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Yes here in Kentucky are roads are complete crap!! Pothole city!!! But on these uneven highways we have here my car seems to want to go any direction other than the wheel is initially facing. NOT GOOD!! Do my tires need balanced or is this frequent?
If it suddenly takes off in either direction with no input from you I would have the alignment checked. Our roads here in northern Utah are a mess all year around. With the negative camber we run the Vette actually holds it's line pretty good. Later! Frank
Yes here in Kentucky are roads are complete crap!! Pothole city!!! But on these uneven highways we have here my car seems to want to go any direction other than the wheel is initially facing. NOT GOOD!! Do my tires need balanced or is this frequent?
Might wanna start by having all the steering linkages properly tightened up.
Yeah, I wondered the same things when I got my vette. Finally figured out that with the really wide tires and extremely sensitive handling I just needed to :
a) try and avoid roads that had deep ruts worn into them and
b) drive with a lighter hand
This is not to say that having the alignment checked isn't a good idea but that may not be the problem.
Sounds like your talking about tramaling...there are several posts about the subject here on the forum. If I recall correctly..several members mentioned certain tires were more prone then others but I don't recall which ones. It's worth a look.
Try Illinois roads. In all my travels over the years, I have not found worse. I go through Kentucky at least once a year. A couple of times each in the last two years. Once was on a motorcycle tour. All of the roads that I encountered were far better than Illinois.
There is a certain patch of freeway on the way to my office that when I hit the "groove" while in the 2 lane from the center of the freeway the tires seem to get stuck in it and just goes it course unless I fight the wheel to keep the car on track.
Try Illinois roads. In all my travels over the years, I have not found worse. I go through Kentucky at least once a year. A couple of times each in the last two years. Once was on a motorcycle tour. All of the roads that I encountered were far better than Illinois.
I picked up my Corvette from MacMulkin in NH. I drove it home, over 1100 miles. I couldn't believe how supple the suspension was over the first 1000 miles, all my fears of the C6 suspension being to harsh were all for not, I thought. Then I crossed the Indiana/Illinois border. It felt like I was driving on the surface of the moon. Oh well, it could be worse, at least I got the F55. If I lived somewhere that had nice roads I'd be driving a Z06.
I believe the majority of those symptoms are caused by the extremely rigid sidewalls on the run flat GY's. Those annoyances almost completely disappeared when I switched to non run flats this year. I doubt it was a simple coincidence when the GY's were replaced.....
Shocks may be an issue too. I know my Z-51 tries to jump sideways over expantion joints when taking curves at high speed. I think one of my next mods is going to be Bilsteins or Koni's to give the car a little more road manners.
with the stance of the car, width of the tires and the "ruts" in the roads, you will find yourself fighting the wheel.. it's normal.. get used to it.. especially as the tires become worn they seem to wander more and more.
I usually get a 4-whell alignment every 10K, helps keep the wear on the tires even and prolongs the tire life..
i doubt anyone can have worse roads than we do up here in the mountains of southern california. we have huge ruts in the lanes where the snow chains have worn the pavement away. in certain sections everyone looks like a drunk going down the road weaving from side to side.
St. Jude Donor '13,'14,'15,'16,'18,'19-'20,'22,'24
Originally Posted by Wildmanht
There is a certain patch of freeway on the way to my office that when I hit the "groove" while in the 2 lane from the center of the freeway the tires seem to get stuck in it and just goes it course unless I fight the wheel to keep the car on track.
If you have too much rear toe in the back end will mover from side to side as you go over a severely bumpy road. Last winter when I took my Z out for a drive and went down the street from my house the back end of the car would move from side to side on the frost heaved street. Since then I cut back on rear toe in and the car is more stable on uneven roads. Still a very hard ride but at least it goes straight now.
A little front toe in will calm down the tramlining on rutted surfaces.
I believe the majority of those symptoms are caused by the extremely rigid sidewalls on the run flat GY's. Those annoyances almost completely disappeared when I switched to non run flats this year. I doubt it was a simple coincidence when the GY's were replaced.....
When I switched to non runflats, tramlining was eliminated.
I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the vehicle, it is just the tires and the characteristics of the vehicle. I just bought a 2010 Camaro SS and my drive to work is what you're experiencing now. Previously my drive consisted of what I thought was a normal drive. Now, with the Camaro, every little rut and imperfection on the road draws my tires in and it is taking some getting used to. I went from 17" wheels and tires to 20" so I think the size of the tire may have something to do with it.
__________________ Phone: 484-334-8833 Owner of CULTRAG Performance
01-29-2011, 09:45 PM
My Vette hates UNEVEN roads!!
It's money very well spent each spring.
