edit: problem solved, see post with car pic below.

'98 integra 3 door, bought it a couple months ago and now, right after i put the 205 16" performance tires/wheels on it the steering became all wonky.

It pulled steady left on the highway, but the real issue was <U>at lower speeds on uneven pavement, the steering is erratic</U>. It'll go left/right spontaneously, some times i have to moderately fight it to go straight. <U>Take my hand off the wheel and i can just watch it turn turn either way</U>, and sometimes not.

I got an allignment, didn't change anything, so i took it back and got it done again and asked for the specs, and this is the new sheet



Doesn't pull left as hard on the highway now, but its still a bit wonky on poor pavement. What could cause this?

1 crooked frame?
2 tire problems (i cross rotated the fronts already, tread looks good)?
3 crap Wheels?
4 mismatched camber/castor specs?
5 wrong model year alignment specs?

its drives smooth otherwise..

thanks,

d


Modified by daver at 7:32 PM 4/8/2008


Modified by daver at 7:34 PM 4/8/2008


Modified by daver at 7:34 PM 4/8/2008

 

Why is you caster messed up like that? An Integra should have around 1* on both sides, yet you only have 0 on the passenger side, and negative caster on the driver's side.

I only ask, because when I had an Ingalls camber kit up front with the sliding UCA bushings, I had wonky caster as well (low on one side and 0 on the other), and the car would wander all over the freeway. When I pulled those stupid things out, I installed a set of SPC UCAs, set the caster to 4*, and now have a very very stable car. Though, with the high caster setting, it does take a bit more effort to turn the steering wheel...

 

i don't know, the suspension is all stock. The previous owner had been in a smack up or two, so i'm wondering

 

you may be on to somthing tho, i've read that negative castor can create that condition while using radial tires, and you can see that the minimum castor is+0.2 degress and i'm below it. front end collision?

another possibility that i just looked up is wheel offset. i just put performance tires on, and thats when i noticed it....

"Why is offset important? When a car is designed, the suspension is configured in a certain way, which uses wheels with a certain offset. If this offset changes, then the distance between the mounting face and the centre of the wheel changes and this can affect the handling of the car. One situation is tram-lining, where the car wanders, following imperfections in the road surface, rather than running straight."

the bold text is exactly whats happening, going to experiment with other wheels tomorrow..

 

Problem solved. Tramlining was the problem. I first switched the front and rear wheels, which were different brands, and it was a bit better. Then i swapped some 195 15's onto the front and the tramlining is gone. So wide wheels with (i assume) excessive offset is not a good things on these cars. I hope this thread will help sombody else out.

EDIT: ok, the 15" heliums didn't eliminate the tramlining, but it helped it alot. Still likes to pull left on the highway, and the steering does a bit of nudging on rougher roads. However, swapping some stock steelies on completely eliminated the left pulling on the highway and all tramlining. Sooo...

From my research, stock integra wheels are a 45mm offset (+50 for itr), the konig heliums are 40mm and those nasty 16's i have are 38mm. For some reason, on my integra here, i doesn't like the wider offset wheels (as in lower offset #'s). On top of that, the actual tires used seem to have an influence. I've read that tires with a solid center rib tread seems to resist tramlining more. Other than that, i'll have to stay as close to stock offset as possible.

I'm surprised nobody here seems to know anything about tramlining. Am i the only one with it?



Modified by daver at 7:31 PM 4/8/2008


Modified by daver at 7:32 PM 4/8/2008

 

I would still find out why your car has such a messed up caster setting. Especially negative on one side, thats seriously not good.

My first guesses (and I am no expert) would be bent parts, or a shifted lower subframe. Since both sides are off, I'd check the subframe first.

 

yes its no doubt front end collision related before i bought it. The car had been fixed up, but i can tell there's still a wider hood gap. As long as it drives nice with the proper wheel offset, and doesn't abnormally wear the tires, i'll likely let it go. this car is no spring chicken.

 

My car has been hit in the front 2....
but my tyres dosent wear uneven, and car handles good still.


i heard that pulling the frame weakens the body.