Qusus

Do our cars track perfectly straight on the highway? Like, if you're driving down a smooth straight road and take your hands off the steering wheel will the car just continue on straight?

I ask because I've recently noticed that if I take my hands off the wheel the car actually tilts slighlty to the drivers side (left). It's slight but noticeable and I've tried it on all roads. I recently got new takeoff wheels +tires on this car and I was pretty sure that the car tracked perfectly straight when I had the stock 17's. Doesn't seem to affect anything else but just wonderin' if this is normal as my cars only got 4K miles on it.

99flhr

1st, check your air pressure.
Radial tires can have an inherent pull, it`s called conicity (SP?) If possible switch your tires left to right,( Or front to back on a non staggered directional set up) and see if it changes
Did you fit wide tires? Google "Tramlining"

mlcrycc

Don't know what rims you switched to, but did you verify these retainer clips were removed before swapping rims??




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Qusus

Nah, I didn't fit wide tires. These are just the stock 18 inch bridgestones. My air pressure is good as well on both sides.

I didn't know about the inherent pull thing though... that's interesting. In fact, now that I think about it some of my other cars have had this slight pull to the left as well. Not all of em, but some. But they usually didn't start till much later in their mileage. Thanks.

99flhr

Consider running different psi left to right to achieve the stability you want, sometimes 3 or 4 psi can offset the problem on a vehicle without easy caster correction. You`ll have to experiment. You can verify the issue by swapping tires, yes, I know, it`s a PITA without a lift

07ROUSHGT

Depends....roads are not all the same. Roads are crowned (graded) for drainage. Rarely noticeable until ou try to remove your hands from the steering wheel like you did. depending on what lane you're in, i.e. inside or outside, and depending on the grade of the road will depend on if you get any small amount of drifting. Some roads are more noticeable than others. Not always a problem with the vehicle, tires, or alignment.

Qusus

I just switched to 18" fanblades (not aftermarkets, just takeoffs) with stock tires from 17's. Crap... I didn't see if the retainer clips were removed because I just had em swapped at Discount Tire to save some time... is that what could be causing this? Maybe I should take it back and have em check it out.

mlcrycc

Well, normally the symptom of these not being removed is a front end wobble, like and alignment issue. And, normally it shows up on aftermarket rims. I don't know if this is an issue with 18 inch take offs or not...but if nothing else seems to be wrong, it may be worth pulling the front wheels to verify.....

vtmustangs

ignore my ignorance but just for future reference are the clips suppose to be on with the stockers and removed with aftermarkets? So if I put the stockers back on later would need to put them on?

mlcrycc

Naw, they are not necessary. They are used on the production line just to hold the rotor in place. Some have em, some don't....