Odd one here, My front tyres were very low, and when it was wet they were not inspiring much confidence. I dropped into a local garage, they didnt have my eagle F1's in stock, so said they would order them in (going up there later today to get them put on) and I asked if they would move the rears with 5mm on them to the front and the worn ones to the rear, as being front wheel drive, I value the grip upfront. (it was wet, and I had a long drive ahead) Once done, i drove out of the garage, and noticed that the steering wheel needs to be held a few degrees to the right to drive in a straight line?? I had a look online, and there are a lot of people complaining of the same thing.. I have checked pressures, and cant see anything physically wrong with the assembly at the front. I will be asking them to take a quick look when they new tyres are going on, but i find this very odd!! Any ideas OCUK?
Positive, I watched them do it, and was chatting to the guys as they did the work. Plus. i did'nt pay for anything, so i doubt they did my tracking for free
This, by the way, is not what you want to do. It's much more important, even on a front wheel drive car to have the grip at the back.
How come? I'd much rather have the rear end slide round than every time I touch the brakes have the car start sliding forward as it aqua-planes into the car in front.
The theory is that in a loss of control situation it's better to have the car remain pointing forwards than have the rear end aquaplane and end up spinning.
unevenly worn tyres can affect how a car tracks and follows camber on the road. you have moved tyres that have been worn a certain way from one wheel to another, and you can now feel the affect of it pulling the car to one side (or making it more sensitive to camber) when you get new tyres it will probably go back to normal, but it still might not be the same as with your old worn tyres
Well, I have barely scrubbed Goodyear Eagle F1's all round now So, the wear should not be an issue. Still got a wonky steering wheel though Im going to have a look at the suspension bushes at the front.
this. I would consider getting an alignment done. Only about 60 squid or so and the car usually ends up handling better too!
He is right, plus you do have brakes in the rear not just the front although I appreciate there may be a front brake bias
I agree with this. The rear tyres have worn to suit the rear of the car. In time they will wear to suit the front of the car and your steering wheel should return to somewhere near the middle. It is nothing to do with wheel balance (weights) if your wheels were out of balance you would feel vibration through the steering. Having your wheels aligned is a good idea, if the car is a few years old, however I would only recommend 4 wheel laser alignment which can be done at most good accident repair centres for around £80. Please don't confuse this with basic £20-£30 wheel alignment. It is money well spent if done by a reputable company with the correct equipment.
Yeah, I used to think that too, but when I put it into practice and lost control of my car during a simple every day braking manoeuvre at low speed I snapped back into reality pretty quick. In fact when that happened the rear slid out so fast it had become unrecoverable by the time I could react and I came really close to sliding out of control into the path of an oncoming car. Not fun at all, my advice from that day on is to NEVER run grippier tyres on the front. Oversteer is laugh when you are hooning and having fun, not so much when you lose control unexpectedly.
