Moved up to 37s, now have vibration?

[21WhiteRubi]

Well, here is my update:

Reputable 4wd shop test drove the gladiator. They also nut and bolted every piece of the suspension to proper torque specs.

Owner said they put a ton of these tires on without issue. He said he does not think it is a balance issue, but more of maybe a tread issue. They run smooth at higher speeds. If it were a balance issue, it would be a liner problem, they would get worse the higher speed you went. The 22-30 mph vibration he said he hears more than feels, like its tread related. He said the only odd thing about these were that the sidewalls were shiny. Not like tire dressing shiny, but like polished rubber shiny. I thought that was odd too when I first had them put on. Thought maybe it was a Nitto thing. I have done nothing to the tires since I have had them, have not even washed the truck. He said he has never seen NIttos that are shiny like these are, and they install a bunch of them. He said with these, he would rotate them, and then rotate them every 3k miles. They may smooth out. But he agreed that a brand new tire right out of the box should not have any vibration unless something is amiss. After 15-20k miles, maybe so, but not brand new.

The tires have less than 100 miles on them and he said he thought the fronts looked a little odd, almost like they were feathering. I have purposely not driven the jeep since I had these put on as I wanted to see if we could get the vibration figured out. I have two other jeeps I can drive in the meantime.

So my intent at this point is to go back to Discount and swap these out for either KO2s or KM3s in a 37. I have had good experience with BFGs and run them on all my other Jeeps. I really liked the idea of the ridge grapplers as they get good reviews and are a hybrid A/T, M/T tire. Maybe the store would want to try another set before switching me over to a different brand. But at almost $500 per tire, they may not want to. The store has been good about trying to make things right, and I believe they have balanced them correctly. Something is just amiss with the tire I think.

Will report back once I go and talk with the manager at the store.

Sponsored

 

[j.o.y.ride]

Well, here is my update:

Reputable 4wd shop test drove the gladiator. They also nut and bolted every piece of the suspension to proper torque specs.

Owner said they put a ton of these tires on without issue. He said he does not think it is a balance issue, but more of maybe a tread issue. They run smooth at higher speeds. If it were a balance issue, it would be a liner problem, they would get worse the higher speed you went. The 22-30 mph vibration he said he hears more than feels, like its tread related. He said the only odd thing about these were that the sidewalls were shiny. Not like tire dressing shiny, but like polished rubber shiny. I thought that was odd too when I first had them put on. Thought maybe it was a Nitto thing. I have done nothing to the tires since I have had them, have not even washed the truck. He said he has never seen NIttos that are shiny like these are, and they install a bunch of them. He said with these, he would rotate them, and then rotate them every 3k miles. They may smooth out. But he agreed that a brand new tire right out of the box should not have any vibration unless something is amiss. After 15-20k miles, maybe so, but not brand new.

The tires have less than 100 miles on them and he said he thought the fronts looked a little odd, almost like they were feathering. I have purposely not driven the jeep since I had these put on as I wanted to see if we could get the vibration figured out. I have two other jeeps I can drive in the meantime.

So my intent at this point is to go back to Discount and swap these out for either KO2s or KM3s in a 37. I have had good experience with BFGs and run them on all my other Jeeps. I really liked the idea of the ridge grapplers as they get good reviews and are a hybrid A/T, M/T tire. Maybe the store would want to try another set before switching me over to a different brand. But at almost $500 per tire, they may not want to. The store has been good about trying to make things right, and I believe they have balanced them correctly. Something is just amiss with the tire I think.

Will report back once I go and talk with the manager at the store.

FWIW my sedan had a shake that occurred around 90 but if you pushed through to 100 it went away. Balance and rotate eliminated the issue. Not sure I agree with the notion that out of balance tires don't show up at a specific mph range, and would only get worse with higher speeds.

Do you hear any sort of warbling or oscillation when driving?

Take the tires to Costco to balance. They do a good job and only $5 a tire.

https://www.chapelhilltire.com/tire-alignment-vs-warped-brake-rotors/
What are the Signs of Unbalanced Tires?
Similar to alignment issues, unbalanced tires cause shaking along with uneven tire wear—however, this car problem is set apart by its correlation with certain speeds. If you experience severe vibrations at one speed and none at a different speed, these may be signs of tire imbalance.

