I am not sure if the equal will have any affect on a bent rim honestly. Try having them spin balanced first at another shop and go from there. If they have to dismount one of the tires and spin just the rim and see how far its out.

 

well, i checked out this website called www.innovativebalancing.com and they make dyna beads. I might try them out.

They said it DOES NOT fix a shimmy or wobble in the tire...but I'm going to try to air down and see what I can do.

The more and more I think about it...all 4 wheels are NOT bent. I think the tire place just didn't want to mess with that "large" of a tire. he probably doesn't have experience with off road tires. So I'm thinking about airing down, trying to either spin 180* or take a crowbar and push the tire down on the rim and try and "align" it better. I think the shop did a shotty job on putting the rim on the tire...that may be the problem.

I called summit again and just asked a quick question, without any personal information, and not reguarding my previous complaint.

I asked them how many rock crawler tires come back from a bad/bent rim. They said less than 1 percent. And they said it is from shipping and NEVER have they had all 4 bent. Less than 1 percent...thats my chances of being bent.

She said taht they have a machine that checks them before they even leave the shop, so it would be damaged in shipping, but that it is SO doubtful because they are pretty strong rims.

I said thank you and hung up....

It makes me think...I might try and re-position the tire on the rim and try those dyna beads. It's either $50 for beads (free to re-mount) or 70 to ship. I'd rather try the first thing...it gives me more piece of mind.

Because if they test the rim and there is nothign wrong with it, I have to PAY to get my rims back (shipping) Which is a major PITA. Thats 140 dollars...so I'm going to try that first.

I have a STRONG feeling they are not bent, that tire place is very reputable, but...they could be lazy. They didn't even rotate the rim on the tire 180 degrees. I didn't say anything to him. But he showed me the tire was shimmying, I asked him to check the rim and he said it's obviously bent. I asked him if it could be the tire mounting on the rim, he said no, the rim is bent. I asked him to make sure, he said "nope, rims are bent...all 4 of em, they are asking 18 oz on one side, thats way too much"

So I asked if he has ever balanced a large off-road tire, because they have a tendency to take a lot of weight.

He just replied with something like "the machine doesn't lie...18oz is WAY too much"

Here's the problem with his statement, the tire WAS balanced by another shop, on the road force (not force variation or whatever) and it was fine in the front (tiny bit of steering wheel shake) but it was the BACK that was bad...I think if i rotate 180 degrees and try the dyna beads it should be ok.

Should I have the tires re-balanced? Then throw in the dyna beads? Would taht be good?

 

Should I have the tires re-balanced. If you have weights on the tires then the dyna beads or equal will not work with them. I say have them done at another shop because its pretty tough to pop a bead with out a tire machine let alone spin it 180. The tire should have a mark on it where the valve stem should be lined up to it when being mounted. That is put on there by the tire company as a point of reference to help with vibration.

 

Oh cool...is it that little red mark?

 

Yes it is.

 

I will have to take a look at that. I really don't think the wheels are bent. Maybe dynabeads will save my week!!! (and my wallet)

 

if u go to a tire shop they should have a machine that can road force your wheels and tires and they can also measure your bare rim and they just check the barrell and the machine will tell u if its really bent or not. and even if it is bent since u have steel wheels u can use a dog bone to straighten them out.