New tires also will always feel more responsive, especially if the old ones were very worn and hard and dry
I hate my new tires
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 346
Likes: 26
I hate my new tires
Bought some new tires OEM size for my 84 and I hate them. They are just enough wider that the car no longer sits in the travel lanes other cars have worn into the roads around here leaving me constantly adjusting for it. It's not major changes but just enough to be annoying. I'm happy with the sticky feel and the traction I receive but overall Status : Annoyed. Oh and because of the texture of the lettering it will be difficult to white letter them. I probably won't attempt it.
Last edited by warrior4jesus; Nov 4, 2016 at 12:38 AM.
Safety Car
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From: Mission Viejo CA
How is your front wheel alignment? The caster spec for '84 was 3 deg. but later 'vette's are spec'ed at 6 deg. I set my '84 to 6 deg. and that provided a significant improvement in the tracking stability, and eliminated its sensitivity to road irregularities like you are struggling with!
Melting Slicks
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From: Sunrise FL
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Don't be so quick to blame the size. If you can swap the fronts to the back and see if the problem continues. My wife's new car was twitchy like you described. It was a bad tire. Over the last few years I have gotten quite a few bad tires. Goodyears and Firestones.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,952
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From: Venice Cali.
I just decided on Toyo r888 (255/50/16) after tons of shopping . It seems the BFG 255/50/16 is the goto tire). I just put them on last week after getting my rack rebuilt, with new tie rod ends,havent grabbed alignment yet but no tracking problems at all. I would really check the joints front and back.
Mine is 85
Good luck
Mine is 85
Good luck
Last edited by xrav22; Nov 4, 2016 at 07:15 PM. Reason: bad tablet
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 346
Likes: 26
I just decided on Toyo r888 (255/50/16) after tons of shopping . It seems the BFG 255/50/16 is the goto tire). I just put them on last week after getting my rack rebuilt, with new tie rod ends,havent grabbed alignment yet but no tracking at all. I would really check the joints front and back.
Mine is 85
Good luck
Mine is 85
Good luck
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 4,429
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From: Minneapolis Mn
I have BFG's 245x50r16's and they're fine. Now having said that, I did have something of a similar problem on my T-bird after having the damaged springs replaced with oem ones and aligned to factory settings. It was actually dangerous the way it handled, would throw the car to the side if you had any kind of seam, depression or line in the road. I finally found a shop that did race car work including alignments. Even though it had been aligned 3 times by the dealer and a separate alignment shop, this was the place that solved it. They tweaked the alignment a little and it totally settled it down so it drove and handled the way it should have.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 346
Likes: 26
I have BFG's 245x50r16's and they're fine. Now having said that, I did have something of a similar problem on my T-bird after having the damaged springs replaced with oem ones and aligned to factory settings. It was actually dangerous the way it handled, would throw the car to the side if you had any kind of seam, depression or line in the road. I finally found a shop that did race car work including alignments. Even though it had been aligned 3 times by the dealer and a separate alignment shop, this was the place that solved it. They tweaked the alignment a little and it totally settled it down so it drove and handled the way it should have.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 461
Likes: 20
Bought some new tires OEM size for my 84 and I hate them. They are just enough wider that the car no longer sits in the travel lanes other cars have worn into the roads around here leaving me constantly adjusting for it. It's not major changes but just enough to be annoying. I'm happy with the sticky feel and the traction I receive but overall Status : Annoyed. Oh and because of the texture of the lettering it will be difficult to white letter them. I probably won't attempt it.
Attachment 48033316
Attachment 48033316
Thread Starter
Racer
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Instructor
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From: Stevenston, Scotland, GB
what are the tracks like? Is this a normal thing in the USA?
I have 255/50x16 Kumhos and 295/50x16 Coopers on 10"x16" rims here in the UK and it drives perfectly. I also pulled the shims to increase -ve camber and increase +caster. Pressures are 32 all round. Perfect wear and handling.
I have 255/50x16 Kumhos and 295/50x16 Coopers on 10"x16" rims here in the UK and it drives perfectly. I also pulled the shims to increase -ve camber and increase +caster. Pressures are 32 all round. Perfect wear and handling.
Team Owner
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From: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
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All things considered, why would new tires cause the car to behave this way?
They're wider? No. Its because the edges are still sharp.
This is where the flat tread part curves/turns towards the sidewall.
Go out and carve some turns and knock those edges off.
They're wider? No. Its because the edges are still sharp.
This is where the flat tread part curves/turns towards the sidewall.
Go out and carve some turns and knock those edges off.
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Melting Slicks
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Put that in your moonbeam
and smoke it! 