Faint vibration at speed - tire foam separation?

[Tell021]

I recently noticed a slight vibration on my Model 3 SR+ when driving at highway speeds (70mph+).

I took the car to a SC and they suggested balancing the wheels. They found that the right rear was the issue. They tried to balance it but said it required an abnormally large amount of weight (like almost half a pound). They suggested replacing the whole rim, saying it was bent. The balancing did help, but didn't solve the vibration entirely.

I was surprised, as the car has less than 5k miles, and has never hit anything I could imagine would cause that kind of damage.

But then, after some googling, I found multiple reports of an 'acoustic foam' inside the tires coming loose and causing vibration issues like this. I'm wondering if this is my issue.

But my question is, is there anyway to confirm this apart from just removing the tire? Trying to avoid any additional expenses after already paying $175 for the balancing...

(On the plus side, they did do the HW3 upgrade at the same time.)

 

[G26okie]

If they were having trouble balancing it, and you haven't hit anything nor did anyone else driving the car since it started it could be the foam.

It detaches and becomes bunched up and throws it off balance.

 

[jdcollins5]

If you think that is a possibility, take it to a tire shop and have them remove the tire and check.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

If the SC said the wheel is bent and it's really bent, you need to get that fixed, which requires taking the tire off the wheel to straighten the rim.

A wheel repair shop will put the wheel on their balancer to spin it to confirm if it's really bent or not. If you have any trust in your SC (I don't in mine), then definitely just go straight to a wheel repair shop so they can check the rim, fix it if needed, and then check the foam, remount the tire, and balance it all up. Going to a tire shop first will just be an extra step and wasted money if the wheel is really bent because they don't have the equipment or expertise to fix bent rims.

 

[Pirkez]

I was on road trip when i felt vibration when driving over 65. I went to nearest firestone, paid 58$ for balancing but that didn’t help. On my way back drom Austin to Chicago, I stopped by in Forth Worth and stoped in tesla service center explained what I experienced and what i have done. They took the car, rebalance the tires but that didn’t help as well. Eventually they realized that both read tires have foam separation and needs tire replacement which is not covered by the warranty and it will cost 626$. I declined that and asked how is that possible since car is new (2021) with 10k miles. I was explained that tires are not covered, even if you drive 2 miles after purchasing the car... anyway, the guy came back 20 minutes after that and said that he spoke with manager and explained the issue and they replaced the tires and did all the balancing again at no cost since foam separation is not my fault. I was in and out in 3 hours and i continued my road trip. Tesla did good job fixing the issue on the fly, but anyway that is not good policy for the tires that are rated as one of the best on the market. You are on your own if that happens. You need to call michelin claim service to get the chek if you purchased new tires in early life of your car... (i would say less than 15k miles)

 

[N54TT]

I just dealt with foam separation in one of my VS forged wheels with tesla spec ps4s tires. Hit a nasty pothole at the end of last season before I took my summer set off. When I put them on this spring I noticed a slight vibration. Had them rebalanced, the wheel with a bend took a lot more weights...which was alittle concerning but It rode fine. the next day or so the vibration came back and was bad, couldn't drive above 70mph without bad vibration. None of the weights had fallen off and I have read about foam separation before. Went back to the tire shop and it spun fine on the balancer. But i had them remove the tire to check the foam. The foam was completely separated from the tire as I was kinda suspecting. Had them remove the foam and remount the tire. Balancing took the same/normal amount of weights as when first got the set. Saved some time with the back and forth And was just about to order a new wheel. But figured I give this a try first. Initial impressions are I don’t notice a difference in road noise.