Question about snow tires
 

I recently ordered set of Pirelli Scottzero snow tires /wheels combo from Tirerack. They were shaking at 65 mph and I took them to local shop with Hunter machine to have them re-balanced. After balancing again, they are better now but still has shaking at 80 mph. The mechanic said that with snow tires, it's the best they can do and that I should live with it.

What are your experiences? Is that really true? Should I take them to another shop?

Another shop

I have the same issue on my Audi, snow tire front passenger side, dealer/tireshop told me it's feathering, my difference is this is happening now after a couple seasons due to uneven wear.

The shop balanced the wheels and it's a tad better now though shaking/wobbling still very noticeble around 40km/hr. I read online an alignment may cure the problem but I am not going to bother since i may replace them after this season. Reason being I had the same problem before on another set of snow tires and balancing/swapping/alignment didn't help, I was only able to get rid of the problem by getting new tires....

good luck!

What does Tirerack have to say?

My WAG is the tires should balance just fine. If not I'd complain.

Be sure the tire inflation pressure ok.

Could be a bad balance job but there have been a few cases where the winter wheel hub register diameter is wrong and the wheel doesn't center on the hub. If this happens even a perfectly balanced wheel/tire assembly will shake.

I've had multiple sets of Pirelli SottoZeros. Balancing has never been an issue, and they generally feel very much like my summer tires. My last set had a very subtle shimmy at highway speed as they began to wear, but it was hardly noticeable.

I am trying to understand the print out from the shop
The LF tire had 30lbs of road force, and could not be match balance.
The RF tire had 50lbs of road force, and could not be match balance.
The RR tire had 32lbs of road force, and could not be match balance.
The LR tire balance out normally

Does this mean the tire with 30 or 50lbs of road force is defective? I always thought the road force should be less than 10lbs.

I will email tirerack and see what they say.

Pirelli Sottozero are some of the best around. I think I had 19" on my 991.1S, had them balanced at the dealer with OZ rims, and they were smooth as silk. I've never had an issue. It's the shop! Unless you have an issue with a rim that is undiagnosed.

Call Customer service at the Tirerack. The run-out is far too high on three of these tyres; especially the 50lb one!
They can either recommend a new shop to do a full 'Road Force Balance', or will send you at least one new tyre.

I have owned multiple sets of Soto Zeros over the years and have found them to be more difficult to balance perfectly. Just not this difficult!

Bish

I'm with Chance6 .. same 19" wheels and same tires. Also agree with Dennis, this is my second set of Sottozeros, two different 991C4S's and no complaints. No problems at speeds over 80mph. Or below. This year is the first time (in the past the dealer did the mounting) I had my tires mounted on the wheels by Tire Rack, still no issues

Thanks for all your help guys. Talked to Tire Rack and they are shipping 3 new tires. Only problem now is they don't have any in stock. Hopefully next week.

When I lived in Germany I used Michelin Pilot Alpin winter/snow tires and in the dry or wet (winter) I would regularly drive in triple digit mph and they were always smooth and grippy. In fact, the grip was very confidence inspiring. They worked great in snow too, but where I lived we didn't get deep snow.

I have Sottozeros on and they're fantastic - even at high speeds. I have them mounted on factory 19" wheels. Just swapped them for the season (summer tires are the P-Zero on 20" wheels).

This!

Check the roundness of the tires and wheels. If the wheels are round and the tires aren't, perhaps tell Tire Rack you want to trade them for Alpins.

ChuckJ

Whatever you do, it's a 100% different driving experience!!

The road force results, and the fact that Tirerack are sending him three new tyres pretty much means that those particular tyres were defective.