QuestionQUESTION: put Definity Dakota H/T P245/75SR16 tires on my 2004 Kia Sorento. Everything was fine for 10,000 miles and now my steering wheel shimmys. The dealer said the front end on the car is fine and that the tires are defective. Could this be?
ANSWER: Dana,
Probably not.
Alignment is probably causing some irregular wear - and this is causing the shimmy.
Irregular wear is caused by misalignment and aggravated by insufficient tire rotation and insufficient inflation pressure.
I have heard that these vehicles are pretty sensitive to alignment and as I have stated in other responses, alignment tolerances are to wide for the modern radial tire. The alignment needs to be within the inner half of the tolerance.
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QUESTION: Thanks for your answer. If I understand you correctly (forgive me I don't know anything about this stuff), you are saying:
1. The tires are not defective.
2. There is no known problem with putting this particular tire on a 2004 Kia Sorento.
3. I need an alignment now and in the future I need to ensure the tires are rotated periodically and have sufficient pressure.
Yes?
AnswerDana,
1) As best as I can tell from what you have told me. based on my experience and counting the fact that I'm not able to look at the tires - yes.
2) I am not in a position to know much about problems with specific lines of tires except for those made by the company I work for.
3) Yes. If you get an alignment and they tell you it was "Out of Spec", then you can be sure that was the problem. But if it is "In Spec", if it isn't within the inner half of the tolerance, then that is likely the problem. But if it is within the inner hald, then I think we may have something else going on - but what I don't have enough infoamtion to know. But nevertheless, I don't think this is a by itself tire problem.
