Vibrations at steady speed?

[patriotsfan82]

6 days into ownership now and I have noticed on a couple of occasions what seems to be some kind of vibration when driving at a steady speed.

Whats different to me about the vibrations however are the intensity & frequency. They are rather minor in intensity, and fairly high in frequency - such that it comes across as almost a dull hum. The low intensity makes me think that I am imagining it at times, and the high frequency makes me think it may just be from the road and being transmitted in.

Looking for general input from other owners on how their Stingers feel when driving around - does road texture transmit through the steering wheel/suspension/tires? Any vibration issues?

 

[Kamauxx]

I've never experienced that. Maybe Kia needs to rebalance your wheels?

 

[Socalstinga]

only thing I've felt so far is tramlining when the highways have grooves such as here in Socal. I remember having a little bit of this issue when I did a custom coilover/staggered set up on my G37, but it eventually ironed itself out. I've only driven about 500 miles in this car, but no vibration..

 

[patriotsfan82]

Hit the dealer today. By now I have kind of decided that everything I was experiencing was just a result of vibration - a weird vibration and road noise combination.

Thankfully the dealer also noticed the vibration and decided to Road Force balance the tires. And the results were terrible. They adjusted the fronts and got them down to 3 and 8 pounds respectively, but couldn't get the rears below 28 and 31. They said their limit is 20, and smaller vehicles and luxury brands (BMW for example) have even lower tolerances. The fact that they couldn't get them below even 28 means they have two new tires on order.

These are the 18 inch All Season Potenzas.

 

[DiabloStinger]

Sounds like someone drove it hard and put it away wet before those tires were ready.

 

[Volvowith18psi]

Hit the dealer today. By now I have kind of decided that everything I was experiencing was just a result of vibration - a weird vibration and road noise combination.

Thankfully the dealer also noticed the vibration and decided to Road Force balance the tires. And the results were terrible. They adjusted the fronts and got them down to 3 and 8 pounds respectively, but couldn't get the rears below 28 and 31. They said their limit is 20, and smaller vehicles and luxury brands (BMW for example) have even lower tolerances. The fact that they couldn't get them below even 28 means they have two new tires on order.

These are the 18 inch All Season Potenzas.

Im not understanding. What are they adjusting by the pound? Ive never heard of wheels being balanced by the pound.... But yes, a vibration at highway speeds will most likely always be a tire balance issue. Do NOT let them say its alignment/brakes/rotors/blinker fluid too, cause that's bs.

 

[DaJackson]

Im not understanding. What are they adjusting by the pound? Ive never heard of wheels being balanced by the pound.... But yes, a vibration at highway speeds will most likely always be a tire balance issue. Do NOT let them say its alignment/brakes/rotors/blinker fluid too, cause that's bs.

If the wheel was 8 lbs out of balance it would do more than vibrate. It has to be Oz.

 

[Volvowith18psi]

If the wheel was 8 lbs out of balance it would do more than vibrate. It has to be Oz.

LOL I know that's right!

 

[jasheppard84]

Im not understanding. What are they adjusting by the pound? Ive never heard of wheels being balanced by the pound.... But yes, a vibration at highway speeds will most likely always be a tire balance issue. Do NOT let them say its alignment/brakes/rotors/blinker fluid too, cause that's bs.

If the wheel was 8 lbs out of balance it would do more than vibrate. It has to be Oz.

He mentioned a road-force balance, where they mount the wheel on the machine as normal, then run it against a roller to simulate the wheel as mounted on the vehicle. It measures vertical and lateral vibration force values, measured in pounds.

Linky:

Road Force Balancing | MotorWeek

 

[DaJackson]

Interesting, I didn’t realize they would rotate the tire on the rim when doing road force balancing.

So it’s not 8lbs out of balance but the imbalance is creating 8lbs more of force when that part of the tire is hitting the ground.

 

[Dave Bergantzel]

I have the same problem. I saw a couple other similar threads in this forum on this issue but this is the first one I'm reading. I just spent two days at 2 different dealerships (one near my work and the one where I bought it near my home) The first dealer made it worse by RF Balancing the tires and claimed it was a tire imperfection that they couldn't fix and referred me back to the purchase dealership. The purchase dealership rebalanced the tires and the vibration is ALMOST gone. I'm hoping it will fade into gone as I drive on this new balance. We will see. I have the Awd all season 18s. I'm starting to think it is a problem of poor QC in the tire manufacturing and combined with poor tread design leading to loud pulsating tire noise and vibration at certain speeds. My vibration is at it's worst near 80mph. (and I spend almost 2 hours a day on the highway near that speed UGH!)

 

[patriotsfan82]

I have the same problem. I saw a couple other similar threads in this forum on this issue but this is the first one I'm reading. I just spent two days at 2 different dealerships (one near my work and the one where I bought it near my home) The first dealer made it worse by RF Balancing the tires and claimed it was a tire imperfection that they couldn't fix and referred me back to the purchase dealership. The purchase dealership rebalanced the tires and the vibration is ALMOST gone. I'm hoping it will fade into gone as I drive on this new balance. We will see. I have the Awd all season 18s. I'm starting to think it is a problem of poor QC in the tire manufacturing and combined with poor tread design leading to loud pulsating tire noise and vibration at certain speeds. My vibration is at it's worst near 80mph. (and I spend almost 2 hours a day on the highway near that speed UGH!)