 

[21WhiteRubi]

FWIW my sedan had a shake that occurred around 90 but if you pushed through to 100 it went away. Balance and rotate eliminated the issue. Not sure I agree with the notion that out of balance tires don't show up at a specific mph range, and would only get worse with higher speeds.

Do you hear any sort of warbling or oscillation when driving?

Take the tires to Costco to balance. They do a good job and only $5 a tire.

Not really, its a pretty definitive vibration/tread noise from 22-30. It seems there a quite a few here that have the same issue with the same time. They have some tread feel at 70 mph but are generally pretty smooth at that speed.

I thought about just dealing with it and seeing if it goes away after some mileage, but then again, why start out behind the curve? I know BFGs for me have always balanced well and rode smooth.

Costco is where I got my KO2s for my LJ. First time I had them rotated and balanced the wheel weights fell off in my driveway. Took it back, they replaced, they fell off again. Took back and they replaced again, but cleaned off the old wheel weight residue before installing. No issues after that. With a road force balancing machine at Discount, I feel they have balanced them the best they can. And with confirmation from the off road shop I don't think its a balance issue.

 

[SaplingT]

Well, here is my update:

Reputable 4wd shop test drove the gladiator. They also nut and bolted every piece of the suspension to proper torque specs.

Owner said they put a ton of these tires on without issue. He said he does not think it is a balance issue, but more of maybe a tread issue. They run smooth at higher speeds. If it were a balance issue, it would be a liner problem, they would get worse the higher speed you went. The 22-30 mph vibration he said he hears more than feels, like its tread related. He said the only odd thing about these were that the sidewalls were shiny. Not like tire dressing shiny, but like polished rubber shiny. I thought that was odd too when I first had them put on. Thought maybe it was a Nitto thing. I have done nothing to the tires since I have had them, have not even washed the truck. He said he has never seen NIttos that are shiny like these are, and they install a bunch of them. He said with these, he would rotate them, and then rotate them every 3k miles. They may smooth out. But he agreed that a brand new tire right out of the box should not have any vibration unless something is amiss. After 15-20k miles, maybe so, but not brand new.

The tires have less than 100 miles on them and he said he thought the fronts looked a little odd, almost like they were feathering. I have purposely not driven the jeep since I had these put on as I wanted to see if we could get the vibration figured out. I have two other jeeps I can drive in the meantime.

So my intent at this point is to go back to Discount and swap these out for either KO2s or KM3s in a 37. I have had good experience with BFGs and run them on all my other Jeeps. I really liked the idea of the ridge grapplers as they get good reviews and are a hybrid A/T, M/T tire. Maybe the store would want to try another set before switching me over to a different brand. But at almost $500 per tire, they may not want to. The store has been good about trying to make things right, and I believe they have balanced them correctly. Something is just amiss with the tire I think.

Will report back once I go and talk with the manager at the store.

Interesting about the shiny tires. I ordered a 5th as a full size spare and realized once I was home that it was completely shiny. It is a totally different finish as if someone polished it. I plan to take it back down there and have them swap it out. I don't want to mix that one in with the ones that aren't shiny if I decide to do a 5 tire rotation.

That is if I even keep these tires! Digging into my trouble shooting more this weekend. I still agree that I think it is tread pattern related and not a balance issue.

 

[21WhiteRubi]

Update from today:

Went by discount. We decided (well I decided) to swap the nittos for bfg KO2s. Never really had any issues with those. Really wanted to have the hybrid tire, but didn’t really want an MT. Took all I had not to go KM3, but for what I will probably be doing with the gladiator (road trips, camping, some trails), I just couldn’t justify the shorter life span and the eventual noise.

KO2s go on Tuesday. Fingers crossed they are smooth. And since they are a touch smaller, I went ahead and got a spare.

 

[21WhiteRubi]

Swapped to the KO2s this morning at Discount Tire. Smooth as glass. Need to get them up to 70mph or so, but I don't expect anything. Smooth up to 45 mph. There was just something about those Nittos that just was off. I am thinking maybe it was a bad batch of tires that were produced.

I also went ahead and got a spare 37. Fits in the stock location. Tight towards the hitch, but plenty of clearance for the rear track bar.

