I'm no expert but that sounds a bit iffy doesn't it....Surely if that much weight is needed it would suggest a more serious problem with the wheel or tyre??

Edited by Tommk4 on 02/06/2010 at 23:30

when you drive at low speed does the car wobble side to side,usually if the tyre is deformed it throws the car sideways very slightly,or it could be a bad wheel,you could suggest swopping rears to front and see what happens

Make sure you get the problem completely fixed, I understand your point about the 90G of weights, go back to the dealer and speak to the service manager.

I believe with Ford Direct you can 'reject' or at least have the car replaced with another car within one month of purchase, at no cost to you.

Andrew

I had/have a similar issue.

I replaced the tyres on my Focus (it was running perfect at the time, so no balance issues) . The tyres were replaced with the same brand and I've never got them to run true since. Always a slight wobble at just below 70.

I've had the car back and the wheels rebalanced many times, even had to replace one of the new tyres as it got an unrepairable puncture. But it still doesn't run true. Up to 65, perfect, but then a slight wobble sets in.

Every time I took it back they were getting different balance reading, I forget how much they put on but it was a fair amount. Even tried a diferent garage but still not perfect!

Best to let the dealership have the hassle or reject the whole car perhaps.

If you tackle it yourself, having had experience of the same problem on my Almera, never really got to the bottom of what it was and never got rid of it completely. Some suggested poor tyres although I tried new ones and a brand name, some said the rims were damaged. Swapping the wheels about including diagonally and rechecking balance may help, the diagonal swap and 10th rebalance helped mine.

You need a good quality balance done anyway. The best machine is probably the Hunter Road Force which balances using a special technique. Call the distributor 01327 323007 stating 'balancer' (not aligner!), to find out your nearest centre with one. Elite Direct in Rainham, Essex, is one place with a Road Force. Another place that has a fine balancing machine, a Hoffmann wheel balancer, is Supertyres in Maldon, Essex. But go for a Road Force if you can. Of course, it may come down to the tyres or more likely the rims being poor and not really balancable to get a smooth ride out of them. If I were now looking to iron out the last bit of vibration on mine I'd replace one front wheel with the old tyre, balance, test 5 miles at 65mph, no impovement then swap with the other front wheel. Sometimes both front wheels have had it, especially on an older car than yours, in which case the swap will be pointless and 2 new front wheels would be needed to do an adequate test. Probably more rarely, of course the mechanical parts of the steering can be worn or damaged if it's not the wheel balancing. On some Audis the problem was found to be a defective control arm, and not wheel balancing at all.

Edited by Lee1 on 06/06/2010 at 09:57