I just had a set of super swamper LTB's (31x11.50x15) put on, drove home just fine, a little noisy, but liveable. PROBLEM is , I did not drive it again until today, I have a really bad shake\vibration even at speeds of 20MPH gets scary at 35MPH. Loose lug nuts? NOPE I bought a 4 way and cranked the hell out of them and took it for a spin, NO CHANGE!!! The tires are brand new, maybe 17 miles on them (not 17,000, 17 actual miles!) Before I got the tires I noticed that I needed an alignment, and will do so very soon, but what could cause that horrible shake? not using 4x4 either just 2 wheel drive (1995 bronco with manual hubs/and T-case) Anyone??? If I do not get replies, I will post a follow up after I hand over a paycheck to get it fixed to let everyone know what was wrong.

 

Forgive the long post, but hopefully this will help you out. I have years of experience in getting vehicles to ride smoothly, generally my own but I used to be in the tire business, many moons ago...

It sounds like the tires are your problem, since it started after the tires were put on. Super Swampers are not exactly known for a smooth ride. Are they radial or bias ply? The Super Swampers are still manufactured in bias ply, the bigger ones at least. I don't know if they still make bias ply 31's, but if they do, and you have them - that is a problem already as far as smooth street travelling.

Look at your wheel weights (they _are_ balanced, right?). If you see a wheel with weights all over it (for example, you see an ounce of weight at 12 o' clock, and an ounce and a half at 7 o' clock) then that tire is probably out of round. On a relatively small tire like a 31, you should only see weight at one point on the rim; furthermore, you should not need more than about 2 ounces of weight total. 2 1/2 oz. is on the high side but can be acceptable; but something like 4 ounces, and especially something like 4 oz. distributed around the rim is no good. Generally you will only need a lot of weight on the outside (street side) of the rim, sometimes it is necessary to put some on the inside (towards suspension) as well. But you should not see a ton of weight on the inside, either.

An out of balance Super Swamper can definitely shake and shudder at speeds as slow as 20 mph; especially if they are bias ply. A bias ply tire can pick up a vibration simply from sitting too long in one place. They don't have the steel belts to help them keep their shape when sitting, and for most street-driven vehicles they are obsolete. If yours are bias ply, I suggest returning them and getting radials.

If you have a tire with weights in more than one place, have them remove it and turn it 180 degrees on the rim, then rebalance it. Many times that will cure that problem. If a high spot on a tire meets a high spot on a rim (or low spot) it can make it hard to balance and is generally this is what is happening when you see wights all over the place. If they do this and it still needs a lot of weight distributed around the rim, I would ask for a new tire.

[[NOTE - This is for 31's, maybe 33's. One you get over 35" the balancing rules start to go out the window and you do what you have to do. But 31's are not so big that they cannot be balanced.]]

My advice is to ditch the Super Swampers if street driving is important to you. My Bronco is driven on the street a lot, and goes on a lot of road trips. Highway driving is very important to me - I generally use the 4WD for snow and trail/mud use when going to the mountains to fish or hike or just explore, but I am not doing any major stuff with it and do not need an aggressive tire tread. There were some no-name 31's on my Bronc when I got it, they were almost new and with a non-aggressive tread, but they still never rode all that well and were hard to balance. They would get to shaking somewhat at highway speeds and rattling the door panels, which I found very annoying.

So I installed a set of Goodyear Wrangler 31's. They make a few different Wranglers but mine are the ones that come on many new cars and trucks. RT's, I think. I'd have to go look. People have a lot of opinions about tires - but I know that I have always been satisfied with ride quality when I had Goodyears on any vehicle, and these Wranglers are no exception. The Bronc rides smoothly and quietly from zero all the way to top speed. No vibration to speek of, really. They were worth every penny that I spent on them (around $600, mounted and balanced), and I was able to sell the old tires for $100 (and also got five free oil changes from Goodyear four buying a set, which came in very handy). I have heard people mention sidewalls on Goodyears for off-roading, and that they puncture, but I've been up against rocks and stuff and have not had any problems.

Again, sorry for the long post - but vibration is very annoying, it is hard to diagnose and repair, and many people do not understand how important matching the tire to your expectations, as far as what you want from it. And I do think your tires are your problem, since it only started after you got them. Try the suggestions here. Sometimes it is a PITA to get the tire shop to help you eliminate the vibration, but any good shop knows that it can sometimes be hard and will go out of their way to help you. I personally hate vibration on my truck and will keep going back to the tire shop until we get it right - but with the Goodyears it was not necessary. I've had them for two years now and they still ride as good as new, treadwear has been good and even, and I have never had to rebalance them.

