Hey guys, I'm pretty sure my car needs a wheel balancing and alignment, but I'd just like to post before having that done.

I'll start by saying that I DON'T have run-flat tires. I'm running regular tires at 46psi (max is 51psi) on stock 17" wheels.

When I drive with my windows down, I can hear a swirling/swishing sound that gets faster as my speed increases. I'm not sure if this is directly related to the issue below, though I doubt it.

Inside the car, I can hear more of a low tone sound (woo woo). As I go faster, it gets faster/louder and around 70mph it sounds like a helicopter, but the tone gets higher.

The steering wheel doesn't really shake, though it does slightly jitter. It's visible when I let go of the wheel. Also, the center console vibrates, moreso by the rear cup holder that I'm currently using as a change compartment.

I've checked each wheel and can see a weight on each wheel. Also, from what I remember, the tire wear is even but I'll double check that.

Any suggestions? I'd like to start out by having the wheels balanced and rotated, and possibly a wheel alignment but I figured I'd post because I'm sure this issue has popped up a few times. I've searched but it seems people were having slightly different issues.

 

I don't know if this is the issue but have you tried lowering your tire pressure? 46psi seems really high to me. I think the recommended tire pressure is around 30-35. Then again it may be that you need your wheels balanced. Did it just start doing this? Are these new tires?

 

It kind of started out of the blue. The tires aren't brand new, they were on when I purchased the car. If the previous owner was right, they should have about 6,000 miles on them. I've put over 3k on the car since June

EDIT: I just lowered the pressure to 35psi and I'm still getting the wobbly sound at low speed. I only took it around the block, but I'd imagine it's still doing it at high speed as well.

 

Depending on what tires you have, they may just make some noise. My ES100's have also sounded like they need balancing for a long time. I've had them re-balanced a couple times and they always come back with the same sound. They are almost ready to be replaced now and no signs of uneven wear.

 

This is definitely too loud to be regular tire/road noise. The whole car vibrates, and it isn't a constant sound. It gets faster as my speed increases, almost like a helicopter sound.

I took my car to this local tire place and was told that rear wheels don't need balancing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think these guys knew what they were talking about. We put the car on the lift, and upon spinning my rear driver's side rotor, we noticed it's a tiny bit warped, as it touches the pads a little when it makes a revolution. This could be the swishy sound I'm hearing when my windows are down, but I don't think it's what my problem is.

I think I'm going to go somewhere else for a wheel balance and alignment. I'll probably go to the dealer for it to be safe. I don't like taking my car to the dealer, but I can't do an aligment myself and I don't trust others doing it.

Hopefully this resolves the issue. If not, I'll look into that rotor and then ultimately replace the tires, even though they have plenty of tread left and are wearing evenly.

 

not alignement. But another possibility is that one strut is going bad. To check this out, have someone drive (in another car) with you on the freeway and look at all four wheels to make sure one isn't bouncing up and down. If it is, then you have a bad strut there as well.

When you get a balance, make sure that you find a place that does "road force" balancing. These are fancier than the average machine that can detect lots of other issues with the tire, as well as balance.

Matt

 

Thanks Matt! I'll have someone check my wheels from the road, though I don't think it's the strut because it even does it at low speed on the smoothest roads. Definitely a possibility though

 

as noted, some tires make more noise that others. I had YOKO's for a while and as noted on TireRack.com they tend to get buzzy after a while.

I also developed a harmonic noise and tried a rebalance to no help. Further discussion with a GOOD tire guy (he was the local BMW amateur race tire and susp' expert) he aimed me to 2 things.

First if the balance was out of whack for a while, a rebalance isn't going to compensate for any already formed flat spot / cupping.

Second, the balance will ring true but you could have tread seperation causing the tire to be out of round. A simple balance will do nothing for this and unless you mention the sound to them they may not even look for an out of round tire. But checking the runout of the tread can show a high spot due to a tread seperation which may be covered under the tire warranty...depending on the miles. With a performance tire a good pothole strike MAY cause this type of damage .... or it could be a manufacturing flaw.

He offered to go to YOKO' and try to get me a new tire but by then I already had 2 new ones sitting in his garage to mount....so next time..

 

Thanks for the help everyone! Upon checking reviews for my tires, it seems they may be the culprit. I never thought tires could be THIS loud, but a lot of people are saying the noise is unacceptable and complain of vibration, so it must be the tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/survey/Surve...ommentStatus=P

 

will find the problems with spots with separation, and if the problem is a flat spot and it's not too bad, you can have the tire shaved to round again. But I don't know if it's worth it....

anyway, good luck with the problem, and when it's all fixed let us know what it was.

Matt

 

Thanks Matt! I'm going to replace all four tires, hopefully soon, and post back with an update

 

One other alternative to the road force balancer (very good suggestion) is to find a shop that deals with track day/race cars. They tend to be VERY **** about getting the tires balanced correctly.

 

That's a great suggestion.

I need to find a Mini tuner in the area because I'd MUCH rather get work, that I can't do myself, done at a Mini tuner/enthusiast than a regular shop or at the dealership.

 

that most Mini shops won't have the road force balancer system. That's a rather high end balancer, and they tend to be found at high end alligment shops. FWIW, I use Mini shops for the work that is above my head, but I always use a race alignment shop for all my cars for alignment balance.
(FWIW, it's Custom Alignment in Mountain View, if you're in the SF Bay Area...)

Matt

 

It could also be a bent wheel or uneven wear on the tires. Does it sound like it comes from a specific wheel or all of them? A roadforce balance can also identify bent wheels.