Ok question for wheel/tire experts. When I purchased my Prodrives with Kumho MX almost a year ago, I never got an alignment but it drove perfect regardless. After getting new rear tires few months ago along with an alignment, my car's steering hasn't felt quite the same. All X-brace bolts were very loose so they're tightened up now and new lugs I had were replaced with Kyokugens which sat better. All wheels have been balanced as well. The problem is there's still a bit of tramlining on uneven pavement or ruts. Driving and braking on flat road is fine but when there are ruts or uneven pavement it slightly tracks and don't feel confident driving the car. Why is that? *Note: I have stock suspension and tire pressure even throughout. I have 45K miles on my car.

a)Uneven tirewear in front?
b)Alignment with loose X-brace bolts gave incorrect alignment readings since these bolts also hold steering/suspension components?



c)Shocks worn?
d)Other suspension hardware worn?

I'm going to order new front tires and get another alignment to see if it fixes the problem. Any clue guys?

 

Since you replaced your original tires with "non-OEM" ones, did you get the rears in a 245 size? If you got them the same numerical size as the OEM SO2s, then your rears are a bit too narrow and may explain why you are experiencing these traits.
However, that said, most of the hi-performance cars I've owned that have big fat tires on them, do tend to follow road irregularities normally anyways and the S2000 has been no different.

 

ED,
I have the MX's (they are almost toast) and I also experiencing this. Possibly related to the poor maintenance of our roadways in NorCal (Thanks CALTRANS ). Do you notice it more on some roads than others? Is it more prevalent at highway speeds? Do you notice that the tires are more worn on the inside than the outside?

As far as MX's are concerned, I am looking for a new tire. Are you switching to something else, or are you sticking with them?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
Since you replaced your original tires with "non-OEM" ones, did you get the rears in a 245 size?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Asura
ED,
I have the MX's (they are almost toast) and I also experiencing this.

 

Certain tread designs more prone to tramlining? Don't recall my SO2's or SO3's doing this.

 

What is the correct tire size stagger for aftermarket rims? Mine are 17x7.5 front(+48) and 17x8.5 rear(+54).

a)225/255
b)215/245
c)215/255

?

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/gen.../tramlining.htm

Take a look at the link. It gives a lot of good info.

Jim

 

You've got 20mm more tread width up front and about 10mm more in the back than stock. This "might" explain some of it. My stock Viper did the tramlining thing, as did my ZR-1 Vette. I attributed it to the fact that all of these cars utilized fairly wide tires for the weight and wheelbase of car, plus the low profile of the tires' aspect ratio.

If you take a look at the OEM setup on the '04, your wheel sizes are close (if not the same). The '04 uses (b).

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jim@tirerack
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/gen.../tramlining.htm

Take a look at the link.