09 WRX Stock Tire Problem

[Iboc_C64]

Anyone else have a problem with the Dunlop SP01 Sports? I warped 2 rims back in June. I drove for about 700 miles that way, the dealer had rebalenced them to help it out temporarily. I got the rims replaced by the insurance company, but after I thought there was still an issue. I asked if they checked the other wheels balance when they put on the new rims and they said they didn't have to because they did it last time I brought it in. I thought that was kinda lazy of them. I brought it back to complain it wasn't right about a week later and they re-aligned it. Still didn't fix the problem. I asked if it could be a bearing or something and they said no. I brought it back again and they put it on a lift and brought it up to 50mph and we heard no problems. I was beside myself, couldn't figure it out. They then told me that they told the collision center last time that the tires were bad, but they never told me. They showed me the tires were cupping a little but that should not cause what I was feeling, at least I didn't think so. This all happened between 6000 and 7000 miles ODO reading. So I kept driving it becuase they didn't wan't to do anything for me, they acted like I was annoying them. I went back at 11,500 miles and got my rotation and did an oil change. All the sudden the steering wheel was shaking at 60mph. It was late on a friday so the next day I took it to VIP. I didn't want to wait and I was a little ticked off at the dealer. VIP rebalenced the front tires and told me there was a little hop in one of them, did not say anything about cupping. After the re-balenced, the shake was almost non-existent. But now Im at 12,500 miles and its been about 3 weeks and the vibration is comming back little by little. What the hell, am I doomed to continue rebalancing these things until they are used up? I think the dealer F'ed up because they should have found that out of balence wheel before the tire went out of round after I put 4000 miles on it that way:rant:. At this point, I think I trust VIP more than them. I won't say who, but for the record, the dealer WAS NOT Evergreen.

 

[GClark]

Have you thought about replacing the tires? Get some really sticky ones, I liked the Eagle f1s I had.

 

[Iboc_C64]

Right now, it's not in my budget until its time for winter tires. I was hoping to get 20,000 miles out of the stock tires. Not looking like that's going to happen. I think I would be lucky to get much more than 15,000 even without this issue. I use to use Cooper Zeon 2XS on my last car and I loved them. Maybe I will do that again. Just seems kinda unfair though, they would not have gone bad if the dealer had done what I asked them to do. I have such bad luck. If I had spent on upgrades what I have already spent on fixing paint and rims and bumpers in the past 6 months I would be at stage 2 already. I would probably have mud flaps and tinted windows too.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

once tires start to cup (and subies are notorious for this) they only get worse. subies really like to cup the inside edges or the rear tires, it's a camber and toe-in issue. I'm running a lot of rear negative camber and zero toe, evidently that's the perfect recipe for wicked bad cupping....

with cupped tires, rebalancig only delays the inevitable.

my PZero Neros are cupped so bad at the back that my car sounds more like a helicopter whup-whup-whup than a Subaru rumble rumble rumble

and this is about half the wear I was hoping to get

so if it's any comfort, you are not alone in your plight. put the cupped tires on the rear and turn up the stereo

 

[Iboc_C64]

Ugh. I should have insisted on new tires with the rims but they told me they were fine. Its not just the cupping though, one of them is out of round and I don't think this was due to the rims, but it could have been. Just wouldn't have been so far out of round if the dealer had done thier job and balanced them when I asked them to. Does a tire rotation ussually include a rebalance? If it does then I am never going back to that dealer.

 

[inski]

I warped 2 rims back in June.

How did that happen? Hit something? What kind of stresses do you suppose the tires went thru when that happened?

I don't think the Dunlops have anything to do with this issue. Whatever "warped" the rims is the root of all evil.

But wait theres more!. Next your struts will start leaking within the next 10k. Especially if something was hit hard enough to "warp" two 2009 WRX wheels and hit hard enough to knock it out of balance and out of alignment.

A rotation is just moving the tires. A balance is putting them on the spin machine and the computer tells where to add weight so its balanced. Two different procedures.

 

[CheySpec207]

yeah rotations are just moving the wheels front to back usually when you move the rear wheels to the front they're usually out of balance a lot of people like to have the wheels that are going to be on the front rebalanced some people like to have all 4 rebalanced. Wheels usually go out of balance after a while of driving from tire wear and what not you wouldnt really feel a shimmy too much cuz you'd probably get use to it. Also who ever balanced your wheels probably didnt do a good job cleaning off the surface for sticky weights. I believe 09 wheels require sticky weights do to not having an outside lip for clip weights correct me if im wrong im not sure just saying but it could be possible that the sticky weights managed their way to falling off and become out of balance after driving a while and that's why you feel a little shimmy or vibration

-----Added 9/17/2009 at 07:33:09-----

you should bring your car to a shop or a tire warehouse in your area (i work at tire warehouse lol) or anywhere that does tires and a good balance machine and have them road force your wheels that should let you know whether you have a bad wheel or tire

