b_a_betterperson

Bought my car 12/30/04. Ordered a set of custom wheels which took 6-8 weeks to build. Wheels show up mid-February. Order a set of Falken Ziex 512s from tires.com because people I trust have had no problems with them at all. No, you're not going to win at the autocross with them -- they keep your rims from sparking and that's about it. They go on late February.

Had everything balanced at the America's Tire down the street. They do stuff like free rotations -- and it's the same parent company as tires.com in case of a problem. After a few weeks, there's a slight vibration at speed. They check the balance at no charge -- and make a slight adjustment.

Few days later, more vibration. Stopped by another one of their stores for a second opinion. Said they were definitely out of balance. Hmm. Hit the freeway afterwards -- vibration's worse.

Got P.O.'d and called their customer service department in Phoenix this morning. Talked to a VP who apologised and said he'd get to the bottom of it. 30 minutes later, the manager of the first store calls and says he'll personally take a look at it. I head over -- he puts a corner on the balancer -- and the freakin tire tread looks like Weeble because it's wobbling up and down so much.

Anyway, I ordered a set of the factory tires in a +1 size. They were OK and weren't too noisy for their size. Overall, America's Tire and tires.com did their job -- although I wish they found the vibration a trip or two earlier.

BTW, the manager said Falkens used to be a pretty good deal -- but their quality has gone out the window recently. As for my experience, no kidding on that. FYI.

 

NoBMWforME

Sounds dangerous to me!

Tom

i had the aurora to the dealer five times because of a vibration at highway speeds.

long story short after three balances, two alignments and a lot of aggrivation and calls to gm's executive office, they used a hunter 9700 radial force balancer at a jeep dealership down the road.

the hunter 9700 puts pressure on the tire as it is balanced, then has the mechanic twist the tire on the rim to mimimize the out of round. i think the lower profile of tires is making this problem more pronounced.

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b_a_betterperson

Thanks, Tom. Actually, these guys did what you described. Didn't work. They actually went so far as to start from scratch and remove all the weights, etc. -- but they just couldn't get it right. As of today, the car is as good as it has ever been -- but there's still a little something there.

I just followed up on your post regarding an Acura MDX, by the way.

Tom

I took your cue on the dead pedal. I had a piece of thick solid (mostly solid) aluminum angle iron laying around the basement.

I cut a piece about 5" long, drilled a half dozen holes in it, rounded one corner, filled the one big hole it had with marine tex epoxy (what was laying around the basement), painted it the dupli color silver I had in the basement from the spoiler fill plugs, put interior trim panel plugs in the holes, heavy duty velcro tape on the side and viola, a dead pedal that matches. but for the unintentional run (one was intended on the corner where the foot will keep hitting it) it looks pretty good.

holes could be lined up a little better, but it was done as a "art project" with my 11yo niece, she drilled, and it was her first time with a power tool. my wife threatened me if I make another one before I do other home projects.

I was going to drill a few holes and mount it to the kick panel, but then i felt wires behind the kick panel, and noticed the kick panel is not mounted that solidly. the flex I have is the panel, not the dead pedal.

total cost, under $2.

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b_a_betterperson

Post a pic when you get a chance. I absolutely love mine! Really helps when driving the car. What has been your experience?

Tom

When the car was about three days old I took the magazine from a broken cd changer slapped a little velcro on it and used that as a dead pedal. it has been brutal this winter. i havent waxed the car yet and i got it in december. the car is undriveable without a dead pedal.

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