About 250 mikes on new XJL. At hightway speeds I feel the wheel shaking and can tell the front tires are definitely out of balance. Dealer tells me to drive it a whiles as the tires flatspot in shipping. Anyone else have this issue???? What did you do about it?

 

I am not having that problem at all--no shaking in the steering wheel or front end vibration at any speeds. I have had those symptoms in other cars I've owned and found it was either a front end alignment problem or a bent/out of balance front wheel. I think what the dealer is telling you is BS.

 

It's not unusuall for brand new tires to loose ballance as they settle in. I have experenced it myself. Back in the day, I would't even bal a new set of tires till they had "run in". I'm not so hard core these days because my tire dealer makes things right - no questions asked. After about 500 miles or less you should be able to get a ballance that will last.

As far as the shipping flat spot issue is concerned, it has some plausability but a flat spot after 500 miles - I call an "out of round tire". LOL

Be aware that Jags are historically sensitive to tire ballance issues. Also, be aware that not all Jag dealers have Road Force Ballance (RFB) machines. Some ballance issues can only be sorted out with a RFB.

Hope this helps.

 

good info and thanks!

 

Just purchased a new 2012 XJL with 415 miles. The vibration was very noticeable through the steering wheel and in the seat at 60 to 70 MPH.You could see the steering wheel shaking if you took your hands off it. Thought tire was out of balance or bad tire on front end for sure. They balanced the tires, I drive it 10 miles and turned around because it was worse.

They road force balanced the fronts and then replaced the tires. Like I suspected there was a defective tire, because after that the shaking now was gone. I wanted the rears replaced as well but they said they road-force balanced and they came within spec? Whatever that is.

These are big tires on big rims, so balancing and tire construction is some much more critical part of a smooth ride..

 

I have found that tire pressure is critical and that the tires wear to the alignment in a couple of hundred miles. If your problem persists then I would have a good independent tire dealer you trust check out the issue. I have over 17.5k on my Jag and recently replaced the rear tires for wear, but the fronts are only 50% worn. I have the factory supplied Dunlap SP Sport Maxx GT tires, what tires are on your Jag?

 

The road force balance (RFB) spec is an interesting subject. As of 5 years ago no major manufacturer of tires recognized the RFB concept, according to Pirelli. Moreover, my indie tire dealer who does RFB and who is very good, could not give me a definitive answer on how much corrective weight was too much.

I had them RFB tires on my wifes new Ford and 2 of them took 15/20 OZ of corrective weight to get them smoothed out. Too much said the indie. Take em back to Ford. Too bad said Ford and Pirelli, live with it. Well it's 4 years and 40K miles later and it all worked out well.

Go figure.

 

My installer (Perfect Performance in Roswell GA) does RFB and we, also, make sure the tire is spinning round (true). On several occasions when the RFB is beyond tolerance or the tire is not spinning round the installer lets the air out, breaks the bead, and turns the tire on the rim to get the RFB in spec and the tire turns true. I have seen the weights needed to balance the tire decrease more than 50% when these steps are used. BTW my new rears that I bought run smoother than the factory installed tires, so the installer is critical. Lastly my tires are filled with nitrogen.

 

(2) Pirelli P-Zero Nero replaced on the front. The service manager told me it was quite the process to get the replacement authorized, so they must have been seriously defective. The rears were also road forced balanced and after a 500 mile drive this weekend, the ride is what it should be.

My previous XF Supercharged had the Dunlop SP Sport Max at about 15.5K, they were noisy but never had a ride issue. I also had a full set of winter tires to share the mileage.

 

Pirelli can't even design a decent Formula 1 tire until they were threatened with being replaced by another manufacturer! BTW drove a new 2014 LWB XJR today and it handled the way a proper Cat should, unfortunately it was shod with Pirelli P Zeros.