Missing Wheel Weight Block

[Milgram]

Hi All,

I had new tyres fitted yesterday along with a wheel alignment. Aside from leaving the shop and discovering all four tyres were pumped up to a different pressure (39, 36, 38, 37), I am happy with the tyres themselves (Bridgestone ER592).

However, I found today whilst driving down the freeway that there is significant vibration through the steering wheel, hinting at the wheel balance being carried out incorrectly. After a bit of research, I discovered my front right wheel is missing the little tyre balancing block. I fail to see how this would fall off while driving, so I am assuming the shop forgot to put it back on or it was refitted incorrectly and has come off.

Is it possible to get a replacement block? My spare has one but I am not willing to remove it and be down one block. I am expecting the shop to cover any costs of course.

Edited December 20, 2009 by JMacca53

[DJKOR]

Firstly I would say the balance is off so getting it aligned again would be a good idea.... preferably that they fix it for free.

Secondly, how sure are you that a wheel weight actually fell off. It is common for you to have wheel weights removed when you get a new tire fitted and a re-balancing. As each tire can have it's variations, your previous wheel balance may not work for the new tire, hence why they remove weights. Whenever I get a new set of tires, I nearly always have little patches of adhesive residue left behind on the indise of my wheel from when they remove it.

[Milgram]

Firstly I would say the balance is off so getting it aligned again would be a good idea.... preferably that they fix it for free.

Secondly, how sure are you that a wheel weight actually fell off. It is common for you to have wheel weights removed when you get a new tire fitted and a re-balancing. As each tire can have it's variations, your previous wheel balance may not work for the new tire, hence why they remove weights. Whenever I get a new set of tires, I nearly always have little patches of adhesive residue left behind on the indise of my wheel from when they remove it.

Considering the car was returned missing a tyre cap, I am not sure about anything at the moment hence I was just after an opinion. I understand what you're saying about the wheel blocks, I just assumed every wheel is suppose to have one and thus I will follow up tomorrow with the shop to determine what the story is here.

Whilst I am happy with the service received and the new tyres, I am a tad disappointed with the issues I am discovering once driving away from the shop.

[Sweety]

The weights can fall off. I was driving along the highway a while ago and heard a shocking clicking noise from the front end. I stopped the car and had a look underneath and the weight was hanging off the front wheel so i pulled it off and returned to where i get my tyres fitted. They rebalanced the wheels and replaced the weight.

I have also experienced having new wheels and tyres fitted, having all different pressures and paying for a wheel alignment that was not done properly.

When i took the car back to them they would not accept any responsibility for their stuffed up work so i ended up out of pocket having to pay for a alignment somewhere else.

I hope you have better luck getting things fixed if they are responsible for not doing it right in the first place. :-)

[lateralus]

sometimes it actually may not be the balancing weights causing the vibration. the balancing weights are only put onto mass produced rims that arent properly weighted out of the factory.

if the wheel is within a certain tolerance level on the balancing machine (rare), the wheelshop may not put a weight on.

so, in this case it could be the missing wheel weight causing the vibration, and the balancing was done by an idiot.

the other possibilities is the runout of the tyre, either radial or lateral, or inconsistencies in the sidewall stiffness. bridgestone's are good quality tyres, but theres always the possibility they were out of a dud batch.

the runout means that the tyre hasnt been manufactured symmetrically, and the rubber itself not properly weighted/balanced, thus causing the vibration.

so once the wheel has been properly balanced by someone with half a clue, and the alignment is correct, the tyre itself is all thats left.

[Milgram]

I returned to the tyre shop earlier in the week and spent two hours there trying to sort out the problem.

I pointed out the two issues - wheel balance and off centre steering. On request, I presented the alignment report to the owner only to be told "no, should be spot on". I mentioned the balance, so the car was taken into the workshop and returned to me about 40 minutes later.

I headed straight for the freeway and noticed now the off centre steering was corrected. On the freeway, the steering began to shake after hitting 90km/h. I went back, only to be told that 90% of cars shake on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne. I quizzed him on this as I have driven both new and old cars along there and have never experienced this "shaking" he speaks of. After [the owner] cracking it at the employee who did the balance, the owner then did the balance again and told me at 100km/h there is always going to be a vibration because my shocks were worn. Considering they were only put on 15,000km ago, I asked him for some sort of assessment of that because they are still under warranty. Naturally, he went quiet and refused. I took the car back and aside from all tyres again having different pressures, there are weights on all wheels now and the vibration seems to have disappeared.

I am happy the problems have been addressed but customer service at this shop was terrible. Considering these people call themselves "The Tyreman" and bang on about their long history and good reputation, I was surprised at the poor customer service received and the attitude of the owner to both myself and his workers.