OK, so we all know these tramline, but after 4,000 miles they are all over the road. When breaking it feels like the car is going to shoot off in any direction which is not the nicest of feelings. Driving along the M4 yesterday I could almost change lane. Whats wrong?

Tyre pressures are OK, nothing seems lose and steering is positive under power.

MY00, 16" wheels.

Any ideas?

not an expert, but sounds like geometry/tracking might be out. Could be badly balanced wheels as well.

I'm on my 5th set (more than 90k miles worth) of S-02s and I've never had a problem with them tramlining. First two sets were 205/50HR16 on a Legacy 4CAM, last three have been 215/45ZR17 on a Legacy RS.

Have you had the geometry modified on your car? Any mods to give you better turn-in, etc, will affect the way the car reacts to changes in road surface, joints in tarmac, white lines, etc.

Assume you're talking about S-02s and not RE-010s or other OEM cr@p http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by HunterB (edited 20 April 2001).]

The RE-010's tramline really badly.

The car drives straight and true, but at the 1000 mile service I did get the garage to align the steering wheel correctly so that level was driving straight not to the right. This was done with the tracking alignment. The car also feels very twitchy as if the power steering is too light.

Buzz

What's the tyre wear like on the fronts? Are the tyres wearing pretty much evenly across the tread width, or do you see any signs of scrubbing on either the inside or the outside edges? Depending on how enthusiatically you drive ( http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif ) you can expect to see more wear on the outside edges but incorrect alignment will show up initially as "feathering" of the tread, progressing to visible uneven wear. Any excessive wear on the inside edges is generally due to misalignment (unless you've had the full geometry done, in which case camber and castor settings can add to the problem).

Regardless, I'd be tempted to return to the garage and ask them to check the alignment. I prefer to run with the fronts parallel (rather than with any degree of toe-in or toe-out) because this gives me the best mileage out of the tyres without compromising the handling.

Brian

Buzz

Potenza is the family name given to most of the Bridgestone car tyre range. What is relevant is the model number - RE010, S02 etc.

Which one is yours?

How many miles has the car done?

Why did it have to have the steering realigned - accident/kerbing/pothole damage?

What pressures are you running? Are they checked on an accurate gauge? - (i.e. NOT the garage forecourt one).

We have two MY00's and have just replaced the OEM RE010's with 17" S02's - the RE010's tramlined badly, the S02's don't.

Hunter B
If you set a 4wd (or FWD) car up so the front toes parallel at static, it will toe in under power.....which is why most are set up to toe out static.

Dave T-S,

I know the theory (I'm on my 6th Subaru), but when the fronts were set to toe-out, even by 0.5 degree, the insides scrubbed nearly flat after less than 8k miles. With the fronts set parallel, I get between 16k and 20k (depending on whether I do any track days or not) from a set of S02PPs with even wear across the tread. Doing 35k miles a year, which equates to 2 sets of tyres a year @ around £520-610 a set, even wear is really important to me http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

Brian

They are RE010's. The ware looks OK, but with a little scrubbing on the outside walls from enthusiastic driving. Tyre pressures OK as well.

To give an idea of how it drives. Imagine cruising at 80mph along a motorway, all the time I have to correct the car, it never feels as if it's happy running in a straight line, very twitchy, but not requiring accessive in put from me but just enough to keep it true.

Also when breaking, sometimes it feels if it the care wishes to go left or right requiring in put from me to correct. It's also nervous on high speed bends where I know I could easily out drive it in something like a Puma.

I think maybe a trip to the dealer is in order.

Thanks for the input guys.

Buzz

buzz
The RE010's aren't that bad! You do seem to have a suspension geometry type problem and as you say a trip to the dealer is in order.

The fact that the steering wheel was out of line on what I presume from your posts is a 4000 mile car is the first suspect area to start.

Buzz, I'm in much the same situation as u, my00 5000 miles RE010's. Seemed to tramline more and more as the miles went on, had the geometry changed to prodrive settings last week and now it is even worse!

Yeah, it's a trip to the dealer I think. I'm sure it's getting worse as I clock up the miles. I checked the tyres again yesterday to look for anything suspicious, but can't see anything amiss ware wise. I've even checked the wheels /steering for any play - rock solid

It's a very strange feeling to drive a car like this. It's not pleasant at all and feels like the steering wheel is remote from the wheels.

I am also currently on RE10s and I also find that they tramline quite badly and are very twitchy compared to the Toyo Proxes I use to use. IMHO they are also very hard and noisey! The reason I went for these is because it was what most people on here recommended but I can tell you, as soon as these have died ill be going straight back to the Toyos!

I've got a MY00 5dr with the original RE010's and had had no tramlining problems to speak of. With the ruts caused by heavy lorries they do trasmline slightly but all feels fine upto 120mph (yet to go faster). If anything they tramline most at very slow speeds (10-30mph) on odd road surfaces.

They are at 8000 miles now and looking worn, though very evenly front/rear and across each tyre. I reckon I've got about 1000 miles left. These tyres are sensitive to low pressures but not so much high ones. I check them regularly and tend to run them at 32psi front and 31-33psi rear (it's a 5dr!). Go below 30psi and things start to feel strange so I'd check your gauge.

What do people recommend to replace them? I've got the original 16" wheels.

Rob

I've just changed from 15" Conti Eco Contacts to part warn 16" RE010s.

The two feel completely different!

The Conti's were very placid, whereas the RE010s tend to tramline quite a lot - especially on poor surface B-roads. However, the benefits of the lower profile mean that I will stick with these until they are worn out, and then get some SO-2s, which currently seem to be flavour of the month.

I guess the tramlining with the RE010s is due to the square shoulder of the tyre and the zero toe-in/out of the front wheels.

I switched from the original RE010s on a MY00 to Goodyear F1s at 10,000m and the abysmal tramlining I got from the RE010s disappeared entirely. I reckon it's a symptom of the RE010s as they wear out. The alignment was 0.5 degree out as well, mind, which I got changed to parallel. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the F1s (now 4,000 miles old)