refresh951

Ever since I lowered my car about 1/2 inch and started running 255's on the front I have had a strange issue with alignment. The car wants to follow the road and only mildly self corrects coming out of a turn. It is not bad but noticeable. I have had it aligned at two different shops and the results were unchanged. I am running a standard alignment with 2.5 degree negative camber on the front and 2 degrees negative camber on the back. I am thinking I may try a bit more tow in on the front. Thoughts or input? TIA

Techno Duck

What is the caster set at? I always set mine maxed out. More caster means the wheels will center easier at the expense of higher steering effort.

Also tires can have a heavy influence on tramlining the road. My track wheels with Falken 615's are very bad with this, my street wheels with Conti summer tires are no issue.

Humboldtgrin

It's your tires!!!!

User 52121

+2

Might need more caster.

My 18s with Yoko AD-08s follow every rut, groove, and divot in the road. Need 2 hands on the wheel at all times. The 16" phone dials with el-cheapo Mastercraft all-seasons (who cares? Just for warm weather commuting!) are just fine with very little rut-following.

V2Rocket

+1

my old falken 512 and bfg-force sports would tramline bad...switched to falken 912s and it stopped following the ruts and lines.

my subaru's yoko geolandars tramline too, kind of weird feeling like the car is pivoting around you in a straight line.

Alan 91 C2

The caster is the big player with the wider tires. All driven by the tire contact patch, where the tire meets the road. It is a ratio of total patch size and how far in front of the theoretical center is within the contact patch. As you make the contact patch wider, there is more caster required.

Bill

I have an aggressive alignment coupled with spherical bearings and had the same issue. My problem was the wheel bearing preload was too loose which allowed the tire to follow irregularities in the road big time! Once I discovered this and tightened up the preload my problem was solved.

rlm328

What is your toe in the back?

refresh951

Great input! Thanks!

Looking at the following specs:

-2.5 Camber Front

-2.0 Camber Rear

Max Castor Front

0 Toe Front

1/16 - 1/8 Toe in the rear

cruise98

Is the 0" toe a static measurement?

refresh951

Yes

LUCKY DAVE

Street cars need some toe in to provide self centering. Without it the car will wander randomly. Fine for a track car, but.....

cruise98

I would add a little negative toe. These cars are prone to tramline with 18". Tires make a big difference, but it is amazing how sensitive they are to minor adjustments. Did Butler do your alignment?

refresh951

Thanks, how much would you recommend?

Butler did the last alignment. Went to a different Butler (Alpharetta) Saturday but they did not have the tool for the rear. Glad now because I ended up changing things.

LUCKY DAVE

I don't remember what the stock figure is, but I would crank in ~2mm and try it. It's easy to do at home.