thumping tire

[bearcatdon]

One of my front tires are thumping and it’s more apparent when going around a right hand bend. I just put new rubber on the rims to stop the high speed vibrations (balancing didn’t work) put the thumping is still there. There is no play in the ball joints and the CV boots are all intact and no leaks. The car drives as straight as an arrow so I’m assuming that alignment isn’t the issue.
I’m leaning towards blaming the struts but there is no oil present ( not sure if OEM used oil or gas) and when I push down on the strut it pops back up then stops. The only odd thing was that my LF tire wore in the middle as if it was over inflated. To my knowledge it wasn’t…..should have checked it before I had it replaced. Can what appears to be a good shock cause this type of wear on a tire?

[goofy4467]

You dont say how many miles? has it had a alignment lately? do you feel this in the steering wheel, if its a front wheel I would think you would.

I had a similar problem in a car that was not a malibu but it was out of control in a fast rh turn it and drove great as long as you didnt turn, turned out to be a alignment problem that the dealership guys couldnt figure out. went to a independant shop.

[bearcatdon]

It's a 99 Malibu with 110 000 miles. I bought the car last year and never gave it an alignment since I've had it but it does not pull or drift whatsoever. When I take it around bends I only hear the thumping. Sounds like a flat except that it doesn't thump as fast. An alignment may help but I don't want to spend 60.00 on an alignment just to turn around and do it again after repairing something in the front end.

[bearcatdon]

Took it back to the tire shop to get a second opinion and drive. They feel it's the onset of a wheel bearing failure. He couldn't tell which tire it was either from the drive. I need to change out my truck's windshield and tires before I dump another 200 in the Bu but I'll keep you updated once I start digging into it.