Tire and Steering problems

I have a 2002 Grand Am GT. From the moment I drove it off the lot, I have nothing but problems. I have made twelve trips to the dealer since July 2002. All with the same problem. I have had six new tires put on my vehicle and brakes replaced at 19,000 (which I think I got screwed with that one) all because of steerling vibrating at 65-70mph. After replacing two tires in July of 2003 the problem seemed to disappear for a while. The vibrating came back so I rotated my tires (not at dealers) in November 2003. Everything riding fine. Last month after 11,000 miles I had tires rotated and balanced (not by dealer) and the vibrating is back. The place that did the rotating noticed that the tires in the back were alot worse (tread not even throughtout the tire) than the ones on the front. So they rotated them back, but I STILL have the vibrating. The dealer basically told me that since it had been 20,000 miles since I have been there, they ain't warrantying anything. I have paperwork coming out my butt from the dealer and they don't want to mess with it. The other place I took my car to to get the tires rotated suggested maybe a bad strut and/or shock. Is this possible. Something is wrong because everytime I get new tires put on, I get the same wear on the tread. These tires are Goodyear Eagle RS-A.


I know this long and thanks for reading. Any suggestions.

check the tire pressure.

You mentioned replacing tires a lot of times but have you had a 4 wheel alignment?

Allignment may cause the problem. You can check it by driving on the straight road, go about 40-50mph and let go off the wheel, if the car pulls right or left then do the allignment. But you have to make sure the road is straight, 180 angle.

Thats a good way to check for allignment, but the car will pull a little bit if the tire pressure is different. So make sure they are exactly the same in each tire.

Thanks for the input. The tire pressure has been checked, but I've had an alignment for awhile. I will check on that

Sounds like the dealer needs to deal with it. If it comes back more than, something like 3 for 4 time in a certain time period, it would fall under the lemon law (I'm in CA, we have it here). Contact the BAR (Burro of Automotive Repair). Let them know what's going on. It may help. My dealer told me that problems that I've had them look at while it's under warranty, even when the warranty runs out, since I complained about it and it's in their computer as a listed problem, they would still fix it under warranty. Don't let them bully you. Good luck.

Another thing to look at is your rims , are they dirty on the inside? It will drive like a vibrator if they are.

Here are some Ideas, things that I have ran into before. Keep your tires rotated offten (every 6,000). Even try going with diffrent brand of tire. Get alignment checked, Even if it isn't pulling, toe may still be out. Make sure the wheel and hub of the car is clean of debris where they meet, and most importantly, Make sure lugs are hand tightened, in a star pattren, with a tourque wrench to 100 f-LBs of tourque. Hope this helps.

if the rims are dirty it will cause vibration?

yes

Brake dust on the wheels and just normal dust won't cause a vibration usually, but if there are chunks of dirt throwing it off balance, or, most importantly, if there is corrosion on the hub of the car or where the wheel meets the hub it will cause a vibration. This happens offten on vehicals with chrome wheels. Also make sure to check that torque and do NOT over torque!!