alright boys and girls things have gotten messy and i am not calm.
i have a 97 long box ext cab. had the local boys put on some 265/75R16. not stock but they fill out better. Toyo M55, nice, dig well, and keep you out of trouble. during the install they told me that they had to throw on 5-6 oz. weights to balance out the rims. i dont think they did on all the tires. on the drive afterwards (bout 100kms) they where wobbling or shimmying. not really sure, she'd pull to the side like they where rolling off the rims or the sidewall had given out. the tire shop told my the rims where still true, but they may have been compacted. i didnt have any problems with the 245/75R16 Kumho road ventures i had on there before. but i think theyd been on the truck for a long time, at least 100 000 kms and not the easy ones either. the tire shop said break in the M55s (5000km) and if theyre still weird, bring it back. any comments or related experinces would be great, if only to soothe my nerves.

 

No experience with Toyo's, but I bought some Dunlop's a few years back. Same thing from day one they always felt a little weird. Had them balanced three seperate times and finally the guy told me while he had it on the balancer that he noticed that none of the tires were manufactured round. 4 brand new tires and they were all made bad from the factory. not real sure if this could be checked on the truck or not, but might be worth looking into.

 

With that kind of answer, I would expect him to install new tires at his expense. If not ye'll fraud and tell him you're contacting the atty general.

When it comes to a point you have to install that many weights, IMO there is something wrong. I know it's not the same but on the Porsche I had when mounting tires, they rotate the tire on the rim, run it on the balancer and get it as close to being balanced w/out any weights, then if needed add weights to it. This type of performance balancing makes the overall setup lighter and more appealing as you won't have a wheel full of weights to counter balance. I realize our trucks are equivalent to tanks rolling down the hwy but hey maybe it leads to .0001% better mpg!

 

high bid, if you notice the dots on the wheel and the tire of a new vehicle, that's how the auto assembly plant balances the tire/wheel assy.

The tire manufacturer installs the dot on the heaviest part of the tire. The wheel manufacturer installs the dot on the lightest part of the wheel. (maybe it's just the opposite), but then they line up the dots. Least amount of weights required with this process.

 

i was wondering about that. i spent some time in a tire shop. i found that all it takes is a bad day and balancing tires becomes a monumental task.

that being said, i was lead to believe that they had used all the tricks that i knew to get the tires to balance out. the question is, do i wait it out to c if it fixes its self or start shoppin for rims?

 

Ok, I agree but the dots may not always be 100% accurate. It was just another option on tire balancing and in his case it may work, may not, but you have to start somewhere with the problem and start ruling out the possibilities to truly diagnose it.

 

I would not start shopping for rims. I would read the ply ratings on the sidewall. My bet is that you got a set of tires with a weak sidewalls. Are they at least LT (LT265/75R16)reated? If by chance they are P (P265/75R16) rated, then there's your trouble right there.

 

Have a tire shop road force balance them. It costs more but it is worth it. Our rule of thumb at the dealer was no more than 3 oz. of weight on a wheel. If it took more than that there was a problem with the combo. Some times all it took was to pop the bead and spin the tire on the rim and reseat it to have it balance out right. The only exception to the 3 oz. is for off-road agressive tires than your on your own they are just a bear to balance.