KFtransam

My car has been tram lining for some time now and frankly I've had enough, tires in the front were a little old and stiff and unevenly worn,
i swapped front to back so now I have a matching set of about 65% tread hankook 235 50 16's in front and was really hoping this was my issue

Making the swap did help a lot, though there's still a noticeable amount of pull going on

I'm thinking more than likely this is a tire size issue, and if not what else could I look for? I've had it up on the lift several times recently and check most everything out. Greased ball joints and tie rod ends, check for play or torn boots ext...

One way or another my real question is, in buying new tires, what's the recommended sizing to eliminate this problem

Latch

iTrader: (8)

How's your alignment?

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

You say your old tires were unevenly worn, but don't say why. I would assume you've had your alignment checked since then, but I've made incorrect assumptions before...

KFtransam

Alignment is fairly new, and im only experiencing the problem when there's a fair amount of uneven contour in the road. I.e. if there's a rut in the road the front end seems to fall into it and follow the rut.

And sorry, misunderstanding, unevenly worn from tire to tire. The drivers side was a newer tire and had more tread than the passenger..

Another thing I'd noticed in changing my brakes, the drivers side was worn more than the passenger side. Don't know whether or not this is related... I just assumed I needed to go through and bleed the brakes

i'm sofa king

mine does the same thing.

my car only has 50,000 miles on it, but the tires are old. the date code is from 2004. they are all evenly worn and the same size.

KFtransam

Yeah, I've heard part of the problem can be attributed to the aging rubber getting stiff.. I find this hole issue to be a real pita

Is there anything one can do to possibly beef up the steering?

97FormulaWS-6

iTrader: (1)

With that tire size, it sounds more like an alignment issue than anything. I know depending on the shops and how they set the alignment within the "allowable tolerance" it can have some serious effect on this. It's typically more pronounced/worse/sensitive to alignment issues with the 275 tires, but the 235s can still show this effect depending on the settings.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

I got it a bit with my old 98 running 215 tires, although my 99 with 245 is certainly more twitchy.

Have you checked to be sure your tie rods, ball joints, etc are all OK? In my case mine have some wear and I think that's part of it. As 97Formula said, the "allowable tolerance" can also make a big difference. Example, my Trailblazer was aligned, in tolerance, but after I had it realigned by another (better) shop after hitting something in the road they got it better than simply "within allowance" and it tracks and drives much better. It is amazing how so little can actually make so big of a difference.

joecar

Before doing anything, replace all the worn-out suspension components everywhere on car (bushings, ball joints, tie rods, etc...).

KFtransam

New tire rod ends, ball joints, struts, bout the ony thing untouched are the bushings

VinR1

iTrader: (17)

Get some yard sticks and a tape measure and check your toe - I had over 1.5" of toe-in on a month-old alignment and blamed everything else until I realized both front wheels were pointed in. Took 10min to verify...

KFtransam

Hmm.. Just measure between tires in the front and back of the front wheels and figure the difference?

bwkmaro

if th car is tramlining your alignment is off due to worn parts or a bad alignment. its not magic. some shops when they do alignments they only do toe. and dont touch camber or caster which will give you your problem. when you get a alignment always ask for a before and after printout.

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

I certainly does sound like your alignment might be battling against you. Unfortunately, I would say a good 80-90% of technicians who are aligning cars in this country have no clue what they're doing. They may put them in the "green" like the computer is saying, but don't understand the concept of how toe, camber, and caster work together to get a car tracking straight and how they react to steering input. I would say you should have your car's alignment checked once again by a place with a solid reputation in your area. Also, have no fear in driving a great distance to get it done correctly. You'll save money on tires and the car will drive considerably better in the long run.

- Kevin

VinR1

iTrader: (17)

yep, they should be dead even or no more than 1/8" toe-in at the most

check your tires for uneven wear as well - if you cant tell, simply take some chalk and mark a big line across both front tires, shoulder to shoulder. Take the car around the block and look and see if you have any light spots where the chalk didnt wear off. If they're worn on the outer edges = too much toe-in, worn inner edges = too much toe-out.

Toe-in helps high speed stability, toe-out helps low speed cornering... too much of either will pull the car all over the road (tramlining) as the tires fight each other for control

KFtransam

Okay, simple enough, thanks a lot guys..

The way I look at it is that if I can adjust my alignment at home and save a buck
Then that's my rout

I actually was able to adjusts tie rods a couple years ago on my caddilac.. Had it tracking dead straight, though the wheel was a little off center

Marc3.4V6

iTrader: (1)

In other threads they say, "that's just how it is with wide tires...". I think its BS to blame the tire size. I daily drove an 05 Saleen mustang with 20 inch 275 wheel and tire combo and had virtually zero tramlining. Compared to my WS6 with 17 inch 275 tires all around that at times is scary and a real chore to keep straight on bad roads. Although I have not inspected the front end or had an alignment yet (just bought the car).