If none of this works, then start looking at things that they may have done at the shop when putting the tires and rims on, things like warping hubs, or drums, etc. If they tightened the rims improperly, this can happen. Actually, read any manual and you will see that rims are always supposed to be tightened BY HAND and that excessive torque from an air gun can warp parts. But just try to tell the shop that you want all of the lug nuts tightened by hand - furthermore, it's not like the truck is brand new and has never had an airgun to it before.

 

"I installed a set of Goodyear Wrangler 31's. They make a few different Wranglers but mine are the ones that come on many new cars and trucks"

Scratch the word "cars" there. Light trucks and SUV's only. These tires are not made for cars. Look in my gallery and you can see them. I am not suggesting the puny "car/truck" tires that came stock on many of our Broncos, although they probably _would_ ride the best of all.

 

JBronco is correct, I grew up with bias ply tires and they all have a flat spot when cold weather hits, the flat spot is all together, until you turn a corner, then they are all over the place until the tire warms up. Use caution over-tightening your lug nuts, it will come back to haunt you one muddy night when you have to change one. 31's are not too big to handle correctly but if not radials, I'd return. I don't know it you have access to a truck tire recapping facility in your area, but if worse comes to worse and you are stuck with them (bias ply) all recappers (tells right off how old I am) have a rig to take the high spot off tires and ensure roundness, especially a Bandag cold applied retread. Use a good quality steering stabilizer, also.
Tex

 

Update, I did some research on the net earlier this morning, and read that the bias plies do get a flat spot from the cold and sitting in one place, and that once driven until warm this goes away. I read one that said after 1-2 miles it clears up. Well I drove for about a half hour before it got better NOT perfect, but alot better. At first you'd swear the wheel was not tight thats how bad it shook at 20MPH heres the wierd thing though, once over about 35MPH it cleared right up no shaking! I even did 75MPH with no trouble at all. Once I slowed back down to about 30MPH the shake came back! I don't get it! I would totally expect a bad tire to cause vibration at all speeds above the initial shaking. I know it needs an alignment though, it pulled pretty good to the right with the old tires as well as these ones, never had any shaking before though.

Let me clarify.. 31x11.50x15 bias ply tsl LTB's I mean since it started right after I put these tires on, obviously the tires are the culprit, but why? would the more aggressive tread have alot worse affect on the alignment thing? The other thing is if you let go of the steering wheel it does not shake (other than pulling left!) (nor do you feel anything on the brake pedal.

I am so confused! I am mechanicly inclined, I work on everything within my ability, but if the tire were out of round or something like that , wouldn't I have noticed it on the way home? I had no problems whatsoever the trip home, only after it sat about 4 days. Also the temp has not gotten below 25 degrees, and is typicly over 40 during the day..

Sorry for the long post, I need help!

 

1 more thing I should mention, the rims are 15x8 aluminum aftermarket wheels.

 

Okay, alloy rims. No damage in mounting the tires, right. For absloutely sure?
Tex

 

can't be totally sure, however it is so hard to grasp that absolutley nothing wrong on the trip home, rode the same as the old tires, although noisier! then it sat for 4 days and then very bad shaking, Drive for awhile almost totally dissapears except at the 30 MPH area it is still there , although minor compared to the first drive after it sat for 4 days. I guess my options are to take it to a shop and have them check things over, or B.) ditch the bias plies and go for some radials. My best bet is to probably take it to a shop and have them check the tires and see whats up.

 

RX&toys,
If you have a narrow band of imbalance, get 'em balanced again. It's absolutely cold enough in your area to have that as an issue. More aggressive tires mean more rotational mass than a less aggressive tire. The farther away from the fulcrum the mass is or the greater the mass at the same distance, the more reaction. Just out of curiosity, what tires were you running before the change? Try another balance job and pay close attention to the amount of weight applied as ilustrated by JBronco. Let's see what it does. Also change the position of the tires on the vehicle. Keep the cost to a minimum and make notes on each change. I have two complete sets of wheels/tires for my '94 and I have numbered the rims on the inside to track rotation. Also keep a little spiral notebook in the glove box to document anything I do to the truck. It's helped in the past and I always know my maintenance schedules.
Tex

 

So the Super Swampers are bias ply? You may get them to ride a little better by re-balancing, but if a smooth street ride is what you are after then I don't think that you will ever be happy with your Super Swampers. These tires have never been known for a good street ride. Most of the people who buy them are doing more off roading then street, or else they just don't care about the highway ride. And it is true that a bias ply shake will go away after driving for a while, but who wants to deal with that all of the time? And if the truck sits for an extended period of time then they can become very problematic. That's why it used to be recommended that, if you are going to store a vehicle for an extended period of time, that it should be up on jackstands with the tires off of the ground. It's not necessary today with radials.

