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This on a '99 9-5 SE with 41,000 miles. Get this:
I just replaced the tires with 4 new Michellin MXV4s. The old right front was badly worn on the outer edge and making a "wobble" sound. The tire guy tells me that the right wheel is out of alignment and I need new brake pads in the rear...fair enough. I'm due for the 40K service, so I take it to my nearest Saab service center (120 miles) for the routine service and an alignment, etc. Unfortunately, this place is a typical Caddy stealership that managed to fanagle GM into letting them tack a "Saab" emblem on the end of their letterhead (you know what I mean -- basically a high priced Jiffy Lube with cushy seats and a HDTV in the waiting room).
Anyway, a while later the extremely important "service assholciate" calls me with an extremely grave tone in his voice -- like a third-rate little theatre actor playing an undertaker in a dinner theatre matinee...anyway he tells me that I've got BIG problems with my brakes and that I need to spend $1,100.00 to replace all the rotors and pads "because they're dangerously worn"...right. Did they check the alignment like I asked them? No, "didn't have time." Did they figure out what caused the wobble sound? Is it a bad wheel bearing? No. He tells me earnestly that "it's a bad tire." Right, brand new Michellins with less than 100 miles and I've got a "bad tire." Needless to say, I get the hell out of there ASAP without the $1,100 brake job. However, I can tell you there's a Caddy/"Saab" stealership in Tulsa that I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw this building. However, I can say that I've always had excellent service from the old family-owned stand alone Saab dealership/service center in OKC and Little Rock.
Anyway, just to be 100% sure, I rotate the right front and rear tires myself and check the rotors. To be sure, the right front rotor has some wear, but there's still plenty of metal and no warpage that I can tell, no pulsation in the brakes, etc. With the rear tire moved up front, viola, I get the exact same wobble sound from the right front wheel as before. Yup, a "bad tire."
Basically, it is a wobble sound and vibration lightly discernable in the steering wheel starting at 20 mph on up, but most audible when coasting between 30 - 45 mph. I'm thinking it's a wheel bearing since it disipates somewhat on accelleration, maybe with some misalignment in the mix. I'm wondering if I can take this to my local "Fords & Chevys" mechanic to fix or if I need to take it to a REAL Saab service center in OKC or Little Rock, 150 miles in either direction.
Thanks,
Norm
posted by 205.188.11...
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