MTFCA Forum

We installed two Universal tires on our 26 touring some time ago and have been trying to get the front end to feel right. Changing the king pins to new and looking over the various parts, we could not control the vibration while driving. Took some time to discover the two front tires are not round. On both of the new tires there is about 6 inches of reduced size that will make the car vibrate from side to side.
I called the vendor and was told that the next Universal tires could have the same problem.
Anyone else out there have this problem? His suggestion was to buy a better tire. We have used Universal over the years without this problem. Why now? Any new suggestions?

Nick

you may wish to clarify that these are Universal T Drivers, and not Universal ribbed tires?

I have seen tire truing machines @ tire shops. They are basically a sanding drum to remove high spots & square up mounted tires.

I take it, you have had the front end up & the tires are obviously out of round & also the wheels are in reasonable balance.
The beads are visually evenly fully seated. I have heard of a gyroscopic out of balance speed condition caused by flaps that are not well/evenly installed.

I bring all these other possibilities up in case the problem isnt really a defective tire or the apparent defect plus other issues are magnifying the problem.

What type of wheels do you have?

"I called the vendor and was told that the next Universal tires could have the same problem."

If the vendor knew the tires are not made to spec, then--1. He should not be selling and discontinue until the supplier/manufacture and guarantee they meet spec. And 2. He should be willing to take them back and credit you towards a "better" tire.

I have been using Universal T Drivers 30x31/2 for many years but I am hearing they don't wear as well as they used to.

I'm under the impression that many of the tires we buy now days are not of the same quality we have been use to. I put new tires on the front
of my speedster and after 2 years I noticed that the camber had worn the outsides of the tires down. So I took them off & put them on the rear
and put new ones on the front. About 250 miles later I developed a vibration @ speed ( probubly faster than most drive a T) It seemed to be
round & in balance. I had someone hit my speedster once and bent a wheel so even though it had been on the front with no issue I swapped it
with the spare. This was even worse so I mounted a new tire on the rim & everything seems fine. When I went to put the tire away to use as
roller I roled it in the dirt and noticed something I had not before. The tread depth on 1/4 of the tire was 2-3/32 deeper than the opposite
1/4 was. Although it was balanced on the rim (weights added to the wheel) I surmize that the thicker rubber was distorted by centrifugal force
at speed. That tire also had much more wear on it than the mate did. As with everything now days looks like we pay more & get less than we
used to. The tires I purchsed for the speedster 17 years ago are on the firetruck, they have good tread & no cracking.
Craig.

I have universal T drivers that I installed in mid-2019. When I installed them I added six ounces of balance beads to each. I suspect I will be replacing them next winter and they will have at least 10,000 miles on them. I bought a pair of new rims from Australia which I'll install on the front when I put on the new tires. I have just a tiny bit of wobble which I hope the rims will address. At this time I'm leaning towards Blockleys.

The wheels are newly powder coated metal. The beads are seated and looked as they should. Holding a stationary object against the tire tread, it will rub all the way around except for an area about 6 inches long. I will probably look for a shop that will cut down the tread to meet the lowest area. I hate to throw away two tires. I thought the supplier would step up, but I guess not.

Suggestions on the next up the tire price chain? I don't want to be ridiculous, but the ride is terrible between 35 and 40. Right where you want to travel in our beach community.

That dealer should back up his products.

Before I tried “Trueing” the tire by some machining method I would personally try remounting the tire by rotating it on the rim maybe a third of the rotation. Of course marking the rim before! If the problem has moved, then you are on the correct path. If not then it is a rim/wheel problem. I just like to eliminate the possibility of another problem!!