I will report back with any issues, but so far so good. For those with the Nittos, I would suggest swapping to a different tire. Believe me, I wanted to keep the Nittos, but for me it just wasn't worth the headache of dealing with vibration all the time. Maybe I'm getting old....

And lastly, @Discount Tire did great in terms of doing all they could to make me happy with my choice. They said to go drive it and put it through the paces and make sure the BFGs are good to go. No complaining about me not being happy and wanting to switch to the Nittos etc. This is why I keep going back to them for tires.

 

[Discount Tire]

@21WhiteRubi, Thank you for the kind words. We're glad to hear you had great experience with the store. We appreciate your support.

 

[CerOf]

Swapped to the KO2s this morning at Discount Tire. Smooth as glass. Need to get them up to 70mph or so, but I don't expect anything. Smooth up to 45 mph. There was just something about those Nittos that just was off. I am thinking maybe it was a bad batch of tires that were produced.

I also went ahead and got a spare 37. Fits in the stock location. Tight towards the hitch, but plenty of clearance for the rear track bar.

I will report back with any issues, but so far so good. For those with the Nittos, I would suggest swapping to a different tire. Believe me, I wanted to keep the Nittos, but for me it just wasn't worth the headache of dealing with vibration all the time. Maybe I'm getting old....

And lastly, @Discount Tire did great in terms of doing all they could to make me happy with my choice. They said to go drive it and put it through the paces and make sure the BFGs are good to go. No complaining about me not being happy and wanting to switch to the Nittos etc. This is why I keep going back to them for tires.

Glad it worked out!!

there is a reason I’m a @Discount Tire fan boy.

their service is just so good!

 

[rm1515]

It's the Ridge Grapplers. I had the same issue.. Dealer changed all four to different tires and it rode smooth. Put mine back on and it vibrated. Didn't do it with the 35 Ridge Grapplers, only the 37's. DT finally ordered me some Coopers after 8 visits to try and fix it. Rides great now. Nitto's got something going on with the 37 inch RG right now.

 

[SaplingT]

Quick update, Swapped the 37 Ridge Grapplers today for Geolander G003. vibration completely gone!

The real surprise is how smooth and quiet these new Yoko tires are! Crazy happy with the change. And the spare barely fits at 22 lbs of air... But it fits.

On to new things!

 

[OHJeeper]

Quick update, Swapped the 37 Ridge Grapplers today for Geolander G003. vibration completely gone!

The real surprise is how smooth and quit these new Yoko tires are! Crazy happy with the change. And the spare barely fits at 22 lbs of air... But it fits.

On to new things!

That spring bow in your first pic looks crazy... is that the camera lens?

 

[SaplingT]

That spring bow in your first pic looks crazy... is that the camera lens?

Definitely camera lens, it's practically straight.

 

[21WhiteRubi]

Looks good. Sad to know that we got a bad batch of Ridge Grapplers. Really wanted to run them. But the more I think about it, the BFG KO2s are much lighter and a 37 spare fits just fine under the bed whereas the Nitto would not have.

The Nitto weighs in at 81.48 lbs whereas my D rated BFG KO2 weighs in at 69.62 lbs. Almost a 12 lb difference. Also, interestingly enough the Nittos are rated at 3525 lbs at 50 psi, whereas the D rated BFGs are rated at 7050 lbs at 50 psi. I was a little shocked to find that out, but I assume that the Nittos are a C rated tire and the BFGs are a D. The C rated BFGs are rated at 5510 @ 45 psi.

Definitely a little bummed the BFG runs a little small. So far my gas mileage is doing better than I thought. Getting about 17 highway. More like 14-15 around town. Headed out to Moab in a couple weeks (1700 miles one way). We will see how things really go on that trip. May think about gears when I get back. But right now, she still seems to have plenty of get up and go.

 

[Discount Tire]

Sounds like the BFG T/A K02 tires are working out well for you.

 

[W0PGK]

To follow up on mine experence on this issue also, after having the Nitto Ridge Grapplers replaced once, with another set, I gave up on them also. Ended up installing a set of Toyo MT's. Just want to make a call out to @Discount Tire for working with me on this issue to the end. Hopefully the next batch of Nittos will not have this issue.

Sponsored