Radial Tire Waddle

Tire waddle is side-to-side movement at the front and/or rear of the vehicle. It can be caused by the steel belt not being straight within the tire; or by excessive lateral runout of the tire or wheel. It is most noticeable at low speed, about 8 to 48 km/h (5 to 30 mph). It may also appear as a ride roughness at 80 to 113 km/h (50 to 70 mph). The vehicle can be road tested to see which end of the vehicle has the faulty tire. If the tire causing the tire waddle is on the rear, the rear end of the vehicle will waddle. From the driver's seat, it feels as if someone is pushing on the side of the vehicle. If the faulty tire is on the front, the tire waddle is more easily seen. The front sheet metal appears to be moving back and forth. It feels as if the driver's seat is the pivot point in the vehicle. A more time-consuming method of determining the faulty tire is substituting tire and wheels that are known to be good. Follow these steps:
1. Drive vehicle to determine if tire waddle is coming from front or rear.
2. Install tire and wheels known to be good from a similar vehicle in place of those on end of vehicle which is vibrating.
^ If tire waddle cannot be isolated to front or rear, start with rear tires.
3. Road test again.
^ If improvement is noted, install original tire and wheels one at a time until faulty tire is found.
^ If no improvement is noted, install tires known to be good in place of all four. Then, install originals one at a time until faulty tire is found.