Tire noise under heavy braking? and vibrations at hwy speed

[Lancer1993]

Quick rundown of the situation...

I bought my MY09 VRX in early Dec, it came with these 18" chrome wheels, 18x8.


From the first test drive there was a vibration issue, I was assured it would be fixed during the pre-sale inspection... it wasn't. less than a week after picking it up I took it back, they had it 4 days. A specialist checked the wheel, they are 100% fine, the dealer fitted new Kumho tires 225/40 18R, at their expensive which has helped but not eliminated the vibrations at hwy speeds.

Worse still there is now a noise under heavy braking... cue the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKc4oh5 ... D7SqKxjMuQ

Just before Christmas I went for a drive with someone from the dealer and they insists the noise is the new tires. Others I've spoken to says it could be the brakes.

Has anyone else had weird tire noise under heavy braking, I'm not talking locking up as the VRX like all CJs has ABS, listen to the short clip and it is a distance tapping, clicking or knocking which slows as you slow down. You can 'feel' it through the brakes but there is no steering vibrations under brakes the feeling is also there to a lesser extent under normal braking.

Right now I'm waiting on them to call with options, I would love them to find a VRX with stock wheels and do a switch to prove to be its the wheels/tires and not something more serious like the drive train or brakes.

Wasn't sure where to post this as I have details on my ride thread but I thought posting it he might open it up to someone who has stuck these problems with wider after market wheels, 18x8 and Kumho 225/40 tires.

[himynameisdaniel]

+1
spot on with getting OEM rims and trying.
It shouldn't cost anything at the dealer to swap x4 wheels off another lancer in the yard just to test for a couple km's.

There are some questionable quality rims out in the world and kudos for the sound troubleshooting thought of trying to return to stock and continuing further.

another test is to hoist the car up and see if the noise occurs with the suspension extended fully and with no rolling resistance to the drive wheels.
See if you can reproduce the problem. If yes
Take all 4 wheels off and repeat the test again.

If your fully suspended and you can recreate the fault with no wheels then you can safely rule out tires and rims and move onto rotors, calipers and wheel hubs, drive components etc.
Also bleed your brakes from the caliper and check for full operation of all pistons.

[Lancer1993]

Thanks for the advice, I'm sure the dealer will listen

I just went to the place that checked the wheels for the dealer, they heard my YouTube clip and asked for a drive. With me in the front passenger seat we went around the block and they agreed it's NOT the tires. Back at their shop they put it up on the hoist and took off the front left, couldn't see any issue with the disc so said it's most likely the pads.

Guess its up to the dealer now to check it out, I just hope they don't have the car for 4 days like they did last time.

I can't do any of the work myself as it could void the dealer warranty and since I've had it less than a month it's covered by the extended dealer warranty for 6 years!

I do think even though the wheels checked out they just might not be suitable for this car at 8" wide over the factory 7" rims, and this is still the cause of the vibrations at 100+ on the hwy.

[himynameisdaniel]

4 Days!
wow.

I would be asking for how many hours they are actually spending troubleshooting your vehicle.

and would be looking at engaging Mitsubishi Australia assuming its a Mitsubishi dealer.
4 days is more then plenty of time to troubleshoot and resolve something like this.
sounds like they don't really know what they are doing.

[Lancer1993]

Should I have mentioned it's Cricks?

They have a Mitsubishi dealership in Maroochy which is where it spent some of the time, dropped off lunch time one Monday, didn't get it back until Friday around lunch time. As far as I can tell they first checked the tires with Bob Jane (right next door here in Caloundra) Then it went to a wheel place in Buderim, they reported the wheels 100% fine. They only get paid to fix wheels so no point in lying. It then when back to Caloundra and they got BJ to put on some Kumho tires.

On top of all that someone along the line screwed up one of the wheel studs and nut, which was later replaced. The vibration was mostly gone but it might be getting worse, it's very present at 110 but comes and goes.

Like I said I went to the guys who checked the wheels, they seam great as they didn't charge anything for their time and sounded like they knew what they were talking about.

I would give anything to talk to the previous owner and ask them if they had any issues with the brake noise or vibrations at hwy speeds.

Oh and the cherry on top was they gave me a Holden Craptiva as a loan car, I didn't use it, just drove it home and used my parents Pathfinder for the days I needed it.

Anyway enough bitching, I agree they should have had plenty of time. Yes it was the week before Christmas but there seam fixated on it being the non genuine wheels at issue, if so they find any CJ Lancer even one with 16" wheels and wack them on the car, do some emergency braking to see if the noise is there they run it up to a constant 110 for the vibration test.

I'd love to get some factory 18" VRX wheels, just to prove them wrong.

[r00tc4u53]

As I've said before, have them check the suspension components, springs, shocks and that they're all good and buttoned up tight. Check that they've used hub centric rings on the wheels and that they are sitting on the hub correctly. Check the thckness of the rotors, and if they're warped or grooved a little. Pad life, caliper condition. Was a wheel alignment done with the new tyres? have them check for worn bushes, rack ends or bearings etc. Also get them to check engine and transmission mounts.

Bob Jane told you the wheels were bent, another place that specialises in wheels said they're fine, meaning that bob jane are clowns, like I said before also. You've had the wheels checked out OK, new tyres put on, underlying issue is still there, I would bet your leftie that even with other wheels it will still do it. Most likely some worn component under the car, sorta got fixed with an alignment, now it's out of whack again. Given the badges that were on the car, I'd hazard a guess that the previous (P plater) owner has quite possibly treated the car to some pretty heavy potholes or gutter jumping or the like.