Slap a set of the Goodyear Wrangler RT/S (that's what mine are, I have 31/10.50/15) on there and it will be like night and day.

Michelin tires are said by to have the smoothest ride of all, but their large tires can get pricey.

As for BF Goodrich , I don't know about the highway ride quality of them, as I have never owned any, but they have a good reputation in the four-wheeling community.

Firestone can make a nice tire, and their white lettering is really nice, but I cannot trust them. You may recall the issue with Firestones a few years ago, but some of the older posters here will also remember the Firestone 500 recalls back in the early 1980's. Those things were exploding all over the place. People were getting killed. That's two _major_ failures of millions of tires in 30 years, while the others have no major recalls for expoding tires at all.

Goodyear, Michelin, BF Goodrich and I suppose Firestone all make good tires that ride well. Unless your vehicle is used more off the road than on it, I suggest that you get a set from on of those manufacturers; and I can personally recommend the Goodyear Wrangler RT/S after my experience with them. I bought them specifically for the ride quality and they performed just how I wanted them to; and they perform just as well for my light 4X4 needs. I could tell a major difference in snow traction for the better when I ditched the El Cheapos and put on the Wranglers.

Another long post, but I have had a lot of experience with tires and tire problems.

PS - as Tex noted above, sometimes you can cure a vibration simply by rotating the tires on the truck. A certain wheel on a certain end of the vehicle can set up a vibration that, for whatever reason, can be cured simply by putting it somewhere else on the truck. It's time consuming and labor intensive and can become a PITA if you have to keep doing it. It's definitely trial and error, and it may not do anything or it may even make it worse. And put your least smoothest tires on the rear of the truck. You won't feel it near as much as you would on the front.

Another option is to find a shop that can balance your tires on the truck. I've never had this done, but it is supposed to work well.

In conclusion though - you are fighting an uphill battle for a smooth ride with Super Swampers.

 

Thanks for al the replies! I am going to sneak my truck into the shop today if I get off at a decent time, The smooth ride isn't really the biggest deal, I kinda figured theyd make a little noise, and ride rougher, but the shaking is way beyond acceptable. I want to see what they say, I did need an alignment before anyway so I'll have them see whats up. If worse comes to worse, there is always ebay!

I had to use the truck yesterday becuase my fiances parents got 10" of snow on the mountain, I did most of the hill in 2 wheel drive, as it got steeper though, 4x4 was neccessary. but for the most part, you could not even tell there was 10" of snow! The tires worked awesome. When I got to there steep driveway, they had both subaru's (all wheel drive) with studded tires parked at the bottom! I thought hey, what the hell , and drove right up!

What I am trying to say by that story is, I want an off road style tire, My first choice was actually a set of baja claws, but at $660 mounted and balanced, the Super swampers were about $100 cheaper. It doesn't seem so cheap anymore though. If there is nothing too major wrong with my truck (alignment estimates are scary sometimes) and its the tires, I guess switching to the baja claw radials would be the best bet.

 

I think a lot of the vibration is the fact that they aren't radials. BIas ply tires proabably won't give a smooth ride, they tend to flat spot way to easily.

 

I have Super Swamper Bias tires the 16x38.5x16.5 variety and get the flat spots. I was running them at 15 psi but moved them up to 25 psi and it made the flat spots not so bad when you first start off from sitting for a while. The ride doesnt bother me. You get some road vibration at certain speeds when starting out but I just accelerate through it, its not something I can't handle. Once they warm up they are fine for a bias ply. But they are way different ride quality then radials. Oh and I also dont have mine balanced.

 

Truck is in the shop, I will update with the results as soon as I get them!

 

The shop called at 9:30 AM, Told me they can't do the alignment because the axle pivot bushings are bad, along with the radius arm bushings, so I said to go ahead and fix it and align it. Bill for all that is $380. I HOPE that will greatly reduce the shaky shaky, but if not I think I'll throw the tires on Ebay, they have less than 100 miles on them! and then I'll get a set of radials. I will update again after I hand over half a paycheck and drive it.!