I think they tried to "blinker fluid" me.

Update:
For peace of mind I went to an independent tire shop and asked that they check the balance of all four tires (without telling them what happened at Costco). All four tires were out of balance by more than 2.5 ounces. The wheel in question has a slight bend in it. I will be taking it back to Costco eventually to get the Nitrogen replaced to open up my options on tire care but other than that, lesson learned. I'm done with them for tires.

So I took the 4Runner in for a routine tire rotation and balance. As soon as I pulled out and got up to 65 mph there was a severe vibration in the front end. (I'm thinking they probably just forgot to balance one of the tires and/or the weights flew off.) Immediately upon return to the shop the manager says "Yeah, we were concerned that one of the tires had a heavy spot on one side and the wheel also had a heavy spot so we were trying to install the tire to where the heavy sides opposed one another". I go "hmmm". Help me out here, is this really a thing or were they just trying to cover their hinnies. . .

 

That only makes sense if they removed the tire from the rim.

 

They said that they did remove the tire from the wheel and tried to get the "heavy spots" across from one another. So you are saying that is indeed a common issue?

 

Sounds to me like they screwed something up especially seeing it didn’t do it prior to you coming in.

 

Well I had a rotation done that way too. I mean it took two hours. I do my own now. But when I got the car back it was bad, something happened when they rotated them because I took it back and they said I had three bent rims?

(Corolla S Premium)

 

That's what I'm thinking.

 

It's a shame when you have to question a simple job. Kudos to you for doing your own rotation and especially the balance work!

 

Unbalanced tires don't harmoniously cancel one another out when placed on opposite sides of the vehicle.

 

Maybe a misunderstanding in how I stated what happened. What he said was that one of the tires had a heavy spot, same rim that tire came off of had a heavy spot. He said that they were trying to mount the tire on the rim to where the heavy spots of each were on opposite sides. I'm still in doubt that even that is a thing. How coincidental that both that tire and that rim each had "heavy" spots.

 

ok...I'm no physics expert so I stand to be corrected on this...but let's say tire and rim both had 'heavy spots" ...could happen. but for them to balance out as your tire boy tried to do...I would think they'd have to be equal- the same amount of heavy, so to speak. (?) what are the odds of that?

 

Guys this isn’t rocket science. It is called counter balance. It is a thing. By regulation they are not allowed to apply an unlimited amount of weight on the opposite side to counter balance a tire and wheel. Each wheel and tire will have heavy spots. So they first find the heavy part of the tire and then they find the heavy part of the wheel. Then they counterbalance those and then apply weights as needed. However, if a tire wasn’t showing problems to the owner before I don’t know why they felt so inclined to balance the tires if a rotation was just necessary. If it wasn’t shaking before it had no need. But that whole situation sounds interesting for sure.

 

Sigh. Reading comprehension fail on my part.

 

Thanks so much! I feel better knowing that it is indeed a tire balancing protocol.

The tires weren't causing an issue before I took it in which raised my first suspicion. My second sus is when they gave the explanation and it hadn't been taken care of before I left, if that indeed had been the issue. It was a scheduled rotation with COSTCO and I really think that they just screwed something up and were trying to cover their butts instead of just being honest.

 

Yeah, I can see that the shop would need to balance the tire and wheel and add weights where needed. But to give me that explanation when I returned right away, they obviously didn't even do that or I wouldn't have had the heavy vibration that was so bad that it could be felt in the steering wheel. I've begun to question that I should have ever bought my tires at COSTO if they weren't being straight with me about what happened. What are your thoughts?

 

They tried to charge me $4k.

 

Costco? For Tires?

 

Key word and answer to all of it...COSTCO.

 

You are correct. Big mistake, HUGE. . .
I should have purchased my Michelins from the local guy that I can trust. Never again will I make that mistake.

 

Initially I went to a different Toyota dealership than usual. Turned out to be a bad mistake. Picked up 3 rims on ebay and had an alignment done at NTB.

 

And got new tires

 

Giving this shop the benefit of the doubt, it's possible you went in there with a poorly balanced wheel on the rear (for whatever reason -- not anyone's fault) but it wasn't that noticeable until it was switched to the front. Balance issues are going to be far more obvious in the front than in the back. So it's also possible that the shop noticed that one of the rear wheels they moved to the front was hard to balance and, trying to do a good job, identified the heavy spots on the tire and wheel and tried to counterbalance them as they described.

What isn't explained is why that attempt failed. I think it's important for you to know whether they did a "Roadforce" balance or just a regular balance. If the latter, it's not surprising that you still had a problem despite their best efforts.

In short, it's entirely possible that a rear got out of whack (hit a pothole, tire wore badly, wtvr), it's now hard to balance, and it's only really noticeable now that it's on the front.

That make sense?

 

Was this a reputable shop? Or a tire chain? I might try another shop if you aren't really sure about the shop that did the balancing. I have had a tire chain fail miserably at rebalancing my tires. Then, my off-road shop got them perfect without any trouble.

Did they get it right when you brought it back?

 

This absolutely makes sense. I've had it happen before on other vehicles but feel in this case that is was so severely out of balance that I would have noticed before the tire was rotated to the front.

I'm a pretty trusting person and like to give the benefit of the doubt but when they evidently failed on the first round it makes me wonder. It is also possible that they just failed to balance that tire at all thinking that they had already done all four tires, the shop was slammed as usual and I get that mistakes can happen. I purchased the tires at the same COSTCO that did the rotation and balance (or initially lack of balance) so I'm actually now wondering if there could possibly be some damage to the tire that I should get checked out elsewhere and then return to COSTO for warrantee replacement if that turns out to be the case. Thanks for responding, good points.

 

Do yourself a big favor and go to a reputable tire shop. Good luck!

 

COSTCO. . .
They seemed to get it right the second time but I feel that there is still a slight vibration. I noticed it this weekend when my husband drove and I sat in the passenger seat. I'm thinking about taking it somewhere to get the tire checked for wear or damage. I shamefully can't take it to the shop that I usually do business with. LOL Lesson learned on trying to save a dime.

I just noticed your forum name is Thatbassguy. Is it in reference to the fish or a musical instrument?

 

I think you're once again right on the money there. Thanks.

 

I totally agree with @Doubleduty about finding a good shop you can trust. It will save you frustration.

As far as my username, it's dual purpose.

 

I was wondering if you two were related.

 

Wow...nice catch!!