New wheels installed...steering seems off? **Continued thread merged in here**

NewMStang

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Oct 5, 2004
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So i just put on my new wheels:

- 18x9, 18x10
- 265-35-18 (used tires, with about 7.5/10 tread)
- 315-30-18 new tires

Before putting on the wheels my alignment seemed fine with my stock wheels (245-45-17). I had the new wheels balanced but for some reason my alingment/steering seems all jacked up since I had the wheels installed. It seems like my alignment is all screwey, i have to at times use force to keep my wheels stragiht. Could putting on new wheels cause something like this to happen? Any thoughts?

On a complete side note...my car nows looks like a freaking monster truck, when i had my stock wheels my cars 4x4 look wasn't overwhelming, now it seems ridiculous
 
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lol lets see a picture. anyway the used tires being in the front could have wore wrong causeing the problem or you could also just not be used to having wide tires that bite every crack in the road pulling you all over
 
I'll post some pics when i get a chance this weekend. But back to the tires...i really hope i'm not going to need to buy new front tires i just dished out aroud 1k for wheel and tires. Could this have something to do with PSI of the tires (currently tires are 38 psi)?
 
NewMStang:

The wider tires on the front will 'track' more than skinnier tires. The tire pressure seems a bit high (imho) and might be making the front end a little loose. Try 32 or 34 psig (cold condition) and see if the tracking reduces.

HTH,

Chris
 
I notice the issues you describe with my Mustang after driving my Focus for a week or so. Compared to my Focus, the Mustang tracks all over the grooves in the road.

However, after driving the mustang for awhile I get used to it and it just feels "normal"..

I think it's just the wider than stock tires tracking more.

Riley
 
its because you switched to 18in wheels/wider tires than the stock, 17 in 245 mm wheels/tires. thats why it seems a little funky at first. youll get used to it, your car isnt screwed up so dont worry.
i switched from 17in bullitts to 18 inch wheels and it seemed weird at first, but youll get used to it.
 
I had a similar issue, switched from the stock tires to 17X9 with 275's on the front and it seems to drift to one side or the other. The tires are new and I had it realigned, even though it was aligned less than a year ago, everything is good, but it still seems to drift to one side or the other based on the contours of the road. Love the look of the larger tires but they do tend to steer themselves.
 
You really should get an alignment, anytime you change the wheel/tire profile drastically or add any new suspension components like new struts and shocks. Your symptoms could be caused by any number of possibilities, which need to be corrected.

1. Your overall tire profile could have changed ( taller/shorter wheel/tire combo). this has the effect of placing your tire centerline further out/in than is ideal.

2. The wheels could have shifted your tire centerline either out or in.

In either of the above cases, adjusting the toe or caster/camber can put your rolling equipment exactly where it needs to be. Having it off can cause abnormal driving tendencies, accelerated wear, and possibly reduce the maneuverability of the vehicle. Not the kind of things you want going on.

As far as your car tracking on the road where the traffic ruts are, it shouldn't be as pronounced as what you describe. I think you may actually need to have the wheel toe corrected for the new setup. I had this exact same problem when I did my install and it cost me a set of Eagle F-1's. Once the alignment was done, it didn't track anymore than my original setup did.

Hope this helps.
 
Seems like you're explination makes the most sense(I'll just go ahead and get a realignment). I was real close to dishing out a bunch of $$ to buy a new set of tires, thanks for saving me the $ Midnight2V!

You really should get an alignment, anytime you change the wheel/tire profile drastically or add any new suspension components like new struts and shocks. Your symptoms could be caused by any number of possibilities, which need to be corrected.

1. Your overall tire profile could have changed ( taller/shorter wheel/tire combo). this has the effect of placing your tire centerline further out/in than is ideal.

2. The wheels could have shifted your tire centerline either out or in.

In either of the above cases, adjusting the toe or caster/camber can put your rolling equipment exactly where it needs to be. Having it off can cause abnormal driving tendencies, accelerated wear, and possibly reduce the maneuverability of the vehicle. Not the kind of things you want going on.

As far as your car tracking on the road where the traffic ruts are, it shouldn't be as pronounced as what you describe. I think you may actually need to have the wheel toe corrected for the new setup. I had this exact same problem when I did my install and it cost me a set of Eagle F-1's. Once the alignment was done, it didn't track anymore than my original setup did.

Hope this helps.
 
I just had the same issue as Midnight2V, and wore a pair of tires on the extreme inside while the rest of the tire was fairly new. After the alignment it was much better with the tracking, but still isn't wearing evenly. I am getting mine checked next week to see if I need CC plates since the car was lowered 1.5 inches as well.
 
Continued thread...New wheels installed...steering seems off? w/Pics

Original post...

So i just put on my new wheels:

- 18x9, 18x10
- 265-35-18 (used tires, with about 7.5/10 tread)
- 315-30-18 new tires

Before putting on the wheels my alignment seemed fine with my stock wheels (245-45-17). I had the new wheels balanced but for some reason my alingment/steering seems all jacked up since I had the wheels installed. It seems like my alignment is all screwey, i have to at times use force to keep my wheels stragiht. Could putting on new wheels cause something like this to happen? Any thoughts?

On a complete side note...my car nows looks like a freaking monster truck, when i had my stock wheels my cars 4x4 look wasn't overwhelming, now it seems ridiculous


So here's some pics of the wheels. An ebay auction for a set of new tires is ending soon so i'd like to know everyones thoughts on wether the wheels tread and ware pattern looks ok...(need to know if i should go with just alignment or new wheels)

Driver Side

CIMG2954.jpg

CIMG2955.jpg

CIMG2956.jpg

CIMG2943.jpg


Passenger Side

CIMG2957.jpg

CIMG2958.jpg

CIMG2959.jpg

CIMG2946.jpg


Here's the pics of the new MONSTER TRUCK look, lol...

CIMG2949.jpg

CIMG2950.jpg

CIMG2951.jpg

CIMG2948.jpg
 
Based on your penny test, the passenger side looks to have a shallower tread. (Its hard to tell though as the penny is facing different ways). They also appear to be slightly more worn along the outside edge, but its hard to tell with pictures. In general though, wider tires tend to follow imperfections in the road alot. I also believe that certain tread patterns tend to make the problem worse. What make/model of tire do you have? Maybe some other people reading this have the same tires and can share their experience with them.