Ford Fiesta (2000 - 2002) - 02 1.3 Rear Wheel Balance?

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Fri 26 Sep 2008 10:27
02 1.3 Rear Wheel Balance? - Paul Robinson
My daughter who lives 1 1/2 hour drive away in Bristol had a new pair of tyres fitted to the rear of her Fiesta. She only did local journeys for the first month or so then the first time she got on the open road she had a vibration coming from the rear at about 60 mph then disappearing about 65 mph. No vibration coming through the steering, she's confident it's coming from the back of the car.

She phoned the garage and asked them to balance the rear wheels, but they are very reluctant to do so, suggesting it might be 'a more serious problem' so she's now not keen to take it back to them. What do you think?
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Fri 26 Sep 2008 10:59
02 1.3 Rear Wheel Balance? - Mapmaker
I think that if she's worried about having a more serious problem fixed then she is very foolish indeed. If there is a problem, it needs fixing. How little do you love your daughter?
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Fri 26 Sep 2008 11:27
02 1.3 Rear Wheel Balance? - Paul Robinson
She's worried that there's actually nothing wrong other than the rear wheels needing a proper balance, but thinks if she takes it back to them they are going to invent a load of work to do. I guess the question is - how likely is it that there is a problem other than wheel balance that by coincidence has occurred at the same time as having new rear tyres?

Anyone know a good independant garage in the Clifton area of Bristol?
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Fri 26 Sep 2008 12:04
02 1.3 Rear Wheel Balance? - Graemetdci
The symptoms described certainly could be a balancing issue.

In the first instance, I would get her to take it to a reputable local tyre dealer (I'm sure there must be plenty of good indies in the Bristol area) and get them to check the balance of the rears. If this solves the problem, great.

I have had tyres fitted in the past that were clearly not balanced properly (fronts and rears) and needed to be re-balanced - sometimes I had to go to another tyre fitter to get it done properly.

If the problem still persists, then she should get it checked out by a good indie garage in case there is something more serious going on.

Is there a Ford RapidFit near to her - they could check the tyre balance and maybe inspect for any other problems at the same time - I never had any problems with them when I had my Focus.
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