anyone else have this issue?

[Former Member]

I have my summer wheels and tires which are 17" rims with 245/45 tires. My stock wheels are the stock 16's with 205's (noticeably lighter then the 17's as well). Anyways on the highway with the summer 17's the car is just unpredictable lol, it finds ruts in the road i guess and just wants to dig into them, so when it finds them it literally jumps into them. If you arnt paying attention i swear it could end up in a wreck at speeds of 70mph.

i put the stock 16's back on and all is normal. rides perfect, doesnt find road grooves as much. switching lanes is ALOT more easy to do.

Is this normal for a wider aftermarket rim/tire? This is my first set of non factory wheels ive owned. i thought LS's came with 245's on the stock 17's? maybe its 225's? I cant imagine having stock 17's with 245's and my car acting that way.

I also need a new center cap so my car doesnt look like a hoopty lol.

 

[rainjacks]

It is almost definitely the tires not the wheels. How many miles on your 17" tires? Once they wear down a bit the tracking should improve. Some tire brands do it worse than others.

 

[Former Member]

well the rear tires were brand new nankangs that had maybe 100 miles on em. they came off an E500 at work that a guy put on just to get more for trade in value, he literally drove from the tire store to the dealership. i got them for free haha. The fronts how ever are/were underspec'd bf goodrich gfroce traction t/a's and they came off a car that had the thread worn funny, it had the wavey uneven feel when you ran your hand over it. (you guys know me and my used tires!!). I was planning on buying new front tires, brand new next season. I guess ill have to just wait till then and see what happens. i knew the fronts werent worn right, but i got them for free. I ecpected steering wheel vibration, i didnt know that could cause the car to drive that way as well.

 

[Jim Henderson]

Hmmm, the Nankangs have a questionable reputation on other websites I have visited. One big problem is fictitious mfg dates on the sidewall. Lots of nasty reviews.

I am surprised the guy put them on a E500 to raise trade in value. These tires are about the bottom of the pile as far as price. Other than being black and new, they wouldn't raise value to anyone who halfway knew tires.

Anyway... probably is the tires. If not then you might have a closer look at alignment. Mention your problem to the technician and he can probably adjust the aligment to minimize the tire jumping around.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

[Ls208]

i had a set of nankangs on a set of 20s i used to have, they did that exact same thing when i would drive on the interstate. i always thought it was the weight of the rims as well but when i got a new set of dunlops then everything was perfect after that. definitely could be a tire issue.

 

[JWerner2]

Whats the side wall? I have 235/35's NEXEN not Nankang and I feel this in some situations but I think its do to a lower stiffer sidewall. I also felt this with top line Toyo Proxes T1R's.


My stockers with factory spec tires have no issues.

 

[GaryZ]

You may need to re-set your front end alignment when running the wider tires. Wide tires can move the weight center out-board. This causes a positive change in camber. Positive camber helps in the corners and wanders on straight roads. I would also play with tow-in. Start with 1/16" tow-in and test drive. Add more and test drive.

 

[Former Member]

well the car is lowered. so if anything the camber is still negative.

I got an alignment done with these tires. Ive also checked all my tie rods and swaybar ends and bushings. there is zero play in the wheels up down or side to side or left to right.

the sidewall is a 45...245/45/17, i think the 205's are 205/60/16. the stock 16's do have a better tire on them, Yokohama AVID trz all seasons that i purchased new.

Im gonna guess its the tires, i may buy 4 new ones but go with a 225 over a 245. maybe that will cut down on it as well. part of me wants to just return the car to stock though.

 

[GaryZ]

The problem could still be alignment because 99% of the shops will only align to factory specs (liability issue) and the factory specs may not work for your wheel/tire combination. I have put bigger tires on every car I have ever owned. About a third of them were not happy with the big tires and factory alignment. The symptom is always what you described . . . Follows road surface, wanders on the highway, etc.

I finally bought an alignment tool from Summit Racing and now I try to do my own alignments. I have been successful, so far.

BTW, lowering will affect caster and often add positive camber.

 

[Former Member]

ill be honest with you, i think what you call positive camber, the rest of the world calls negative camber lol. the rest of what you say makes sense though. i could see maybe 20's creating positive camber on a lowered car. but going from 16's to 17's shouldnt create anything over zero camber at the most. also, the way you explained "positive camber" as "being awesome for turns" leads me to beleive you just got mixed up.

 

[cmack]

New tires next year and you should be ok

 

[GaryZ]

ill be honest with you, i think what you call positive camber, the rest of the world calls negative camber lol. the rest of what you say makes sense though. i could see maybe 20's creating positive camber on a lowered car. but going from 16's to 17's shouldnt create anything over zero camber at the most. also, the way you explained "positive camber" as "being awesome for turns" leads me to beleive you just got mixed up.


Yes, I got it backwards again . . .
However, the total effect of the 17 vs 16 wheel depends on the 17" wheel (is it wider/offset?) and tire selection (tire width). Should the wheel/tire combo widen the track, the camber can go negative (did I get it right this time?).

As I said before, most shops will only align to factory specs and factory specs may not work for this combination.

Of course all of this could be an informative discussion if the problem is actually a poor set of tires

 

[JWerner2]

Are your 17's the same width as factory 17's?

If so just get the same size tire recommended for factory 17"ers.

I guarantee its sidewall stiffness, let some air out and provide more cushion and see what happens. Like I said, I felt it with Toyos but those were low pro also.

 

[Former Member]

eh, ill figure it out next year. im not sure what the offset is compared to stock rims. ill just try some 225's if i dont sell them and put my car back to stock height.