m with you and call BS also. I’m just not knowledgeable enough to tell the how they screwed it up. I’m pretty sure that they did but don’t know how, so I’m trying to figure out how to hold them accountable. They are going to replace the rims at no charge. But if that’s not the issue then nothing gets fixed. They balanced them 3 times. First time they said all good. I drove around the block and went straight back and suddenly one is warped. Then I drove around the parking lot and suddenly 2 are warped. There is so much wrong with all of that!

I think the original installer did fine. The ride was perfect for over 2000 miles. It’s just been in the past week or so that I felt the little wobble. I bought the tires and certificates at DT so went there for the included rotation/balance. It’s worse now then it was when I brought it in.

I’m wondering if DT either messed the rims up. Or if it could be the placement of the weights.

I don’t know the physics exactly how it works. But I’m assuming that you’d ideally have the weights as close to the center of the wheel as possible. For example if the wheel is 9” wide you would want them 4 1/2 “ from the outer edge of the wheel. I know there’s some terminology that I am missing. So what I’m wondering is what happens if you place the weights away from the center of the wheel? Theoretically the inside facing side of the wheel would be slightly heavier than the outside facing side. To me it seems like that could make it wobble left to right. And if that’s the case then maybe the issue is not the rims at all. Maybe it’s only their incompetence.

 

I’m no expert but some big AT tires usually have red and yellow dots that are put on by the tire manufacturer to guide the installation process. If the tire installer doesn’t install the tires correctly there will be problems. Check your tires for these dots (not all tires have them, they indicate inconsistencies in the tire to aid the balancing process). If you have them, ask the shop if the tires were mounted taking into account these dots for proper balancing.

https://www.tires-easy.com/blog/what-are-the-red-and-yellow-dots-on-my-tires/?amp

 

This sounds like something is wrong with their balance machine centering the tire because it was weights then warped rim and now 2 rims. The rims just did not warp on their own. If they are interested mount tires on machine, turn by hand while using a magnetic dial indicator to check rims for being out of round and warped.