Comments: 1-15, 16-17
The ride had excessive vibration. Cadillac has 'cherry picked" tires, using a Hunter machine which each Caddy dealer is now buying, and my now car does not vibrate. It took over a month and five visits and three sets of tires to stop the vibration at 70 mph. The real problem still exists. The problem is the cars are built with a suspension which will not tolerate common tire manufactures tire tolerances. The overlap of the belts and radial ply causes hard spots on the tires which are transmitted through the car. GM thinks this is a tire problem. Goodyear and Michelin know about the "road force" measurements and tell me it's a car problem. I agree with the tires manufactures. I want GM to agree to furnish the low-road-force tires (at my expense) for the life of the car, and they will not agree. I can't get the local tire dealers to understand what "road force" is, and therefore believe that once my car is off the guarantee, I will be holding the bag. GM is trying to stick us with a car that will not accept standard off-the-shelf tires. I have filed a lemon-law procedure. I want the car fixed so it will take off-the-shelf tires or replaced.
I like the car.
The car is roomy and comfortable.
The power and performance is impressive. It has great acceleration over 35 mph.
Highway trips are a joy.
I have an 2001 Seville STS that has the same problem at around 70 mph. I too have notified the dealership and they tell me that it is a wheel balance problem. I have had the wheels re-balanced and the problem still exists. I was almost considering that I may have a bent mag or other suspension problem until reading this article. If anyone has any tire recommendations or other information please let me know also. mpdmarysix@hotmail.com Thanks!
I just purchased a 2001 Seville Sports Touring Sedan and also have a vibration problem at 65mph and up. The dealership has replaced the 2 front tires (took 5 tires to get 2), machined the front rotors, changed the lower control arms and force balanced several times and I still have the problem. I do not want the car if it is going to ride like this all the time. Cadillac says that this is as good as they can get it. I say it is not good enough. Any ideas on what will fix this will be appreciated. Bill at bbt@mlecmn.net. Thanks.
We recently purchased a 1999 SLS that has this same vibration problem. We have had the tires balanced, but it was no help. Does any one have any ideas as to what "cherry picked" tires will solve this problem? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you, Becky emerickhome@msn.com.
Well gang, you are not alone. I have a 2001 STS and been through the tire change routine… three sets (now have Michelin) and balancing on Hunter machines. I thought I had a good balance at an independent tire dealer. But the last time I did a tire rotation, felt that annoying vibration. Tire dealer said that the road force showed that the tires had deteriorated (improperly molded by bad suspension.) Went to web site, like this one, and know found out the Caddy has a control arm fix. I bring in the car this Thursday, June 12, and we will see what happens. I will keep you posted on the results.
Glad I found these comments! I've had my 2000 STS in twice for vibration problems. They worked on the brakes once and wouldn't say what they did the other time. I took it in again two days ago & told them not to call me until they resolved the problem. I talked to the service manager this morning & he said the steel belts had "slipped" in my tires & I need new ones. I would agree that the tires are nearing replacement from normal wear, however, I had the same problem a year ago when I first took the car in for the vibration. In fact it always vibrated somewhat at 70 MPH, but I just ignored it.
So... if I replace the tires & have the same problem, can the dealer fix it?
I Have had the same problem with the vibration in my 1996 Cadillac Seville, as well as numerous other problems. The air compressor went out and had to be replaced at an enormous price as well as the alternator. I now must have the entire air conditioning system blown out because the lines are contaminated. I am now have problems with the coolant which seems to be disappearing for no reason. I have also had the water pump replaced. this car need to be recalled to repair these problems, especially the coolant problem which seems to be going back in the engine and dissolving or evaporating. I have had this car four years and it is the worst investment I have ever made. Never again.
Put some speed rated michelin's on your cadillac's, your future will be so much better.
I have just purchased an immaculate used 1998 Seville (72,000 miles) from my neighbor. Very happy with the car, he took impeccable care of it. He just purchased a brand new Seville. When he got the 98’, he went through the same tire vibration as everybody talks about (dealer replaced parts and pieces, but to no avail). Using the dealers Hunter GSP9700 balancer (that is able to account for road force) they solved the problem with new “hand picked” tires. The car has no vibration now.
He picked up his new Seville in Cleveland, OH and drove it back to Memphis, TN. Yes, the vibration was present! Went to the dealer and the Hunter, after 3 tires or so he has no vibration. Both cars run on Michelin's.
To say these cars don’t have a problem with delicate/critical tire balance would be an omission of obvious facts (far too many postings of the same problem). I don’t believe it has anything to do with tire brand… I still love the car, and for the $10,000.00 that I paid for it, I feel I got a great deal.
Now, what will I do when I need new tires (in about 15,000 miles or so)? I will go to my local tire shop (that has a Hunter or other balancer that can account for road force), explain the issue, and make sure they will stand behind the tires. Other than waiting for GM to do something about it, what else can I do? I am open to suggestions…
Bottom line, (from what I have gleaned from the info available) this is a suspension design problem that presents itself when tires do not roll with equal pressure (road force) against the pavement. The analogy being that you can balance a football to spin true around an axis perpendicular to its length, but it certainly will not roll on the ground this way. Keep in mind; road force will not only be caused by a tire being out of round. A “hard” spot in the tire composition will also cause this. In this regard a tire company with a better Q.C. System in place will likely have a better tire…
Hi Cadillac friends, I Just purchased a Certified 2001 Seville STS and have the same vibration problem. I have owned it 22 days and it has been in the Cadillac garage 13 of them. Cadillac has put on one new tire, both lower control arms and has force balanced the tires with no help. I am trying to take it back. What can we do? With the cost of a Cadillac they should be better.
