New Tires for DTS

[growe3]

I am getting a new set of tires for my 2004 DTS, and I was wondering.....

Does anyone now when you can reject a tire for taking too much weight?

i.e., What is too much weight for a 235/55 17 tire?

-George

[Cadillac Jim]

Look at the "Load Range" rating on the sidewall. The table is

LR Pounds

93 1433

94 1477

95 1521

96 1565

97 1609

98 1653

99 1709

100 1764

101 1819

102 1874

103 1929

104 1984

The standard tires for my 1997 model year Eldorado are 225/60-R16, load range 97.

To answer your question, -- how much weight is too much -- check the Tire Placard. It's the label on rear of the driver's door that gives the recommended cold inflation pressures. The tire specification on the sidewall will include a "M+S" designation and a TPC specification, something like "TPC SPEC. 102 MS" also on the sidewall. My Gross (loaded) Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is 4817 pounds, 2670 pounds front and 2147 pounds rear, and my owner's manual stipulates that my tires load range be 97 or higher. Thus, the way I see it, the tire load range should give you a 20% margin over the tire load rating on the heaviest axle. That's for safety in handling and braking. If you are looking at performance, you might go higher, but anything over 50% margin for an unloaded car is probably wasted.

Not all tires of the same size have the same Load Range. My wife's car, a Pontiac Grand AM GT, uses the same OEM tire size and make but a different load range for the smaller car, and her tires are cheaper.

The procedure to find out of the tire is OK:

• Get the GVWR for the front and rear off the Tire Placard.
• Take the axle (front or rear) with the highest GVWR and divide that weight by two.
• Multiply the result and add 20%.
• Use that number with the table above to find the load range number that is required for safety.

The procedure for performance is to use the unloaded vehicle weight and add 50%, or whatever your taste requires.

[Texas Jim]

I think he means what is too much weight to use when BALANCING a tire, not the load range OF the tire.

At least that is the way I read it.

Wish I knew the answer to THAT one myself.

I will be needing tires in a few months on my DTS.

I have about 37,000 on the original tires.

I didn't rotate them often enough, and two of them are getting worn down pretty good.

One more long trip, and I will need at least two. Will decide at that time about getting two, then in a few months getting the other two, or just go ahead and get all four at the same time.

[growe3]

Sorry, I guess I was not clear. I meant how much balance weight is reasonable, to balance a tire of the size that I am using?

I think 2 or 3 oz. would be the limit, but I cannot find any information on the recommended limit of balance weight, for a given size tire.

-George

[Cadillac Jim]

I grew up in the car business and back when bias-ply tires were OEM on all American cars and radials were sold only by Michelin and a couple of Eurpoean firms that also sold bias-ply tires, 3 oz was a *lot* of weight. This was the size of the largest weight that my father's shop had in the bin for the wheel balancer.

I think that if a low-profile tire needs as much as 3 oz total weights, it will never be able to pass a road-force wheel balance test. Thus the solution is to insist on road force balancing.

[Texas Jim]

I think that if a low-profile tire needs as much as 3 oz total weights, it will never be able to pass a road-force wheel balance test. Thus the solution is to insist on road force balancing.

I think you are real close on the weight.

I, personally, would not want a new tire that took over three oz of weight.

The Discount Tire closest to me does not have a Road Force balancer, (and I have never been overly impressed with their balance jobs) but the one a little farther from me DOES have one. Reckon I will be buying the tires from the one that DOES have one.

It will cost me more to have it balanced initally, but will be better in the long run and I will probably have better tires. At least they shouldn't need balancing as often.

[Logan]

I would never accept a new tire with 3 oz of weight.

Maybe 1 1/4 oz tops.

I too, getting ready to look for tires. IMO tires are good for about 25k. After that amount of mileage, pot holes, rail road tracks etc have taken their toll. Car will still drive, but pretty cruddy higher speed issues.

I think I am going to try the GM part number tires at the Cadillac dealer. These should be better then any available at other outlets. I need to get the dealer to buy into the GM RFB service bulletin first. Anything above 9 lbs RFB gets rejected.

I also considering calling the local Lexus dealer to see if they sell a Lexus part # tire.

[growe3]

Thanks for the replies. I am hoping for minimal weight, but 1 to 1.5 oz is what I am aiming for.

The installer does have Road Force balance available, expensive, I will be trying it out.

-George

PS

I have 48k miles on the tires with perhaps 15k miles left on them before minimum tread, but they will not hold a balance.

They are Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus. Two tires are within reason, but two tires are "out of round".

It looks like the belts have "slipped". No matter what you do they shake at speeds between 60 and 75 MPH.

I find cruising at 80 is the smoothest, but not the best for mileage and risky for a ticket.

-G

[joeb]

i took off a set of tires from a car i was donating and put them on the caddy. the caddy had 1 tire already that was the same brand/age so now i have a matching spare too. i drove over a brick in a dim parking lot and about a week later i had all the tires rotated and balanced. the frt tire that hit the brick is now on the rear and i noticed it had at least 2oz of weights. i was considering swapping out my good spare to see if it makes any difference. or maybe rotate the tire 180deg on the rim.

[JohnnyG]

First of all, you're on the right track with the Road force balance, yes, it can be expensive, but done correctly it will make a world of difference in your car. This is particularly true if you have expeirienced the 68 - 72 "shakes" normally associated with slightly out of round tires on these cars.

Secondly, you appear to only be looking at one side of the rim....the outside. You might find another two ounces of weights on the inside part of the rim. So now you need to decide if, when you have your tires balanced, you are going to put weights on both sides of the rim. Some have tried to use just the inside, so the wheelweights don't show, but that's not the best way to go.

I'd consider weights of 2.5 ounces or less, placed both on the inside and outside of the rim (total 5 ounces) resulting in a road force of 10 pounds or less, PERFECT! Of course things can get complicated after that.