Continental Terrain Contact AT

N2BRK

Well-known member
Dec 31, 2009
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Is anyone running this tire? Did you have trouble getting them to balance?

They are rated favorably with the Tire Rack, so I went to my buddy's Pep Girls shop and got a smoking deal on a set. They shake so badly that my steering wheel starts wiggling 52-65mph! I looked under and they put weights on the inside lip and no weights for the outside of the rim (stick ons in my case). I went to another shop with a Roadforce balancer to get them squared away, and they said that they could not roadforce balance and that they were all in need of tons of weight - the worst wanted 11oz on one side and I forget how much on the other. It was insane. They suggested finding another shop to pull the weights and going to equal bags.

I have to go back to Pep and see my friend to make this right, I'm just not sure if this is so bad that we need to yank the tires and put on a different set, or if equal bags are really the cats ass? I only ever rode in 1 dmax with equal bags and it was odd - seemed like bad balance at slow and hyper speeds and ok in most other situations. Opinions? Thanks! Wally
 

2004LB7

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2010
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try having the shop rotate the tire on the rim first. it may be that the unbalance of the rim and tire are aligned and is too much for the balancing machine to get right. worth a try. you can always throw a large handful of airsoft beads inside the tires too to help with the balance
 

N2BRK

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Dec 31, 2009
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Unless the guy operated the road force machine incorrectly, that should have been considered. I’m going to check with Hunter because I’m not sure he did it right.
 

N2BRK

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Dec 31, 2009
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I talked to a trainer for Hunter. He thinks it’s operator error. I’m going hit another shop.

Btw - pep girls said the tech didn’t forget to put weights on the other side of the wheel, they only attach weights to one side now! Fail.
 

PureHybrid

Isuzu Shakes IT
Feb 15, 2012
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Why is that a fail? Lots of vehicles don't have a lip to clamp a weight on the outside. Not the ideal situation but it'll still balance
 

660catman

Active member
May 18, 2021
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I had a set of Silverado 1500 rims refinished. Installed new Nokian Rotiiva AT’s. Shop who refinished rims installed wheels and only installed stick on weights on inside of rim. Never had a balance issue.




2013 Sierra SLE 2500HD Crew Cab
 

N2BRK

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Dec 31, 2009
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If you hammer weights on the inside lip and don’t stick weight or hammer on the outside, you are static balancing them but they are dynamically unbalanced. If you just want to static balance, you should put the weights in the middle of the wheel not the edge.
 

N2BRK

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Dec 31, 2009
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Example of the fail. See where he’s chasing the balance, and nothing to dynamically balance:F3588269-A556-4F30-A432-12659180A591.jpeg
 

N2BRK

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Dec 31, 2009
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You can also see the glue from the old stick ons he scraped off
 

PureHybrid

Isuzu Shakes IT
Feb 15, 2012
3,279
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Central OH
I understand the difference, but unless the tire is junk it'll still drive without issue.

I do agree that something isn't right though, very possible it's a bad tire. Fwiw I run beads in my current wheels, no complaints. If they won't replace the tires I wouldn't hesitate to run beads.
 

N2BRK

Well-known member
Dec 31, 2009
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If it was one tire I’d think it’s was bad, but this is all 4. I spoke to a trainer for Hunter and showed him pix - pretty confident a proper balance will fix me up. I did consider equal bags or beads. I’ve read they can be helpful for stubborn setups.