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Tire Break in Period?

5K views 37 replies 26 participants last post by  Bansheeman6100 
#1 ·
Hey Everyone. I put new tires on the truck about a month ago. Cooper Discovery AT3 285 70R17. I have had the truck in twice to balance the tires. I called again today to complain because of the vibration that starts at 40 and is terrible at 70. The service manager said these tire require a 4-5000 mile break in and when they checked the run out everything was in check. I have never heard of a break in period this long. He told me to air down the tires to 40-45 psi to help with the break in. Has anyone heard of this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
#2 ·
That is complete BS! I would take them back and make them change them out or swap for a different style. 5000 miles down the road they are not going to do anything to fix the problem.
 
#3 ·
:agree2: My son/daughterinlaw bought a used Chrysler 300 a few years ago, used, in good shape. On the way home, they noticed a vibration. I went by and drove it, and told them it had a tire with a broken belt or something. The vibration was obviously front passenger. We switched tires on that side... front to back. The vibration switched tot he back, with the bad tire. I then noticed in the tread next to the sidewall where the tire was going bad (had missed this on initial inspection). My daughterinlaw made an appointment at the dealer they bought the car from and took it in. They gave her this same "those are new tires and have to broken in correctly" BS.

ANYONE telling you this either doesnt know their butt from a butter churn, or are a big liar who will tell you anything at any time to avoid standing behind something. Either way, they shouldnt be trusted.

If a tire is balanced correctly, and still vibrates,.... it is bad and will always vibrate. I bet that most of the time, these tires actually cannot be balanced, but the dealer refuses to admit it :thumbsup:
 
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#6 · (Edited)
If they've balanced them twice, it sounds like you have a tire out of round from the factory. I'd demand a refund or different set.

Edit- the break in for tires is the stupidest thing I've heard today. And I've heard some really stupid things today.
 
#7 ·
Yep.. There is no break in on tires. They are trying to feed you some BS.
Make them replace the Tires.
 
#8 ·
How much weight did they take to balance? The only breakin should be wearing the slippery mold release off in a few hundred miles.
 
#9 ·
There's no break-in for vibration.

However, there does seem to be a break-in period on larger tires; I put 33's on my stock 17" wheels and they felt like marshmallows until I got maybe 500-1000 miles on them, and they firmed up. VERY uncomfortable/unsafe feeling! Same with the 34.5's on 20's, and same with this new set of 35's on 20's I just got. Felt like the back wanted to swap with the front at 65-80, real loose feeling...now I've got 800 miles on them and she's smooth sailing at 80+.
 
#12 ·
I agree with this as both sets of my Toyo's were like that "squirmy", but he's complaining of a vibration which you should not have. I always have my tires powder balanced and they will vibrate when new but only for about 50 miles or so.
 
#10 ·
got at3's also no breakin was needed, never heard such a crock of crap that you got told, I'd be checking tires for out of round. Look at the tire that has the most balance weights first and go from there.....good luck:S:
 
#11 ·
AT3's here as well...ran perfect from the day they went on.

Have the shop check for a tire out of round or check yourself.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I had BFG's that would zero out on the Hunter balancer yet cause vibes from 50 mph+. Discount Road Forced them but no dice. The BFG's weight ranged from 4-11 ozs.
Sold them on Craigslist and have worn Toyos ever since. Zero issues and easy to balance. My current Toyo AT2's take a max of 3.25 ozs.
You've got bad tires.
 
#14 ·
I think services manager, is watching to much NASCAR.
What wheels do you have ?
Either you have a bad tire(s) ,most likely, or they were not careful, they bent wheel(s) installing tires.
I have seen balance machine out of whack or operator error.
Also should not be taken for granted, make sure wheel was properly installed on truck hub.
If your hauling any type of weight be careful airing down to much!
 
#15 ·
No such thing for car/truck tires. Now motorcycles are a little different they're a little slippery until you get them roughed up say 100 miles or so but that's not going to change vibration or a shake. Sounds like you maybe have a bent rim not balanced correctly or possibly a bad tire that has a belt separating in it already.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#16 ·
Like everyone said......Total BS!!!! I worked at Discount Tire Co. for several years back in the day. They are trying to weasle out of replacing your tires for you.
 
#17 ·
I am a tire salesman and that is total crap. There shouldn't be a shake when you leave with new tires if there is they need to find it and fix it, by finding the one that is bad. There shouldn't be more than 6 ounces on any of them if so that is probably the problem child.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I may take some flack for this... but I think road force balancing is a crock also. If a tire has THAT much give in the tread/sidewall, that the weight of the vehicle alone throws it out of balance (even though its balanced on the machine) then the tire is junk. When you add to that the fact we run D & E load range tires with stiff sidewalls, it sounds even more ridiculous to me. If this were the case, my tires (balanced with my truck empty) would be "out of balance" when I put on a load on/in the truck
 
#21 ·
wheeeeeeeeew....... thought I was the only one :thanks2:
 
#23 ·
315/70/17 duratracs, balanced them 4 times, rotated 3 times, cant shake the shake... but the shake is not always there either.... have had other trucks with same size cepec, same issue. some are fine, some are not.... whos supoesed to eat the cost and labour of the "bad tires" btw? the tire supplier? the shop?
 
#24 ·
check your tires for out of round, jack 1 tire at a time and place a pop can or whatever to where it is close and spin the tire if the distance remains the same go to the next tire and repeat and so on. You wouldn't have gravel or rocks stuck in your tires by chance, mine are bad for that!:confused013:
 
#29 ·
I think Silver was saying that it verified some bad tires. You didn't run them after being road force balanced, correct Chowder?

I guess I've been lucky, never a bad set of tires, never anything that couldn't be balanced.
 
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#30 ·
yes, thank you :thumbsup:
 
#31 ·
The BFG's I had that would shake at freeway speeds were Road Forced and zeroed out on the Hunter Balancer. They were just out of round.
Since then I use Toyos and to date no issues.
That may be why the factory in the South is being greatly expanded and will be hiring 1000+ employees.
 
#33 ·
I've bought about seven full sets of light radials pickup tires over the years. Every one of them had to be re-balanced at about 5,000 miles, including the set on my new RAM right now at 6,000 miles. The dealers told me that they are stacked green in a truck or container, continue to cure while stacked in a collapsed position at times, and then they might sit in a warehouse on a rack, or store for weeks or months. He says when inflated and mounted they will expand, contract, stretch, relax, and be parked in different positions. And for those reasons, it's not unusual to have to rebalance after the first few thousand miles.
 
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