marlinspike

I'm guessing you have the 18's? It depends what you're used to. Coming from my MB (205/70-14) to my parents' 996 with 18's it feels like a ton of tramlining. Coming from my brother's BMW (225/55-16) the 996 still has more but not nearly as strong a contrast.

DCP

Huh? I had mine aligned at an alignment shop.

AndyK

Wow, your dealer is cheap ($50 an hour)! In my area, 2 hours of dealer work would cost me way more.

evansaero

I guess you got screwed... J/K

Firestone, Tire America, the local Euro Shop that works on Porsches and also the race shop that only works on Porsches did not have the equipment to do the alignment.

I'm in Richmond, Va and don't know about local shop around you. After talking to all of the above I was told every time that the only place that has the right equipment was the dealer or race shop. The Race shop down here does it by hand and it takes most of the day doing it that way.

I will say one of a reg alignment shops attached to a gas station did say he could do it but he couldn't get me done in the time I needed so I called all the others above and now I believe the alignment shop was going to screw it up if I had gone with them. Hell Even Firestone said they don't have the right equipment.

evansaero

I don't think it took them 2 hours, thats how long I had to wait until I picked it up. It probably only took 30 min for the tech.

AndyK

My mechanic says to bring the car to STS - they have a new laser machine that will work on 996's. I thought STS was for Hondas--no? Is it better to pay another $100 to have the dealer do it, or am I being too ****?

evansaero

STS use the latest wheel alignent technology supplied by Hunter and should be fine

rcg412

How do you define "fights you" - i think everyone is talking about different things.

If you take your hands off the wheel and the car tracks straight, it is not an alighment issue. If the car goes to left or right, get an alignment.

But if you are talking about how if the highway dips slighly (say 10 deg angle to the left) and you keep the steering wheel to the right slightly (Like .1 to .25 of an inch) , that is normal for the car.

The steering is sharp, not mushy - it is very unforgiving.

AndyK

Good to know. But, that means I have to let an STS guy drive the car into the service area...

AndyK

Good point! On a flat, level stretch of new road, the car goes straight. Going 70 on the highway, where the road changes surfaces and levels due to repairs, etc, the car wants to dart left or right to follow the road irregularities. Know what I mean? So am I back to tramlining, which is normal?

Tippy

Tramlining is bad in Camaros and Corvetts for sure, the 996 is pretty good about not tramlining.

rcg412

Depending on how quick it jerks one way or other, and how quickly it resets to 0, it sounds totally normal.

I had it with my 01 and 03...

evansaero

You need an alignment

I had the same problem.

JimB

I'm sure most modern alignment shops have the equipment to work on a 996 but they may not want the hassle. There really isn't that much to it. I align my race cars (same basic suspension) in my garage. I'll probably do my street car next time to. It's actually sort of fun.

As for your car wandering a bit, remember, a stable car is a slow car. A car that wants to go straight doesn't want to turn.
Jim

AndyK

So, bottom line, it wouldn't hurt to get an alignment, and may help, but some tramlining / wandering is normal?