Understeer after new wheels
 

A few months back I bought a new set of wheels, the old bronze xxr 527's 18x8 +42, and I had them installed by Firestone since I have their lifetime alignment, with new 225/40r-18 Raptor tires.

I did notice, however, that after installing these wheels with the new alignment the car started to understeer a little. It feels very heavy at the end of the turn, and it just doesn't turn as much.

At the time of, the rep who worked with me said he expected to see some 5mm spacers with the wheels and asked if I had them, to which I said no, of course, since my own research brought me to believe I did not need them.

So:
1) Should I have gotten wheel spacers with the new wheels?
2) If not, did they simply not align them correctly?
3) What could be some causes for this effect?
4) Did I dun goofd?

I'll probably end up going back to Firestone to have it re-aligned, but assuming everything was aligned to be squared off and everything else is fine, should I request some custom alignment?

At times like these I hate how helpless I am.

No suspension mods, by the way.

Check the simple stuff first...
Tyre fitment look good. Tyre pressure good. Then alignment.

:slap: ........ snap out of it.

I'd suggest you have the car aligned again ...... tell them you don't like understeer.

If that don't work ....... :slap: ...... it's in your head .......they are different tires.

:D


humfrz

Hahah I wish. I remember being able to get another full turn out of the steering wheel with the stock tires.

I'll be taking her there again, just wanted to have a plan this time.

"I remember being able to get another full turn out of the steering wheel with the stock tires"

Yea, there's something quite wrong if you're not able to get as much steering angle as you used to.

I may be wrong, but I believe you are misusing the turn "understeer." Understeer is when you try to go around a corned and the car keeps going straight because the wheels are sliding sideways.

If you mean to say that the steering wheel won't turn as far as it used to, something's up.

Would be helpful if you can post the allignmemt specs

@Teseo beat me to it. Scan the alignment sheet show us whatcha got

Maybe for some reason steering angle was intentionally reduced to not rub? But it involves adding shims to steering mechanism, first time hearing that any shop doing wheel install/swap would touch that.

Or tires did not broken in or allignment is shitty

No, that's exactly what it does, but the way I mentioned is what it feels like in practice.

I don't have a copy of my last one, so I'll get it re-aligned this week and I'll drop it in here once I do. I don't know if they keep digital copies of previous alignments, but it won't hurt to ask.

I'll be back.


That's why I wanted to give it a few thousand miles before saying anything.

http://i.imgur.com/P16I6Eb.jpg

Here you go. I was told the tire wear was a little uneven so that's why the numbers aren't the same on both sides.

I will say the car steers a lot better now. It doesn't feel like it's trying to keep me going straight when taking fast turns.

Judging by the numbers before alignment, can anyone tell me why it was happening?

Oh the old uneven tires excuse for not nitpicking the alignment. Hahaha

Hint: Always look for the yellow or red on alignment reports.

Your front toe was off pushing the limit and the steer ahead was off so the front wheels were actually fighting each other a bit.

Thanks. Sometimes a different lingo is necessary for me to finally get it. You hit the nail for me on this one.

Now, going off on what the guy said above, should I tell them I expect the same numbers on both sides next time?