If it was me, I'd get the car checked out by a proper mechanic (dealerships don't have real mechanics anymore, just techs) to sort the issue once and for all. Get onto the MTAQ and bitch about Cricks, go in there and tell them to shove their 6 year warranty and to refund you the cost of it and be rid of them. Out of curiosity, I'd do a REVS\WOVR check on the car to see if it's been in an crash before.

[Lancer1993]

I agree Cricks needs to do a full check of all those parts, seriously a trained mechanic should be able to do it in a few hours. This does bring into question their pre delivery inspections and the 90k service they said they did on the car, the book has been stamped.

Bob Jane only checked the wheel and tire as one unit so it's possible the old tires were partly to blame for the hwy vibrations. But again do they (Cricks) even bother taking cars to 100+ as part of there pre delivery inspections? I told them about a vibration the second I got to 100 on my test drive, there is a 100kmh section of road just around the corner from the dealer.

Amazingly there is no signs of gutter rash on the rims, being chrome it would be hard to hid but not impossible to fix.

I did sign paperwork saying it has not been used as a TAXI or crashed.

The extra warranty is built into the loan and ironically it's cost over 6 years would easily pay for new wheels and better tires.

Not sure if an alignment has been done recently.

The guys at the wheel repair place did offer to fit new front pads if Cricks doesn't help, I could do it myself as it's not that hard but why should I?

I did upgrade the front brakes on my CC coupe last year with those off an M21, swapping over the rotors and calipers including the old pads. Hardest part was getting them lined up and bleeding them. Painted them yellow also

[Lancer1993]

Just updated the title to better reflect the issue.

But while I'm posting how dangerous is it to pull on the hand brake while driving at slow speeds, like 50k or less. Just wondering if this is a way to test if the noise is in the front or rear brakes. Could they lock up or will the ABS come in to play?

[lancerdarryl]

Handbrake works on its own little brake drum on the inside of the rear disc. It will not be affected by the ABS. If you just pull Gently on the handbrake you should be fine. Make sure no one is behind you when you do it.

[Lancer1993]

Thanks....

UPDATE - so went to Cricks and went for a drive with Shane their head mechanic in Caloundra, he reckons it's the ABS.

Okay so be it, if the brakes fucks up in the next 6 months then I can say I was told it's normal (I have the dash-cam footage/audio) and they can replace any broken bits, assuming I haven't crashed off the road in the mean time

And they didn't want to know about the vibrations, even going as far as blaming the other Mitsubishi dealer I went to for the recall on the drive belts. The front left came off once (yesterday) when I spoke to the wheel specialist and there was no notable difference in vibrations before or after that time.

Next step is to save up for some new wheels or better still a set of VRX wheels and 215/45 rubber to bring it back to standard VRX wheel/tire spec and see it anything is different with the vibrations.

[taz]

Under Australian Consumer you are entitled to a refund or replacement as the car is not working as intended and they have failed to fix it within a reasonable time frame.
I would also take it up with the appropriate governing body and keep taking it further until someone listens and does something about it, i would imagin the first stop would be Dept. of fair trading and go from there - they sold it to you on the premise that it would be fixed and its not and clearly they are trying to dodge it.
I wouldnt go around forking out money for new rims when its not necessary/your fault.
Just my 2c

[Lancer1993]

First with the brake 'knocking' sound I'm no expert and yes it could be the ABS, some have said yes others no so I'll let that one slid for now.

As for the vibrations at 100+ yes they sold the car with those wheels so IMO it is up to them to make sure it's working as intended and part of that is being able to travel at the legal hwy limit without having excessive vibrations.

Weirdly they said today they spend $1000 trying to fix the problem, seriously you could have got way better tires for that money or new rims. I was previously told they spent $400 on tires so why the $600 difference?

I don't have the money to get new wheels for now and will wait and see if some good used VRX ones come up. And I know where to take them to be checked and fix any gutter rash.

On the 18th I'll be going on drive with some other VRX owner, maybe we can compare noises with the ABS and stuff?

[SEB15]

I use to have similar noise on my RA, but under really heavy breaking, when the rotor was getting really hot, i had like a shattering and i could really feel it in my brake pedal, after i replaced the rotors with slotted and pads everything is ok. in your case might be different.
So my guess is brake components (rotor, caliper, pads), suspension, and maybe sway bar, but that is a rough guess. Not a expert nether

[Lancer1993]

No shattering, just the noise and some feeling through the brake pedal, like I said it could be the ABS.

Still doesn't explain the vibrations at 100.

[Lancer1993]

First I added to the thread title...

Now for the good news, after all the screwing around by Cricks they chucked on a set of VRX wheels this morning and guess what the car was vibration free at hwy speeds, they took it up to 110, and beyond with no signs of vibrations. Unfortunately for insurance reasons I wasn't able to go on the drive.

But the good news is after 6 weeks they admit it's the after market wheels/tires. Waiting on the Caloundra sales manager to contact me to talk and resolve the issue.

Now ADVICE please, what am I likely to get for the chrome wheels with new tires?

They have been checked and are strait but just not suitable for this car apparently. Should I sort some written guarantee from the company who check the wheels last month that they are strait?

Need to know if Cricks offers to pay (or part pay) for some replacement wheels am I better off doing that or just doing it myself and selling off the old wheels to get back some money?