Speaking off balance I was told by a tire guy ive known for ever the dot on a new tire should be in placed in relation to the valve stem. I dont remember if opposite or with it. I havehad tires installed that the dot is wherever. Tire mechanics here are just people that need a job and just dont get it. No one will believe this next part. Tires just put on her Dakota were air gunned so tight I needed a jack stand, a 10 foot yep 10 foot cheated bar and a good cross handle tire iron to break the nuts loose on the passenger side. God thing Iwas at home, not in the boonies ot along side the interstate.

 

Yes the dots are the heavier side of the tire and should be placed opposite to the valve stem. This is the general rule of thumb but it really doesnt make much of a difference. It may just take a little more weight to balance is all.
As for the tghtning. Common problem with most garages. They just stand on those lug nuts with their impact guns which is no good for aluminum wheels. They do this because people dont re-tighten after 100miles so they want to ensure the whels are tight. I torque all of my lug nuts down properly and have never had trouble with hem loosening up nor have I had any issue's taking them back off.
You should always tell them you want the lugs torqued down with a torx stix. Maybe even buy one and keep it in your vehicle to give to them each time.

 

and that's why aluminum wheels get bent! i think that answers my question here. perhaps off to the salvage yard to get quality oem rims and pray to god the guys at good year have a clue to mounting my old tires on the salvage yard's wheels.

new basic wheels from dodge are over $200 a piece. $400 for a set of china wheels at discount tire seems too good to be true. I think there's an old saying about that.....

 

The Dodge dealer wants to create good will. because he wants you to buy a new truck from him. And this is a relatively easy way to create that good will.

 

It took my tires/rims 3x to balance before they finally got it right.

 

nice wheels! any problems?

here are the ones I'm looking at.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/fin...7808&rc=MNMINT

simple, but i've always liked these. maybe just my nd background ha! should i get the $75 each 2003 dodge oems at the salvage yard or these new ones for $100 each?

 

How? How do they get bent? Certianly not from overtighteneing the lugnuts if that is what you are referring about? That just wears out and opens up the seat a little bit each time. It has no efect on the straightness of the wheel. it seems like you are in one ear out the other with all of the advice that has been given here.
Unless you know for certain you bent a wheel, i would say your wheel isn't bent and you likely have a bad tire.
Go right ahead and buy new or used wheels, but i dont think it'll solve your problem!

 

i'm out of town, i have thrusday and part day friday to get it fixed, then i'm out of town again. Just trying to get all the info so i can make a sound decision when i return.

i was not refering to over tightening, not tightening them correctly in a pattern will bend a rim, right?

as far as the advice about discounttire.....they are willing to help me determine if it is a wheel or tire for free, pretty nice of them. I am questioning their wheels regarding the $100 wheel i'm looking at. NOT the custom $400 wheel on YOUR nice rig. My concern is the construction of a cheap wheel i'm looking at. big difference in price from ours, right? discountT has informed me no, and they have answered all my concerns from other people not here.

i agree, if you just look at this thread, i can see why you think i'm not listening and wasting your time, i'm influenced by people outside of dodgeforum and i am asking questions that arise from them.

I appreciate everyone's advice.

thanks!

 

Instead of blindly turning the tire on the wheel 45 degrees, get your tires/wheels road force and match balanced. It'll show the high/low spots on the wheels and how to mount the tires on them to reduce the overall out-of-roundness for the wheel/tire package.

Subaru is having issues with the 2010/2011 Outback and Legacy right now, some of the tires are horribly out of round. Ideally you want a road force measurement under about 15 pounds, in the 20's you want to match mount to reduce, and over 30 is a junk tire. The wheels are so perfectly round that you can't offset the tire's low spots so there's no sense in even trying to match mount them. I had one tire the other day that measured 45 pounds out on the machine. Watching it spin you could visibly see about a 1/2" difference between low and high spots on the tire.

Discount Tire and Tire Rack are my two go-to online tire stores. Discount actually has stores where I used to live and I spent a lot of money with them. Les Schwab is another NW regional chain that I like a lot.

 

Hey man, thanks for those numbers. That's great info.

I took everyone's advice and went to discount. Honestly I was a little disappointed when they said my wheels were not bent, i had my eyes on a new set. haha!

Discount T said my wheel was good and it was out of balance at 44 lbs. They mounted it differently and it came down to 8 lbs. Truck drives great now! well......until I get to 80 mph then there is a rapid vibration and it continues till 90mp and probaly afterwards but it was like i was using my hammer drill so i slowed.

I should have just kept the Chev. That's what I get for buying a dodge i guess.......

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JUST KIDDING!!!!!! EASY!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!! HAHA!!!

I appreciate everyone's advice, I went there well informed and it was a pleasant experience. I did go back to dodge and let them know they wasted 2 hours of my time and I believe they owe me my original $40 from my first visit, which they gladly refunded my money, probably due to the reason that someone mentioned here.

Thanks Again!