Can someone help me explain this wheel problem?
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: peabody ma
Can someone help me explain this wheel problem?
I have a 97 coupe and when i first bought it 2 years ago I had z06 chrome rims put on it right away, I lowered it and all has been well. But the last 6 months I noticed that I have to keep my steering wheel turned to the right 2 inches to drive straight?? But if i drive on the free way or on any road and i let go of the wheel for a little my car still goes straight, It dosent pull to the left or the right. I then borrowed my friends z06 rims and the car drove perfect with the steering wheel perfectly straight?? I put my old rims back on and now im back to having it slightly to the right....Do you think one of my front rims are bent??
Also the wheel dosent viabrate either at high speeds. so im sure they dont need to be balanced.
Please help!
Martin
Also the wheel dosent viabrate either at high speeds. so im sure they dont need to be balanced.
Please help!
Martin
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
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From: Murphy TX
Could be one wheel is bent.
When was the last time you had an alignment? It does seem strange that it tracks straight without hands on the wheel - does the wheel center or stay right 2 inches?
When was the last time you had an alignment? It does seem strange that it tracks straight without hands on the wheel - does the wheel center or stay right 2 inches?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2000
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From: Wichita KS
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Sounds to me like it might be a bad tire , try swapping right front with left front and see if it still does it, or if you're steering wheel changes to being off to the left instead of the right. even though they are directional you can do this for a short time just to test it out. I don't think a bent wheel would do what you described.
let us know what you find out
let us know what you find out
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Gone
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St. Jude Donor '03
The lowering will do that, and it indicates a need for an alignment.
Mine did the same thing after lowering it. I didn't notice it when I just turned the bolts...but after I cut the bushings, it became obvious. Your car may have sagged some since you first lowered it, and the lower you go, the more pronounced the steering wheel will be off-center. This happens on most every vehicle when lowering or raising it. It's showing you the steering geometry is now different.
A bent/distorted wheel problem will almost always show up as a shimmy/wobble or vibration. You have an alignment issue.
Mine did the same thing after lowering it. I didn't notice it when I just turned the bolts...but after I cut the bushings, it became obvious. Your car may have sagged some since you first lowered it, and the lower you go, the more pronounced the steering wheel will be off-center. This happens on most every vehicle when lowering or raising it. It's showing you the steering geometry is now different.
A bent/distorted wheel problem will almost always show up as a shimmy/wobble or vibration. You have an alignment issue.
Last edited by Y2Kvert4me; Jul 15, 2004 at 05:45 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 1999
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From: Richmond Ca
Originally Posted by Y2Kvert4me
The lowering will do that, and it indicates a need for an alignment.
Race Director
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From: Gone
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St. Jude Donor '03
Originally Posted by wwashing
Since when he switched to his buddy's wheels and the problem went away, lowering would seem to be ruled out as a problem. The wheel switch isolates the problem to his wheels.
To explain this, I would ask if you've ever jacked your car up (for any reason), and noticed it didn't sit quite as low right after getting it off the jack and back on the ground? I know mine never does, and it usually takes several miles of driving before mine finally settles back into it's slammed position. Maybe my car is unique in this aspect, I don't know. But unless he drove several miles on his buddies wheels, it would explain why the condition might be lessened after jacking the car up to do a wheel swap.
I could be totally wrong in any and all of my troubleshooting guesses, I'm just relating experiences I've had with my own car(s), as it seems to be the same problem description.
Last edited by Y2Kvert4me; Jul 15, 2004 at 08:54 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: Making my plane take off from a treadmill
Here is an Engineers explanation:
This is normal depending on the conditions of the road. roads are not flat, standard is a 2% grade required for proper drainage. if a lane of traffic is 12' wide the diffrance from one white line to the other will be 2.88 inches in height. in areas with heavy rain it can be as much as 4%(thats almost 6" difrance) .
Another variable in the equation is traffic and road surface. If there is heavy commercial type traffic the roadways begin to form ruts and groves where the trucks drive. Concrete is more resiliant to forming these ruts as it has 4000 psi compression strenght.
i have 1 '04 with 7k miles on it and had my steering aligned when i lowered my car but it continues to be slightly off. on some roads i'ts dead even and other it's as much as 5 degrees off. it's the nature of our great roadways....
This is normal depending on the conditions of the road. roads are not flat, standard is a 2% grade required for proper drainage. if a lane of traffic is 12' wide the diffrance from one white line to the other will be 2.88 inches in height. in areas with heavy rain it can be as much as 4%(thats almost 6" difrance) .
Another variable in the equation is traffic and road surface. If there is heavy commercial type traffic the roadways begin to form ruts and groves where the trucks drive. Concrete is more resiliant to forming these ruts as it has 4000 psi compression strenght.
i have 1 '04 with 7k miles on it and had my steering aligned when i lowered my car but it continues to be slightly off. on some roads i'ts dead even and other it's as much as 5 degrees off. it's the nature of our great roadways....
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: peabody ma
thanks for all the answers guys, im gonna get my wheels checked out at rimpro in Mass in a week, if they find nothing wrong ill try the realinement at my local tire shop. There has to be something wrong.....because when I used my friends wheels/tires I drove from ECS in NJ all the way to MA and they worked perfect. Ill keep you guys updated! thanks for the input, and more advice from anyone would be great too!
Martin
Martin
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Racer
Joined: Aug 1999
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I bet its your tires. I noticed on my old RX-7 that different brands of tires would do that, they seem to pull in different directions. Buy the same tires as your friend and your problems will go away.. unless YOUR tires are worn asymetrically, swapping side to side like someone suggested might show you the answer.
Gary
Gary