first flat

[paulisme]

so i was drivin from my school to jersey, and this shit happened. i was on a local road almost at my destination when something stickin out of a newly paved road hit the side of my tire and ripped it to shreds. it left a lovely little dent on my rim as well. needless to say, i switched to a donut and got it replaced the next day. the cost? 300 freakin dollars. it was even difficult findin someone with the tire in stock. what's worse is that my steering wheel vibrates slightly and i really don't know why.

o well. i still love my baby :)

edit: he did balance the tire out. shrug* possible wheel alignment issue?

[VTECaddict]

new tire is probably not balanced right.

[Spektyr]

Alignment should only be altered if you took a serious hit (like a curb impact), and even then it isn't typically enough to be noticeable on a new car. I had an old '81 Ford Granada once that pulled to the right... until I spun it on ice and vaulted the median. Somehow that magically corrected the alignment (at least from a driver-perspective).

Vibration is going to be balance-related 99% of the time. If it gets progressively worse as you increase speed, I'd say it's definitely the balance.

A tire can be "mostly" balanced, or balanced "pretty well", and still not be properly balanced.

[lpaudio2]

two things about balancing larger 17 and 18 tires, with such small treadwall balance is important. Many shops do not zero out their balancers when they balance, .25 being "good enough" it may be on a 15" but not on a 17 or 18 wheel. Honda actually has a service bulletin on this, and also NOT using mounting fluid, rather using paste. If too much mounting fluid is used it can throw off balancing so it never is right until fluid is removed (happend to me)

so you have two options, take it back ask about mounting fluid and if they can zero it out.

second take it to a hunter roadforce balancer. This will balance it for sure. www.gsp9700.com

[Dark Shark]

All reviews that I've read about the Michelin Pilots that are stock on the 08 Accord, say that the tires suck in winter driving. I'm probably going to replace them at the end of the summer. The specs on the Michelins are 235/45. Does anyone know how much wider and higher of a tire I can go without throwing off my speedometer and causing other problems?

[paulisme]

i'll bring it into a honda dealership and let them know what's goin on. thanks for the info tho.