It's called tramlining, right? Where the steering wheel follows every single imperfection in the road making it really hard to drive perfectly straight. It's been about a year since I've driven my camaro, and it seems to be worse than I remember. I know part (or all) of it is caused by upsized tires - 275/40/17. My question, can anyone refresh my memory about what alignment values can help cure this? Something tells me more positive caster helps but I can't remember. |
I have the same size tires. Idt that is the problem. I had mine aligned. My camber was off. It drives straight as an arrow now. Look ma no hands. |
I think its called tracking? |
Toe. Toe even or if youre ballsy a little toe out...toe out is NOT recommended for drag racing. That was my cure for tramlining. Same size tires btw. |
I have horrible tramlining now with shitty, very old Kumho Ecsta tires. I will be installing Michelin Pilot Super Sports next week. |
Originally Posted by therabidweasel
(Post 17424143)
Toe. Toe even or if youre ballsy a little toe out...toe out is NOT recommended for drag racing. That was my cure for tramlining. Same size tires btw. |
Mine is fresh everything (including alignment) and goes crazy following low spots on the blacktop interstate. Drives me insane. Its fine on surface streets though. |
Originally Posted by 01ssreda4
(Post 17424666)
Mine is fresh everything (including alignment) and goes crazy following low spots on the blacktop interstate. Drives me insane. Its fine on surface streets though. |
It's not just F-Body. Every car with over a 265 front I've driven has that problem. Ruts in the roads caused by semis in asphalt do it. It's slightly exaggerated in an F-body because our steering is vague and slow. Certain tires make it worse as well. |
I don't have any problems with my 275-40-17's, drives straight without any hands on the wheel... but the roads might be worse in your area, if they are heavily rutted from semis and what not it might just be the roads... Also if this happening and the roads are decently flat, you might see uneven tire wear on the front tires meaning it might need an alignment or toe adjustment.. don't forget to make sure the air in the tires is to spec... not under or over inflated. |
I have no issues with my 275s.... just make sure your front end is nice and tight and aligned. |
Both of my cars do it, but its definitely scarier in the f-body, especially on wet roads! |
I definitely had the problem with the 275's, completely gone after I "downgraded" to 265's. |
Originally Posted by patSS/00
(Post 17425661)
I definitely had the problem with the 275's, completely gone after I "downgraded" to 265's. |
Well I went ahead and fixed the toe the best I could with my tape measure lol. It's about 1/16" toed out, a little more toe out than I was shooting for but holy cow it made a HUGE difference. I no longer feel like someone is grabbing the steering wheel and pulling it back and forth. The steering wheel is slightly off center though, I need to turn both tie rods a bit to recenter it but I'm doing my lowering springs today so it's a bit counterproductive to waste time on it when I need another alignment right afterwards. |
Originally Posted by lt16spd1
(Post 17425950)
Well I went ahead and fixed the toe the best I could with my tape measure lol. It's about 1/16" toed out, a little more toe out than I was shooting for but holy cow it made a HUGE difference. I no longer feel like someone is grabbing the steering wheel and pulling it back and forth. The steering wheel is slightly off center though, I need to turn both tie rods a bit to recenter it but I'm doing my lowering springs today so it's a bit counterproductive to waste time on it when I need another alignment right afterwards. |
Our Previous car, a 2005 Saleen has 275/xx/20 up front and it was never a problem. Oddly enough, the car's set up made for uneven tire wear in the front and tires could not be rotated because the wheels were wider in the back, and still, it drove perfect. Now with my Trans Am, it is more difficult to drive. Still haven't had an alignment but will try to fit one in soon, getting tired of the way it feels. If that doesn't fix it I will try going down a size up front like patSS |
Originally Posted by patSS/00
(Post 17425661)
I definitely had the problem with the 275's, completely gone after I "downgraded" to 265's. Steering also improved after this. |
I have the same issue, running 275 up front and 315 rears and it gets pretty bad. On a perfectly flat road it tracks straight, but the slightest imperfection makes it pull pretty hard. I've gotten used to it, what I don't like though is that I feel like my steering has a dead spot. Not like it has slack in it, it just feels mushy in the center like theres a damper there which I don't like. I like my steering very tight and precise, I don't have any other f-bodies to compare the feel to though. |
Originally Posted by nitroheadz28
(Post 17426952)
I have the same issue, running 275 up front and 315 rears and it gets pretty bad. On a perfectly flat road it tracks straight, but the slightest imperfection makes it pull pretty hard. I've gotten used to it, what I don't like though is that I feel like my steering has a dead spot. Not like it has slack in it, it just feels mushy in the center like theres a damper there which I don't like. I like my steering very tight and precise, I don't have any other f-bodies to compare the feel to though. |
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