Grant314

I drive an '06 xA that I've had for a little less than a year now. About 2 weeks ago I installed some Tanabe NF210 lowering springs. I am coming up on my first round of scheduled maintenance so I figured I would wait a few weeks for the springs to settle and get my new wheels/tires on before I had the alignment checked during my scheduled maintenance. Well, after lowering and still running on stock wheels I did not notice anything wrong alignment wise (no drift or pull). This past weekend I received and installed 16" Konig Incidents with 205/50/16 Kumho Ecsta AST tires already mounted/balanced (wheels wider and 1 inch larger than stock though overall radius of wheel/tire only about 1.5% different than stock, and they are directional tires). I made sure tire pressure was even at 30lb all around. On the first drive after installing the wheels/tires I immediately experienced a pull to the right, much more noticeable at lower speeds (below 45mph) and becomes a little less noticeable at highway speeds but is still there. I rechecked tire pressure, and rotated the two wheels on the passenger side to see if this would make a difference, it did not. Its not a steering wheel centering issue, I actually feel the steering wheel trying to turn to the right and when driving its easier to turn the wheel right than to turn it left. My questions are:
1) Could the alignment have been off due to lowering and I am only noticing it now with the wider wheels/tires?
2) Do wider wheels/tires affect suspension geometry?
3) Does this sound like a tire issue since I didn't have any problems before installing the new wheels/tires?
4) Will this be complicated for the dealer to address since I have aftermarket springs/wheels?

I'm bringing it in for maintenance/alignment check tomorrow and just wanted to be prepared to deal with the service guys.

Thanks

Djicey702

What's up bro, lets see if we can get these questions answered for ya.

1) Could the alignment have been off due to lowering and I am only noticing it now with the wider wheels/tires? It is mandatory to have the vehicle aligned after installing springs that lower your car. It may also be a coincidence that the vehicle is now drifting to one side after the new rims and tires, but it is very likely to be a radial pull.

2) Do wider wheels/tires affect suspension geometry? Yes

3) Does this sound like a tire issue since I didn't have any problems before installing the new wheels/tires? You must have an alignment first, before determining any potential tire problem.

4) Will this be complicated for the dealer to address since I have after market springs/wheels? No, it should not be a problem for the dealer to do an alignment on your car. At least with the dealership, there is more recourse if they scratch your rims from the alignment heads. After you have the car aligned and it still pulls, then you go back to the place you purchased the rims/tires. A radial pull is no big deal and it is easy to fix assuming the tires are good quality.

Also, I would recommend more air in your tires, at least 34psi.

good luck bro

Grant314

How would a shop diagnose/repair radial pull?
Why do you recommend 34psi? I kept it at 30 since the door sticker indicates 29 and I want to maintain the most comfortable ride possible.

Thanks for the answers, I appreciate it.

Djicey702

A shop can diagnose a radial pull by first doing an alignment, then if it is not improved at all they rotate or in some cases cross the two front tires just to see if it tire related, and if possible, they may even have to install different tires just to confirm.
Also, I have found the recommended factory tire pressure to be inadequate because of premature tire wear (in most cases depending on altitude). Since you no longer have factory rims/tires on your car now things are a little different.

I have a Tc with 225/40 18"s and I keep 35-36psi with nitrogen and my car is lowered too. My tires are wearing great. If I were to inflated the tires to the recommended tire pressure I would be like all the other people out there complaining that these Pirelli tires are crap.

Here is the Key thing you need to keep in mind....
Too much tire pressure- will cause your tires to wear excessively in the middle of the tread.
Not enough tire pressure- will cause excessive tire wear on the outer edges of the tread.

Most front wheel drive cars normally have excessive tire wear on the outer edges of the front tires, but I have seen this improved by installing lowering springs believe it or not.

One last thing, since you now have directional tires, you might just be experiencing the tires pulling you into the crown of the road if applicable. Directional tires help with the performance/ tracking ability of the tires which helps in performance just a bit.

Grant314

My alignment was "all in the red" when they checked it, which they fixed. They said that "everything else is OK." Just got my car back yesterday and still noticed some pulling occasionally on the drive home. Now that you mentioned "crown" in the road I'm starting to think its the road conditions that are causing me to feel pull in either direction in my steering wheel. On really crappy bumpy roads, I will feel the steering wheel want to go in a certain direction for a few moments an then the pull will go away. Sometimes feel it when I am braking to come up on a stop light on some uneven pavement. On the highway, if i am in the right lane, I sometimes feel the steering wheel wanting to go right. If I am in the left lane, the car wants to go left. It didn't help that it has been windy as hell around here lately and my car weighs like 2 lbs. I just know that before I put these 16s on my car I didn't notice any of this. Does the wider wheel and type of tire really make that big of a difference in how the steering feels? I paid Discount Tire Direct an extra $40 to perform their "Ride Match" service when I ordered my package so I am assuming that any imperfections in the tires would have been noticed at that pont. Maybe I just need to get used to these wheels/tires. How do directional tires affect the "feel" of driving? more sensitive to the road or what? Are wider/lighter wheels more sensitive to road conditions?

Grant314

Well, I took Icey's advice and increased my tire pressure to 36psi. Ride quality increased, and the tracking issues (see above) went away almost completely. Maybe this is common sense stuff to some of you guys on here, but I had no clue that an extra 6 or 7 psi could make that big of a difference in handling and road feel. Thanks again.

scionscioff

The pulling you are referring to on bumpy roads is called bump steer and is common on lowered cars it happens when the tie rods are not at an optimum angle to the steering rack . The only way to fix this is to use offset bushings for your steering rack mounts

Grant314

Thanks for the info scioff, but I am curious as to why I did not notice any bump steer after lowering and still on stock wheels. It was only after I put on my new 16s with a wider tire that I noticed it.

Philthy

I notice it on wider tires as well. On both my xA and my old BMW. I have wider, nicer summer wheels and tires, and skinny knobby tires for winter. Both cars have that annoying "pull" sometimes when slowing down, or going over weird roads. But not with the skinny winter wheels on.

Grant314

For my next set of tires on these 16s I think I will try and go 195/55/16 instead of 205/50/16. That was one of the available tire options for these wheels, and I read a post on another forum from someone with the exact same issues and the same tire size I currently have. He swore he would never again use 205/50 on his 16" wheels, and that 195/55 made for a much smoother and more comfortable ride with much less tracking/bump steer. Based on his and your experience, I think 195/55/16 is worth a try. I don't drive like a madman around corners, so I don't think I'll miss the extra traction of the wider contact patch.

badbasic

it may also be what is called torque steer. the driveshafts r not the same length hence one side delivers more power. couple that with the fact that most replacement tires r wider than stock only compound the problem.

JordanOfGilead

It makes all the difference in the world. My civic with 195 all-weathers doesn't pull at all, but the genesis coupe that I used to have had 245 directional summers in the back and 225 in the front and would pull, sometimes really hard, if there was an angle to the road or if I wasn't centered on grooves created by big trucks. Pull is normal with wide tires, just be aware of the road conditions and try to find a flat, freshly-paved road near you to check for pull if you start to lose confidence in it being caused by road conditions.