I get in the Outtie this morning and start driving on the highway (65-70mph) and the steering wheel is vibrating like the wheels are out of balance. After about 5 minutes driving time the vibration subsides.

I drove the car Tues night almost 100 miles with no issues. It did sit since Tues and the temp dropped from the 60's to 30's in the last couple days, but I wouldn't think that would besevere enough of a temp drop or length of time sitting to affect the rubber and cause the tires to be stiff or out of round.

Any ideas?

 

Ice on part of the wheel causing them to be out of balance? Ice eventually drops off.

 

tcp,
We didn't have any rain or snow this week.

I've had other cars where the if they sat for a while (days to weeks)the tires would stiffen on the bottom (kinda flatten out) and would cause vibration until they warmed up, but since these are new tires and it only sat for 2 days i'm baffled. The tires look fine, are sufficiently inflated and the TPMS hasn't alerted about anything.

I'm worried i have a bad tire that might pull a Firestone on me and come apart while i'm driving with my kids i the car.

 

Likely justflat spots that worked themselves back out.Tires can develop flatspotsovernight especially if the conditions are just right.Parked whenthe tires are good and warm and then it gets real cold while parked will definitly do it. Some materials in some tires are more sensitive to it than others. I would not be concerned unless it does it regulalry and it does not go away.

 

Do you have the Yokohama Geolander G033 tires on your outtie? I did notice the same vibration for half a minute when merging on the highway on the 1st gen. outtie.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 1st gen. used the Geolander G035 tires, and the new outlander G033, the latter seems to have a superior A-rating for traction but the thread of the tire looks the same. Possibly they used a different compound or something.

I saw many reviews on TireRack complaining about vibration and noise problems with Geolander tires...

 

Fisherman,
I've only noticed it once or twice. It could be flat-spots at you suggested since the temp dropped35 degrees over night. Hopefully it's nothing more than that. When i noticed it yesterday i was initially in 2wd mode heading to work. 8hrs later after work i switched over to 4wd-Auto and it was fine.Temp was a steady 45 and wet all day. I drove it again today (4wd-Auto) and didn't notice any issues coming to work. The temp is again a steady, rainy 45.

lightforce,
No mine are the Goodyear Eagle LS2's. The ride is a little stiff, but they have decent traction. We'll see how tread wear is in a few months. Right now i only have 5600+ miles.

 

If your LS2s wear anything like mine, you won't likely be very happy with the tread wear. I am at 15k and the center wear bars are nearly showing. I will have to put new tires on before the end on the summer. Unfortunately, there is very little to choose from in the size that Mitsu gave us (225/55R18). Tire Rack has an LS2 for a Honda OE fitment for only $99 each. I hope it is different than the Mitsu fitment, but I am not certain about that. I think I will pick up 4 regardless. It is still far cheaper than my other option which is to drop down to a 17" wheel and tire so That I can go with Goodyear Fortera Tripletreds. I am looking at a minimum of $250 per corner (wheels & tires) to go that route. I can buy 2 1/2 sets of the LS2s on Tire Rack at that price.

 

Tires can be a pain. I hope they last longer than that. I'm not a Goodyear fan, but had decent luck with the last couple of sets on my previous Titan lasting over 35K. Tire rack is good source. I picked up a set of non-OEM Pirelli's for my Mazda a few months ago for under $400 and had them installed at a local shop for $30.

Over the years i've switched to other fits/brands than OEMand had no issues. As long as the tires are the same rim width and height you shouldn't have any problems with switching. The only issue may be the speedometer reading, which you can have the dealer reset for a fee.

I'd personally like a little more aggressive/thick sidewallthat the LS2's provide anyways.

 

I have found all these Tires in 225/55R18;

Michelin Hydroedge
Michelin Primacy MXV4
Pirelli P6
Toyo Tourevo LS
Toyo Versado

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on these, I'm not about to change since my summer tire only have about 4000KM on them, but you never know! I've had good experience with Toyo's but they have all been with there winter tires.

 

I have the Pirelli P6's on my Mazda 3. I like them alot. Good grip and traction in wet weather and a decent ride for lower profile tires. I've only got about 10,000 miles on them but they seem to be holding up well. They were a really good price onTirerack.com too.

Had the MXV4's on a prior car and didn't like them. The wore very quickly (for Michelin's), which made them not worth the price.