I would think if it was balance problem in might come and go a little
depending if the two wheels in completely in or out of synch. BUT not
go away after ten miles. That sounds to me a little more like flat
spotting but I've heard it usually goes away in a few miles.

The good news is you've done well getting that many miles out of sock
tires and will probably be rid of it with new tires. If the tires are
still worn evenly when they are taken off I think I would not go for
an alignment. Very opposite of what I normally recommend but almost
50K miles and wearing evenly? Unless it just went out of alignment it
has proven itself well. I don't think the tires are not known for
that kind of mileage.

I have the same year TL and tires with about 25K and I'm close to the
end. May be 5-10K maximum left. No problem as you describe and not
quite as easy on the tires as you but not hard either. The problem
was either the alignment was off ever since the car was new or when I
changed out the stock suspension at 1K, for the A-SPEC suspension, and
didn't get it aligned. They were rotated at 5K but I didn't notice
the wear or measure the tread.

At 10K they were worn, all four, very evenly. There was 5.5mm left
from the original 10mm (11mm?) when new. I got it aligned and both
front and rear tow-in were out of spec causing the wear. The A-SPEC
(1" lower suspension) should have caused a camber change but I don't
think the tow-in change. Any way I managed to save the tires before
it was too late but I think I lost about 10K of life being out of
alignment.

PS. Let us know how the problem gets resolved and what tires you end
up with and why if you would.


On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:09:11 -0400, pj.chris@verizon.net wrote:

>My 2005 TL has started having a slight front wheel hop that comes and
>goes between 40-50 mph. If I lift my foot off the gas it stops
>instantly and doesn't come back when I apply power again. I've had it
>start up on both right and left front wheels but never both at the
>same time. It has become noticible in the last 3-4K miles. I also
>never notice it after I've driven more than 10 miles.
>
>The car has 48.5K miles, Michelin tires (original and due to be
>replaced before winter sets in) and is not driven hard. The tires
>have worn evenly and given good service (but I wouldn't recommend them
>to anyone for serious snow driving.)
>
>Is this most likely a wheel balance problem at this point and/or
>slight flat spotting that is clearing up as the tires warm?
>
>TIA. Paul C.