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What causes tires to go out of balance?

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I'm not an expert on mechanics etc. so I'm wondering if others here can help me understand...what is causing my tires to lose balance?

Basically I've had to keep taking my car in for "Steering Wheel Vibration" related issues almost every 1-2 months since first buying the car.

The solution has been different each time. But for the past 3 times, they've done a "road force balance" or something along those lines.

The last one was done August 22nd as a solution to my vibration issue (was done in June prior to this).

2 Days later, I could feel the vibration again, and so called to book an appointment again, anyways fast forward to 2 days ago dropped the car off, and I'm told they tested the wheels and they need to be balanced again...

Cost to do this $130...

I know some of the causes are going over curbs/potholes, etc. but I'm the only one who drives this car and the roads this time of year are fairly smooth and my driving is 80% highway, so what's causing this?

I've never had to balance my wheels on any of my other car outside of when they do it under maintenance if required, so having to do it every 1-2 months (And in this case within days of each other) seems really strange....

Is there something mechanical that could be causing this to keep coming up?
 
Next time this happens, you might try going to a different service center and ensure a different technician is working on correcting the issue - and when you bring it in, explain the history - and see if they can come up with an explanation for why this is happening.

We've owned 3 Tesla vehicles, with over 130K miles accumulated across all 3 - and haven't had this issue.

It seems likely the issue is likely related to a single wheel - and besides having the vibration, you will likely see some uneven tire wear. If they can't fix it the next time, you could ask for them to give you a new wheel & tire - and see if that permanently corrects the problem. There might also be an issue with the suspension/axle for that wheel.
 
I start with the basics which would include a visual check of the tire while it is on the Hunter balancing machine to insure that you don’t have a defective, out-of-round/spec tire. I would then check for a bent wheel where the tire needs to be removed from the wheel and deploy a dial indicator to measure the run-out (both lateral and longitude on the bead surface) to insure it is < .015”. If all of the previous checks out, I would then take a gander at the suspension as bob mentioned.

Good-luck'
 
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I just had a vibration fixed that was clearly wheel-speed related. Practically wagged the X's tail at 10 MPH through parking lots. At 60 MPH it was not as bad. Took it to Tesla and they said the inside edges had worn to replacement depth (at 20.5k miles). But more importantly a "belt had shifted", presumably due to the uneven wear. No cord visible, the normal part of the tread looked OK to me with plenty of tread left. They suggested to keep the suspension at "Standard" level, which probably won't happen. Not something I've ever seen before.

Anyway, I replaced all the tires and sure enough it's smooth as silk again.

It is quite possible to have a tire that just is not as round as it should be and can't be balanced properly. It might be just a tire that needs to be replaced.