So I put my OEM P Zero summers back on my Brembos a few weeks ago. The Blizzaks that came off were dead smooth up to 120. Now I'm getting a vibration in both the wheel and the seat when the tires get warm. I've had the wheels balanced 3 different places, on two different GSP9700 Road Force Machines. I noticed it right after I picked the car up, and have been chasing it ever since.

I did have to put a plug in one of the fronts. I think that is the tire that won't balance in the front. I switched the other front tire to the rear, so I think that is the one in the rear that won't balance. What the hell would make a tire only go out of balance when warm? I'm so fed up with this. I don't even want to drive the **** thing right now.


Update: Solved this with my first set of Brembo Pirellis, bought a set of low mile Boss 302 takeoffs with identical tires and it's happening again.

 

How were the tires stored? On their side or vertically upright on the tread?

 

If you had them road force balanced the machine should have picked it up.

I would try having them dismounted and turned 180 degrees on the wheels and rebalance them and see if that helps.

 

Very interesting, especially that they've been balanced multiple times on road force machines.

Are you using factory lugs? Is the hub area clean and free of debris? Have you played with tire pressures? Maybe when the tires warm up and the air expands, it's a vibration that only shows up at higher pressures.

 

I had a vibration at 50-60 MPH on my F150 that the Road Force did not pick up, rotating the tire 180 degrees got most of it, the OEM tires are matched up to the wheels. The red dot you had to clean off the sidewall was matched up to a sticker on the rim.

 

This pissed me off quite a bit with my last mustang.

But hey, just be glad Pirelli doesnt make condoms

 

Thanks folks. The tires were stored on their sides. I'm still considering if I want to try the 180 degree rotation or if I just want to replace the (hopefully) 2 that are vibrating with a different brand and put them on the front.

 

One or more tires are likely out of round. I had an issue with the OEM Continentals on my last car, I'd get a steering wheel shake at 50-70 mph from day 1, but not all the time. Tires were balanced several times and rotated around and they always balanced out fine, but the problem persisted. After several attempts, when one of the tires was being spin balanced, the tech actually noticed that it was moving vertically up and down just a little bit, indicating that the tire was out of round from the factory. I'm quite sure another tire was out of round as well, but I traded it before I cared enough to find out, lol.

 

I have had nothing but bad times with Pirellis. I do not recommend the tire.

 

I love my Summer tires all year long.

 

I'm less then impressed with mine. Grip is OK right now (they're new), but they don't offer much feedback and feel completely disconnected with the road when I'm just cruising.

Can't wait until I get some new rubber on there.

 

Mine has shimmied at highway speeds since I took it off the lot in September. I had to replace one due to a blowout and had all 4 balanced twice with no luck. I am hoping a change in brands will cure the problem.

 

Spun 3 of the tires 180 degrees and problem solved. Had to fight with the tire shop to get them to do it, but they did and I'm very happy. Hopefully by next year, I'll have a dedicated set of wheels and tires for summer.

 

Well, I'm surprised that in three attempts to fix it by rebalancing that your tire shop didn't try rotating them on the rims as a matter of course.

Should have been something you didn't have to cajole them to do, they should have just done it at the second rebalance, at the third for sure.

Glad my suggestion ended up being the cure.

 

My brother owns a performance tire shop and told me it's not at all uncommon to have to remount some tires that just are not happy and can't be made happy where they're mounted on the wheel.

For what it's worth, after suffering through several sets of Pirelli tires on different cars, I've come to the experienced conclusion that they are some of the worst tires I've ever owned, bar none. I was extremely disappointed that the Mustang was wearing them when I bought it.

John

 

This stinks...
How many miles are on your Pirellis?
Consensus is that they're pretty well done at 10k-18k depending how how you treated them. It's possible that the internal structure of the tire is breaking down.

Mine have been re-mounted once (the BBP wheels that came on my car were stained at the time that I took delivery, replaced under warranty) and at 18k, the tires are still round...but the tread is all but shot. It's not hard to imagine that the rest of the tire could be aging as well.

 

I only put 6000 miles on the Mustang before I took the Pirelli’s off. I hated them that bad. Traction was terrible and they were noisy as he11. Unless it’s an extreme emergency they will never get put back on the car I can guarantee you that! I thought about just burning them up on the road course but don’t trust them for that. I put Michelin Pilot Super Sports on it and am not looking back.

On my Taurus I had consistent/persistent out of balance with the first set of Pirelli’s. I was duped into buying a second set because they were willing to give me a partial warranty on the first set after all possible fixes did not correct the issue. The second set were the nosiest tires I ever owned, nothing but tread growl, easily as bad as the OEMs I took off the Mustang. I checked alignment to make sure that wasn’t the issue: perfect. Then two of them separated inside 20k miles. That’s when I said enough is enough. I put Michelins on the Taurus and have had zero tire issues with it since then. For what it’s worth I drive the Taurus very conservatively. Come to think of it, there probably isn’t any other way to drive a Taurus!

John

 

John,
I think you may have had exeptionally bad luck with your Pirellis. The stock 255s from the BBP/Track pack cars are widely praised as being one of the better OEM tires out there.

Your Pilot Super Sports are considered to be a big upgrade but it's not like the stock ones are trash.

 

I'm kind of glad my coupe came through with the Goodyears for some reason...but at any rate I'll have to get rid of them in the fall for all seasons.

Glad you fixed the issue.

 

Weird...those are the convertible tires, right? Did you buy yoru car off the lot?