To provide some of the updates I applied in previous posts:

I eventually replaced my tires and fixed almost all the "vibration" issues I was having, but this still left behind a periodic noise issue that I'm assuming was present with the previous tires, but somewhat masked by the other noise and vibrations. I'm getting there, but still need to have it looked at.

With the tires fixed, I'm left with a low volume/low frequency rhythmic thumping sound that occurs with every tire revolution. Appears above 45mph, gets a bit louder with speed, and gets louder when turning at high speed. Seems to be entirely the front left wheel to me, so I currently suspect anything from the wheel bearing to any of the CV joints. No idea, but I'm hoping to get it dealt with.

 

[Dave Bergantzel]

To provide some of the updates I applied in previous posts:

I eventually replaced my tires and fixed almost all the "vibration" issues I was having, but this still left behind a periodic noise issue that I'm assuming was present with the previous tires, but somewhat masked by the other noise and vibrations. I'm getting there, but still need to have it looked at.

With the tires fixed, I'm left with a low volume/low frequency rhythmic thumping sound that occurs with every tire revolution. Appears above 45mph, gets a bit louder with speed, and gets louder when turning at high speed. Seems to be entirely the front left wheel to me, so I currently suspect anything from the wheel bearing to any of the CV joints. No idea, but I'm hoping to get it dealt with.

You are scaring me now!

 

[MerlintheMad]

Is this possibly the "pulsation" of the traction and stability controls? Page 5 | 57 (ibid 5 | 60) in the manual: "When the Electronic Stability Control is operating properly, you can feel a slight pulsation in the vehicle. This is only the effect of brake control and indicates nothing unusual."

 

[Kamauxx]

Is this possibly the "pulsation" of the traction and stability controls? Page 5 | 57 (ibid 5 | 60) in the manual: "When the Electronic Stability Control is operating properly, you can feel a slight pulsation in the vehicle. This is only the effect of brake control and indicates nothing unusual."

You keep quoting that but I don't think you've used it in the correct context.

There is no reason for traction control or stability control to activate itself when someone is just driving around.

That quote is referencing what the driver may feel when one of the systems kick in.

 

[patriotsfan82]

You keep quoting that but I don't think you've used it in the correct context.

There is no reason for traction control or stability control to activate itself when someone is just driving around.

That quote is referencing what the driver may feel when one of the systems kick in.

Correct, this is how it would feel if it engaged and wouldn’t apply to highway cruising and other scenarios I notice it in.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hmm. I thought it was on constantly, but varies in intensity depending on driving conditions. Anyway, being told twice to watch out for "pulsation" makes me wonder if some people are noticing this and wondering what the heck the vibration is from. I've never felt anything like these descriptions in my car. So far, most or even all complaints have been with the AS tires. But, as here, when the tires are swapped out the problem only "mostly" goes away. The road noise fades to an acceptable level, leaving the driver still watching for the problem, and then noticing the ESC/VSM "pulsation".

 

[Kamauxx]

Hmm. I thought it was on constantly, but varies in intensity depending on driving conditions. Anyway, being told twice to watch out for "pulsation" makes me wonder if some people are noticing this and wondering what the heck the vibration is from. I've never felt anything like these descriptions in my car. So far, most or even all complaints have been with the AS tires. But, as here, when the tires are swapped out the problem only "mostly" goes away. The road noise fades to an acceptable level, leaving the driver still watching for the problem, and then noticing the ESC/VSM "pulsation".

If you want to feel what they're talking about find a lonely street with some random gravel on it, park with your rear wheels directly on it, turn the wheel hard to one direction, and accelerate to about 2k rpm.

You'll feel the nannies kicking in as described by your quote from the manual.

 

[BudLight!]

6 days into ownership now and I have noticed on a couple of occasions what seems to be some kind of vibration when driving at a steady speed.

Whats different to me about the vibrations however are the intensity & frequency. They are rather minor in intensity, and fairly high in frequency - such that it comes across as almost a dull hum. The low intensity makes me think that I am imagining it at times, and the high frequency makes me think it may just be from the road and being transmitted in.

Looking for general input from other owners on how their Stingers feel when driving around - does road texture transmit through the steering wheel/suspension/tires? Any vibration issues?

Do you have any modifications to the vehicle yet? For instance coilovers, springs, aftermarket wheels?, spacers?

Letting me know on that would help.
Second, how many miles are on the vehicle. May have been a test drive vehicle and alignment maybe off cause they hit a curb slightly or something. Next, wheel balance check that. last i would check is alignment. If vibrations occur as speed is increased, usually means balance. alignment is if the car does not drive straight on flat road when steering is untouched.

Also probably not this but you can check for defective or worn out wheel bearing by putting the car up and trying to shake the wheel up and down and etc.

 

[patriotsfan82]

Do you have any modifications to the vehicle yet? For instance coilovers, springs, aftermarket wheels?, spacers?

Letting me know on that would help.
Second, how many miles are on the vehicle. May have been a test drive vehicle and alignment maybe off cause they hit a curb slightly or something. Next, wheel balance check that. last i would check is alignment. If vibrations occur as speed is increased, usually means balance. alignment is if the car does not drive straight on flat road when steering is untouched.

Also probably not this but you can check for defective or worn out wheel bearing by putting the car up and trying to shake the wheel up and down and etc.

No modifications. Car has 2100 miles on it, had about 23 miles upon delivery. Issue is not balance/tire related (have had tires balanced & completely replaced at this point). Haven't done an alignment because tracking seems okay. Sound varies with wheel speed and is worse when turning (e.g. taking a highway onramp spiritedly makes the sound louder).