Steering wheel vibration after visiting Ford Dealership

[jmustang]

Took my 06 GT into Ford to have new rear tires fitted and an alignment done. Drove the car to Ford at highway speeds and greater with no vibration. Ford performs requested service and on first dive out from dealership there is a vibration that starts around 55mph, feels like a tire out of balance.

Take the car back immediately back to Ford who says they will check it, which ends up meaning a tech goes out with a torque wrench to check the lug nuts, and never gets put on the lift. Ford insists that the tires are the wrong size for the car (the replacement tires are the same size as what came off the car) but the car is fine and tells me to speak to the manager on Monday.

I’m not willing to wait that long so I go to mavis and have all the tires rebalanced and the vibration is still there! What the hell could this be? Is it possible that these new tires are somehow defective? (Michelin pilot sport 4S)

Car has 42k miles, new lower control arms and tie rod ends. I don’t see any play in the suspension but I am not an expert, just a driveway mechanic.


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[dark steed]

Do you have aftermarket wheels on it? If so they may not be countersunk like the OEM wheels. There is a small star washer on one or more of the lugs to hold the rotor in place during production. Make sure they took that star washer off, it can cause interference and a vibration if the wheel is not flush with the rotor.


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[Juice]

A piece of dirt caught between wheel and hub, or rotor and hub causing wheel(s) to wobble possibly. Jack up car and spin the front tires and see if there is any runout.

 

[jmustang]

Do you have aftermarket wheels on it? If so they may not be countersunk like the OEM wheels. There is a small star washer on one or more of the lugs to hold the rotor in place during production. Make sure they took that star washer off, it can cause interference and a vibration if the wheel is not flush with the rotor.


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Wheels are aftermarket but have been on the car for years. Maybe the dealer put those washers back on? Will have to pop the wheels off and check. Thanks for the tip


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[jmustang]

A piece of dirt caught between wheel and hub, or rotor and hub causing wheel(s) to wobble possibly. Jack up car and spin the front tires and see if there is any runout.

I guess this is possible, you’d think having the tires taken on and off to be balanced a second time the dirt would fall out. But it’s worth taking the time to clean the surfaces to double check. Appreciate the suggestion.


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[skwerl]

What changed? The tires. Where is the issue? Most likely, the tires. Before you start trying to diagnose the entire car, focus on what was changed.

My money is on a tire out of round, unless the install monkey screwed up.

 

[Juice]

I suggested checking for debris based on he put Michelins on. I would not expect a brand name tire to have out of round issues. And two shops balanced them. But it is possible I guess.
Note: I always saw this kind of issues with off brand/economy tires.

 

[DieHarder]

Recommend a tire specialty shop like Discount Tire. Always have had great service from them.

If the vibration is on the front you might jack it up and spin the front wheels to check run out and whether the tires are round. I have seen brand new tires out of round; only way to fix it is get another tire.

Regarding the service you received maybe you might want to find another dealer?

 

[jmustang]

What changed? The tires. Where is the issue? Most likely, the tires. Before you start trying to diagnose the entire car, focus on what was changed.

My money is on a tire out of round, unless the install monkey screwed up.

Can this be caused my tire overinflation? Ford dealer inflated tires to 45psi cold!

Saw a neat idea on YouTube to make a little chalk mark on the strut/shock behind the tire. When the tires slowly spinning it makes it easier to see high and low points in the tire.

Going to check this out when the heat isn’t as crazy. Thanks for the tip


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[jmustang]

Recommend a tire specialty shop like Discount Tire. Always have had great service from them.

If the vibration is on the front you might jack it up and spin the front wheels to check run out and whether the tires are round. I have seen brand new tires out of round; only way to fix it is get another tire.

Regarding the service you received maybe you might want to find another dealer?

Going to check for out of round condition as soon as the heat breaks.

Ford tech way overinflated the tires to 45psi cold when spec is 32, hope that’s not what caused it. But the worst part was treating me like I don’t know anything and trying to get rid of me.


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[Juice]

45 psi is likely the max infation pressure listed on the sidewall. Should not cause issues.

 

[jmustang]

Both Rear tires have play and make a clunking sound when placing hands at 12 and 6 rocking top to bottom.

Some play when rocking back and forth with my hands at 3 and 9, one side worse than the other.

Took wheels off and and checked for debris and and lug clips, found nothing. Put wheels back on a retorqued with no change. It’s like the whole wheel and rotor are moving when I shake the wheel.


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[Aerofinz]

Another thought... over torquing the lugs, all too common with air tools and service techs in a rush, can permanently warp the brake rotor and cause vibration. It's possible that's what the tech was rechecking, not to see if they were tight enough, but to check if they were too tight. Is it possible he actually may have slightly loosened them one at a time and retorqued? Of course that would now make it harder to prove they may have torqued too tightly to begin with.
A buddy had all four rotors on a C7 Vette replaced due to a tech over torquing and warping the rotors.

 

[eighty6gt]

People are meatheads and butchers. I think you're out the tires, have them replaced at a real tire shop, c/w balancing, have them check your wheels for runout/hop/etc..

Maybe Ford crashed your car into some boulevards during a test drive and bent something.

 

[Oliver Vigil]

Any suspension modifications done to the rear? Lowering springs, coils, aftermarket bushings,...?

 

[DieHarder]

Both Rear tires have play and make a clunking sound when placing hands at 12 and 6 rocking top to bottom.

Some play when rocking back and forth with my hands at 3 and 9, one side worse than the other.

Took wheels off and and checked for debris and and lug clips, found nothing. Put wheels back on a retorqued with no change. It’s like the whole wheel and rotor are moving when I shake the wheel.


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If the rear is making noise easy way to check is put it up solidly on jack stands; start it up, put it in gear and observe the rear wheels running. From the sounds of it you may need to replace the rear bearings. If I were you I would take it back to the dealer and have them go over the car checking all four wheels (suspension, bearings, rotors, etc.). How many miles on the car?

 

[jmustang]

Videos of tire play:

Tires are not out of round, this was the very scientific test I used to check on both sides:

Appreciate everyone’s help and input while I try to figure this out!


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[skwerl]

That is axle play, not tire play. Designed slop in the C clip that holds the axle shaft in the axle tube. It does seem excessive but you need to go into the rear end to examine the cause.

Your third video is useless.

 

[jmustang]

That is axle play, not tire play. Designed slop in the C clip that holds the axle shaft in the axle tube. It does seem excessive but you need to go into the rear end to examine the cause.

Your third video is useless.

I made a little mark with a gray sharpie behind the tire. I thought that would help visually see high and low points in the tire? Saw someone else do that on YouTube and it made the low spots visually obvious.


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[skwerl]

In order for you to see any variance in tire height, you would need to spin the tire much faster. Like idling in first gear faster.