TMc993

EDIT: Turns out my tire gauge was reading 5-6 pound high....Go figure. So, what I thought was mid-30s PSI was actually high 20s. New gauge + 6 pounds of air and all is well. Thanks again to all who reponded.

Terry

1997 NB Coupe - 80K miles - Bilsteins/M030 @ 53K miles - Walrod Bushings @ 72K miles - Stock otherwise.

I have a handling issue that has come on rather suddenly:

1. On straight roads, the car tends to "wander" almost as if there is a soft tire on the rear.

2. The car tracks with irregularities in the road, making for constant small steering adjustments. It feels as if a gust of wind has pushed the rear of the car sideways.

3. Downhill curves are "interesting" in that I go into the curve, everything feels fine, then as the inertia builds, even at moderate speeds, the rear of the car "falls" to the outside of curve, again as if the rear tire is soft.

The only thing that has changed on the car is that about a month ago, I replaced the rear tires with new tires of the same brand/size. The problem came on after about a week on the new tires. When it first started I thought the rear tires were overinflated, but that is not the case.

Could new rear tires (Only) cause the need for realigment?

Other things to look for?

Thanks,
Terry

No HTwo O

Get a quality shop to do an alignment that also understand kinematic toe adjustments.

Re-check tire pressures. 40 PSI is a pretty good starting point (36 up front). New tires need about 200-500 miles to scrub off the mold release.

How old are your fronts? If more than 5 years old, they should be replacd, too.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Sounds like the classic Kinematic toe issue.

I don't know where you live, but you need to find someone with the factory kinematic toe tool and get the car properly aligned.

Tires are a big issue, as well. Old tires do not work anymore and should be replaced.

TMc993

Thanks Guys,

I don' think it's tires...The front tires are maybe 18 months old, have 10-12K miles on them and have more than 60% of the tread on them. I usually wear out one set of fronts for every two sets of rears, so I'll cycle the fronts off in another 18 months/12K miles when the now-new rears wear out.

I'll get the car aligned....Was just surprised at how quickly the handling went away.

Thanks again,
Terry

SimonM_98

Not an expert by any means but what your describing is almost exactly what I experienced.

A few weeks back I had new Bilstein HDs , Walrod bushings, new set of rear tires and an alignment done all at the same time. I had it done by Dave Graff over at Borelli motorsports in San Jose who had aligned the car before and has a good rep on the board here.

When I got the car back it was exactly as you had described, wandering rear, felt like I had to over correct when just changing lanes, felt almost scarey first day driving home. Checked the alignment report , almost exactly the same as when it went into the shop. Looking around on the board here it sounded like new tires could produce the issue so I gave it awhile and indeed the car is much better now that I've put some miles on the new tires. Suprised me alot.

SkiDan

I had a similar problem which disappeared with new tires.