Fellow caddy lovers, I just bought a 2001 STS with 30000 on it. This is my fifth caddy and my newest. I do notice a suspension problem on corners and over rough surfaces. I had a suspension code come up so I took it to caddy where they said they updated the computer and that was it. How could updating the computer fix the suspension. Also the moonroof won't stop rattling. They say that they can't do anything, but lube it.I'm very unhappy with the car as well as the service. The car is stunning and has its strong points, but for the price of a caddy I feel, I should expect a bit more.
I bought my 1999 SLS off the showroom floor on a Saturday in Kansas City from the Cadillac dealer and drove it home to St. Louis, shaking and vibrating all the way. Having driven Caddy's since 1981, I was sure a routine tire balance at my local Goodyear dealer would fix it. 5 years later, (and one new set of (Integrity) tires, plus numerous trips to the local St. Louis dealer) I still get the shakes every time I drive at highway speeds. Yesterday, I was having the car serviced and mentioned the vibration problem and the service rep spoke of a 2002 model that they couldn't fix, and GM bought the car back from the owner. But, that guy evidently got ugly right after the purchase. Too late for me. Anyway, someone mentioned speed-rated Michelin tires as solving this problem. Anyone to confirm this?? How about Bridgestone tires? They (are made in Japan) have a 30 day road test - return at no charge policy.
I just purchased a 2001 SLS with 19k miles. I have also noticed the tire vibration, usually under acceleration up hills, and always at highway speeds. The car has Michelin Symmetry tires (I assume they're original). Is this problem covered under warranty? It is still under GM bumper to bumper 4yr/50k, and also certified 6yr/100k.
Frostsdad@msn.com.
OK heres the scoop in the vibration issues. They have a TSB "Technical Service Bulletin" out for this issue. It is usually a tire issue and if your dealer has a Hunter road force balancer machine they can test them for like
$140. If you replace the tires and still have vibration sell the car!! There are also lower control arms with Hydro Bushings available, but youll have to pay another $140 to see if its your new tires. Like my brand new H speed rated Michelin Energys that have 22 LBS of road force : (So driving in my 2002 STS is like getting a massage at 70 mph. The TSB # is 00-03-10-007F. Best of luck to you all. I will have to get tires replaced some way and hope for the best. mlattanzio@comcast.net.
I am a retired automotive engineer who spent several years working on tires. What the dealers are telling you is true, there is a lot of variability in tire quality out there. Tire companies have to meet higher specifications for Car companies than they do for the aftermarket, because the auto companies demand good tires. They have clout, that you don't. You can't hold that against them.
We consumers need to organize to set the same kind of standards for after market tires, but unfortunately the technology is not cheap enough for us to tell a good tire from a bad tire. Thus the tire manufacturers aren't going to spend the money to give you good aftermarket tires when no one can tell the difference, until after it's too late.
Tire balance is not the whole story, not even half the story. It is roughly one third of the story.
Tires have soft and hard spots in their structure, these spots result in a variable tire radius as the tire rotates under load. You cannot detect this characteristic with a balance machine, because the tire doesn't have the weight of the car on it (with the majority of balancing machines). But it will cause your car to vibrate at tire frequency (15-20 cycles per second). This "force variation" as we used to call it is a tire characteristic as important as balance.
The third factor is wheel and tire run-out. You can measure this, and it should be less than roughly 1.5 mm max. This is the tire center not coinciding with the wheel bearing center of rotation. You can balance such a tire, but you are wasting your time, since the radius of the tire will still change every revolution regardless of the balance, giving you a vibration.
I assume that the most expensive aftermarket Michelin or Goodyear tire would have good properties all the way around, but you know how expensive those tires can be, and we still would not have a guarantee of their quality, since these characteristics are not commonly measured or specified.
Some suspensions are more sensitive to tires than others, the suspension engineers endeavor to make sure they don't have anything in the suspension with a natural frequency in the 15-20 cycles per second range. They also often use the engine mount spring rate and weight of the engine to perform a dynamic absorber function in the critical tire frequency range.
Small front wheel drive cars with McPherson strut suspensions are rather insensitive to tire quality, I have found.
Another person above mentioned the Hunter GSP9700 balancer, which does apply a radial load to the tire while it is being balanced. Find a tire place that has one of these or equivalent for the best balance that will include the effect of tire force variation.
I purchased a 2004 Cadillac Seville SLS with very low mileage back in February 2005. After taking it home I notice an unusual amount of vibration in the tires at speeds over 60 miles per hour. I have since had the car back to the dealer three times and they cannot seem to stop the vibration. The car has less than 10,000 miles and has the Michelin Symmetry tires. Can anyone give me a reasonable explanation. I love the car, but cannot stand driving it at high speeds on the interstate.