I have a civic LX...bought 4 brand new tires at Sams Club...Goodrich tires....and supposedly the guys balanced the tires....but when i drive, i feel like the tires almost "slip". My tires are aligned, they stay straight on the road...but i feel like the tires drift off to a side. I don't know if this makes sense, buit does this sound like a balancing issue or something else?
2007-09-04 15:26:48 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Sam's Club doesn't do alignments so its a good bet you have not actually had that checked. I would do that first. Even if it "feels" OK the total range of allowable toe adjustment is the front for example is all of 2/10th of 1 degree - I guarantee it can be WAY OFF from that and will FEEL fine.
Of course make sure your tire pressures are set EXACTLY AT WHAT HONDA RECOMMENDS. The guys at Sam's Club are not really tire people. Sometimes they do stupid things like set every car at 35 psi. Honda engineered your Civic to work best at the tire pressures that are printed on the Vehicle Information Tag inside the drivers door frame. Follow those recommendations. Whatever you do, don't follow the first guys advice and inflate to within 5 psi of the tires maximum rating. Such advice displays a severe ignorance of how tires are rated in the first place - but that would take a long time to explain. Honda came up with its inflation pressure recommendations after hundreds of thousands of miles of track testing and maticulous calculations based on the vehicles load carrying requirements. That first guy pulled his theory out of his hindquarters with no basis in science or good engineering. Honda's in particular are very sensitive to running the correct tire pressures. I personally have cured countless Honda drivability problems by simply bringing the tires up or down to the correct Honda recommended inflation pressure.
If all of that checks out you may have what is called a "radial pull" that causes the vehicle to drift to one side. Cross-rotate the front tires and see if this drift changes to the other direction or goes away. If it changes, you have your answer. Its the tires.
What you do not have is a balance issue. Improper tire balance will cause a vibration at highway speeds, that is all.
ASE, Bridgstone/Firestone and Michelin/BF Goodrich certified Automotive Service Manager
2007-09-04 15:53:59 · answer #1 · answered by Naughtums 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
New tires always make a car feel a little weird at first, but if you are experiencing pulling, your car may be out of alignment.
The reason that the new tires seem to have created this problem is because the old tires eventually gave in to the improper alignment of the car and wore themselves out unevenly.
The new tires magnify a suspension or alignment problem because they are straight and true. Before you risk ruining your expensive new tires, I would recommend having a 4 wheel alignment performed.
2007-09-04 22:46:04 · answer #2 · answered by Ian 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds more like alignment, could be tire pressure but alignment is the best bet.
2007-09-05 05:56:59 · answer #3 · answered by sidecar0 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You went from round surface waren tires to flat surface new tire the handling will fell strange till they ware in >If it real bad than go back and ask them some tire are not some cars>They are
2007-09-04 22:36:04 · answer #4 · answered by 45 auto 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Wrong tire pressure.... check the max pressure on the side of the tire, no the sticker inside the door..... on the tire..... fill to within 5 pounds of the max, the guy filled your tires to what the sticker said and you dont have enough air.
2007-09-04 22:35:24 · answer #5 · answered by Stampy Skunk 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