 

[Iboc_C64]

Well the rims were just barely warped. Felt like a tire a little out of balance and it was one of those fresh pot holes caused by the hauling heavy loads... like windmill parts on this particular road. Anyway it was shaped just right to hit the inside of the rim where there was no support for the weight. It was also a 35mph zone, I may have been accelerating and at around 45mph when I hit it. I didn't even see in because it was on the passenger side inside a corner comming out of downtown Kingfield. I didn't think that there was much wrong with the alignment, that was just them trying to look for a cause. They made some "minor" adjustment, basically nothing. I still have the rims, and I would give anyone $100 if they can find the warp without a wheel balancer. It was surprising that the little impact I felt caused such a problem. It didn't feel like it should have warped. As far as the tires go, I drove a 2008 WRX with 18,000 miles on the car and its tires yesterday. It had the same feel as my car does most of the time. I would say this may just be a Subaru tirewear issue that I was not aware of being typical. I'm pretty picky about the behavior of my vehicles. I think I will just ignore it for now and see if it continues after tire replacement in a couple months.

 

[RyanR]

both of my right side wheels are slightly bent, i balanced them 20 minutes after i bought the car, noticed it, brought it back to quirks, they told me to pound sand.

all 4 of my tires are cupping hard on the inside, even on the straight wheels, even after 2 alignments. i have an 09 and the same dunlops.

 

[Iboc_C64]

both of my right side wheels are slightly bent, i balanced them 20 minutes after i bought the car, noticed it, brought it back to quirks, they told me to pound sand.
all 4 of my tires are cupping hard on the inside, even on the straight wheels, even after 2 alignments. i have an 09 and the same dunlops.

Wow, that's essentially the same setup. Glad its not just me. I guess the strange wear is normal for a Subaru, expecially a WRX with big, flat, sporty tires. Mine ran incredibly smooth until I hit that pothole. It was all downhill after that. Kinda pisses me off that subaru doesn't cover this stuff in some way. I'm told that honda stands behind thier rims and tires. If you hit a pothole, and you purchased the extended warranty, they replace that shista no questions asked. I did notice a strange clunk when backing up the other day, sounded like the lower control arm bushings on my old pontiac did when they would go. I could had just ran over a piece of metal or manhole cover and not relized it though I suppose. I will wait and see how it feels when I go to soft winter tires in a month or two.

 

[CheySpec207]

i run 225/45/17 on my 02 wrx and im getting a lil cupping also i think that's the same size on you guys 08-09 wrx too

 

[Iboc_C64]

Yup, that's the size of my stock tires. Causes a contant wirring and a little shake in the wheel at 40 and up. And with the dunlops, you can't remount the tires to switch the inside to the outside. Its the way they are designed.

 

[CheySpec207]

yeah the tires must be a symetrical i think i have that wirring sound its loud and its like you can hear every time the tire touches the road

 

[Iboc_C64]

that's it! On top of that the brakes make noise in the morning too from rusting up a little over night. For about the first mile or two they thump or vibrate just a little.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

Kinda pisses me off that subaru doesn't cover this stuff in some way. I'm told that honda stands behind thier rims and tires. If you hit a pothole, and you purchased the extended warranty, they replace that shista no questions asked.

seems like you are seeing the downside to fat low-profile tires here. a 45 series tire doesn't have much sidewall height to absorb impacts from sharp potholes or manhole covers--esp at the speeds and cornering attitudes that a hot Suby encourages.

not sure how that is subaru's fault if you whack a road obstacle hard enough to bend a wheel....this is why I'm a fan of the 16" wheel/tire setup for Maine roads. I'm running 225/50-16s and have been quite happy with the tradeoff between handling and ride and overall toughness. stock size on older WRX is 205/55-16, that's even better for the rough stuff. rally cars run 205/65-15s for max impact resistance.

the fat/wide/low setup specced for newer WRX/STI is very much tarmac-biased....and clearly has significant downsides. feels great on smooth roads, but kinda sucks elsewhere. ya pays yer money and takes yer chances.

I have the suby gold extended warranty and it specifically excludes wheel/tire damage, so not much hope there either. are you certain that Honda covers this, or did somebody just tell you it did?

 

[Iboc_C64]

Someone who bought a new Honda just after I had this happen told me that they asked the Honda dealer and the dealer told him if I had bought a Honda, that the road hazzard coverage would have replaced them. Just to be clear, I don't regret my purchase one bit. I was just curious how honda can stand behind thier wheels. Then again even when they use 17's I think they have more rubber than we do and thier cars aren't so fast or stiff so there is probably less risk involved in covering them. I was considering going to some 16" rims for winter precisely for this reason. The frost heaves in my home town can be deadly.