I'm aveing a few problems with my steering that I'm hoping you guys can help me with.

The first problem I noticed when I first got my 18" wheels on. Every little bump hit jerks my steering wheel. I know 18s will make the ride harsher but is it suppose to make it so rough that it jerks my steering wheel?

My next problem is that when I brake for a stop light I find the steering wheel turning itself. What could be causing this?

Thanks for any help
Hoainam

 

how wide are they? it is most likely width and not diameter with what you are getting. sounds like the wide tire/wheel is tramlining a bit over bumps and road grooves... normal if its a really wide front wheel

 

They are 9" wide. What is tramlining?

 

Wide, low profile tires follow all the seams and tracks in the pavement causing the steering wheel to want to move in your hands. I also have 1.75 degrees of negative camber up front and that makes it even worse. It doesn't feel unsafe, but the car is certainly dartier.

Another possible cause is wheel offset. I don't remember which way is positive or negative, but if the hub is near the inside of the wheel so to speak rather than the nmiddle, this gives the wheel more leverage and it will want to self-steer over bumps. I hope that made sense to you.

 

Thanks. I think I understand. I was just worried that there may be something wrong with my suspension or something.

Any thoughts on the "when I brake for a stop light I find the steering wheel turning itself" problem?

Thanks

 

is it the same way each time?

 

It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it usally pulls strongly to the right. However, there have been a few times when it pulled lightly to the left.

 

i think your rubbing your fenders! try rolling your fenders.

 

Hi,

Did you ever manage to sort these problems out ? My 3rd gen Rx7 is doing the same thing, pulling to the left and right under breaking and its veers to the left and right at high speed.

Thanks

Paul

 

Wide tires cause that. Tyre is trying to follow the curvature of the road because of its stiff sidewalls.

 

I'm going to try and continue this thread....What could be causing tramlining with stock wheels and tires?
It does not dart when on smooth roads but does it when the road is uneven and has a lot of grooves and bumps.
I would expect this with wide wheels/rubber but not with stock.
Thanks.

 

Cruiser, Love your avatar!!!...Anyway you could send me a copy the original pic?

 

this is a old problem for any car. if you press the brake without holding the steering wheel, the alignment is off. first, go to an alignment shop and have the balance your wheels with the tires and then do an alignment.

hope this helps

 

this is a old problem for any car. if you press the brake without holding the steering wheel and it pulls to one side, the alignment is off. first, go to an alignment shop and have the balance your wheels with the tires and then do an alignment.

hope this helps

 

if problem pursists I would get rid of power steering

 

Wha??? The power steering has nothing to do with this problem. If the car pulls under braking and the road is perfectly smooth you usually have a brake or alignment problem. If the car pulls into every little rut in the road (especially under braking) and you can make it pull different ways by coming at the ruts in different ways you can be certain it's the tires just tracking the bumps. Deleting the power steering isn't going to do anything but make it harder for you to hold the car straight.

Tramlining is most effected by tire choice. I run stock wheels with 245/45/16 tires and more than 1.5 degrees of negative camber at each corner. The camber adds to the problem but my tires will hunt over poor pavement joints. I find that performance tires with large lugs of tread and circumferential grooves are the worst. You can imagine the grooves tracking the joints in the road easily; that's what happens. When my car is on race tires (no tread) it doesn't hunt as much because there's no tread to "stick" to the pavement imperfections.

So Senna, yes, the car can still dart over pavement imperfections with stock sized rubber. The key is you say that it's fine on smooth roads, so it's merely the tread following the pavement.

 

This is only true if the road is perfectly straight, smooth and evenly textured. Which means it is rarely true The car will always pull at least slightly to one side or the other if your hands are not on the wheel. (And if your hands are not on the wheel, who's driving the car? )

 

check the toe on the car also all of the suspension components. ball joints and a arm bushings etc.. if you never have then think of it as a way of getting to know your suspension!

 

i'm with damon.

have the car aligned. with the larger tires the alignment angles have probably changed. overall though, the bigger the wheel/tire the more this will happen. and certain tread patterns make it worse.

 

Alignment.... Fender rolling... offset.....

All the things mentioned above...

 

Give me your email. I have the original somewhere I think

 

Thank you all for your feedback. It's been a busy week otherwise would have checked back sooner.

Indeed, it does not tramline on smooth even roads but nevertheless it is quite worrisome when I'm around and over 100mph and not knowing for certain what the cause is.
I'm a little more reassured now.

Interestly Damon, it happens mostly on the same road that I take to get to the out of town straightaways where I can open it up. It has long and very uneven grooves.

Tampafd, I think I'll take your advice re: familiarizing myself with the car's suspension.
I plan to do search on this but is replacing the strut bushings something that can be reasonably done at home or is it more of a dealer type job? Very leary of dealerships!
Thanks again guys!

 

You will notice tramlining even further if you are traveling on a road frequented by heavy truck traffic which causes visible ruts in the road surface. On 285 on the inner loop here in Atlanta as you get closer to I-85 the ruts are quite noticeable. You truly need both hands on the wheel in this area because my FD tramlines like a SOB here. Otherwise on a flat smooth surface like concrete my FD does not tramline at all, even under braking. Quite an accomplishment for a car to have alignment and good even tire wear for a car with 107k on the clock.

-Kib

 

Kib, is that 107K on the engine too or do you have a new engine?