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Car Handling


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I had my car serviced around 3 weeks ago, and ever since, it has been handling really badly. They told me at the time that 3 tyres have worn along the inside edge and in about 1000 miles replace them, and also have the wheels alignment checked. They also replaced the ball joints, saying there was a little play in them (is it normal for a 2 and a bit year old car?).

Anyway, ever since then, the car seems to be sliding all over the place, it spins its wheels everywhere (even on half throttle, when it would previously would not at all), and is generally unsettled. However, this has all coincided with the change in weather and road conditions.

What I'd like to know is if I change the tyres and have the alignment checked, will this all go back to normal (i.e. is it just the bad road conditions)? Or is there some other problem? Could they have done something wrong with the suspension?

Sorry about the long post, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Spooky. I had my 50k service on Monday and ever since I've had the car back, I seem to have little grip in my front wheels. Go round a tight bend and can feel the car about to slip or when turning the wheel, seems incrediably easier to turn than before Monday.

They did mention tread getting low on tyres but only on the rears. And besides, low tread normally means steering is heavier, not lighter!!

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Have they altered your tyre pressures at all? They are buggers for changing them to 'factory' which doesn't suit everyone. That could effect your grip quite a lot.

Wearing on the edges of tyres is very common with under-inflation.. check if both the inner and out egdes are worn, it might not be your alignment

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Thanks for the replies.

Have they altered your tyre pressures at all?

Will check to see if they have done that, although I always have them set at the values on the sticker on the driver's door sill, they wouldn't have used pressures different to those would they?

Swapped wheels front to back ??

They didn't do anything to the wheels. They were originally going to do an alignment because all the tyres are worn on the inside edge but then as they'll need to be replaced soon, they didn't to save having it done for a second time when the tyres are replaced.

So as the wheels are putting more pressure on their inside edge, is it likely that the reduced grip is caused by the smaller footprint on the road coupled with the more slippery conditions?

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Are they repairing or damaging our cars? Interesting, after changing steering ?booster? belt i could feel some looseness and vibration in the steering wheel, but they said it was ballancing. Been there, done that. Even changes to winter tyres, now it is horrible. It is swimming on the road. Vibration is even stronger. I though maybe it is because of warped discs? Vibration is very strong when i push the brakes pedal a little bit and try to turn left or right fast. Any ideas? I have to say it started after changing belt!

Tyres pressure influences handling a lot! even one atmosphere changes quality and hardness of driving! Hardest thing is to have correct pressure, because all pomps show different value :blink:

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I doubt they would have done something to your suspension mate - unless the change of balls joints require this to be touched?

As yours is still under warranty, your probably better off taking it back to them and asking them to check it.

I think the change of tyres and alignment checks will help, because I read somewhere here that normal tyres under 2mm lose their required performance in this weather.

I'm in the same position as you, the bridgestones at the back are about 1.9mm and they just spin even at half throttle..

Not sure if anything I just said helped :blink:

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I doubt they would have done something to your suspension mate - unless the change of balls joints require this to be touched?

To be honest, I'm not sure what the ball joints are or where they are :blink:

Just looked over my service report again, and it says one rear tyre is 2/3/5mm and the other is 5/5/5mm. The two worst tyres are the fronts and I've got no problems with front end grip :duh:

Anyway, just think I'll check the pressures, and then change the tyres and alignment and see where that takes me.

By the way, how reliable are the reviews on tirerack.com? They claim that the Dunlops are the best compromise between high performance and comfort, so think I better stick with them.

Anyone know where I can get the Lexus Dunlop 9000s? Spoke to the people I normally use and they can't get any?

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Thats a really bad waist of a tyre..

Yeah tell me about it. One of the fronts is 1/4/5mm (I'm guessing they rounded down cos otherwise that ones illegal :huh: )

I think I'm going to have my alignment checked more regularly from now on. Although, I only very recently had all the alloys replaced due to corrosion, I hope they didn't mess up the alignment when they did that

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That wouldn't have messed your alignment up, as they would have just removed your tyres from the original wheels and balanced them onto the new ones.

5mm would last you a fair few miles, I think I'll be checking mine on a regular too!

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5mm would last you a fair few miles, I think I'll be checking mine on a regular too!

Yeah that tyre's been on the car since new, so its done 22000 miles or so, and would prob be ready to do at least another 5-10K.

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Thats really good going compared to some of the miles people have had to change theirs..did I see 8000 somewhere?!

Mines done 24k on the rear bridgestones, think I should get to 30k..."he says... :blush: "

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Thats really good going compared to some of the miles people have had to change theirs..did I see 8000 somewhere?!

Yeah think its cos I do most of my driving around town so tyres aren't getting too hot to lose rubber :unsure:

Mines done 24k on the rear bridgestones, think I should get to 30k..."he says...  "

Didn't you say it was down to 1.9mm already? Another 6k? Well those will probably be some lively miles.... :driving: ...... :sick:

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lol... I knew you'd be pick up on it!

It'll be a good excuse to try and get some more miles out of a tank. :shifty: The car just seems to be soo thirsty on Optimax, I've been running on it for the past three months - would've thought the ECU would have learnt by now!

Think I'll reset it and see if it makes a difference.

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It'll be a good excuse to try and get some more miles out of a tank.  The car just seems to be soo thirsty on Optimax, I've been running on it for the past three months - would've thought the ECU would have learnt by now!

Yeah I used optimax for ages before I finally gave up cos it was way too expensive, and the fuel consumption was worse :huh: Think it only works if you mostly use motorways :yawn:

Dunlop 9000Sport are very good tyres, i use them and only them, they are quiet and stands good on the road. If you find them, buy with no doubt!

I was considering switching to Eagle F1s, but the current level of road noise is the maximum I can live with, so think I'll stick. Now just got to find the tyres somewhere..... :winky:

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Possibly tyre pressures, as they change when the temperature outside gets colder

Well I checked the pressures, and one of the rears was way off (26psi instead of 33!) Hopefully that improves things till I get the tyres replaced.

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