watchdogd

For the last three months I have been complaining to the dealerships about how my car has a tendency to have an ever so light drift to the right and more importantly an uneven steering feel where the left returns perfectly to center but when turning to the right it does not.

I have had the tires checked for uneven wear, balance, and have had the alignment checked "Four times!!" Three by the three different dealerships and then another by a specialist shop. All of them say the specs are fine which I believe.

I decided to swap the fronts a few months ago and after driving i thought that was the problem. So I replaced the two front tires with the stock 050's, and then it still did it with the new front tires.

I then had it back at the dealership again after opening a case with Customer Relations where they looked at the rack, checked to see if the car needed a road force adjustment, and many other technical things that I am not familar with.

After all of that, they could NOT find anything wrong and said the car was within spec.

So this morning I decided for the hell of it to cross swap the Rear tires. And now the damn thing drives like a champ!!!

There is no uneven wear, there is about 25-30% life left but they look absolutely fine otherwise.

I have NOT swapped them back so yes the rears are in the wrong direction but I wanted to make sure I wasn't experiencing any placebo effect by making the change. ANd i like the way it drives now.

So what would cause the rear tires to do this, and Can I leave the rears pointing in the wrong direction until they wear out ?

I will no buy Bridgestone again, and would like to know if this is a common characteristic of low profile directional tires ?

Is there a non-directional tire I can get incase this happens again ?

After three months of aggrivation and 5 trips to the dealerships and other shops, I finally find out it was the tires all along.

Any thoughs and insights are appreciated....

TJF

The symptoms you have cited would have nothing to do with tires and everything to do with alignment.

watchdogd

So if that is the case then how could the alignment keep falling in specs. I have printouts from two different places to verify and have compared them to other users that have posted on the forums ?

Plus now that the tires in the rear are on opposite sides and the car drives fine is it something in the weight of the tires on each side then ?

TB

Not saying I don't believe you, but that doesn't sound right to me. I hate to say it, but it does sound like a placebo effect. Also, I'm not so sure you should call the problem solved when you're running tires in a manner other than designed.

I would say the only way to truly blame the tires is to simply buy a new set of another brand. Worst case, it does turn out to be the tires and you have a set of Bridgestones for sale.

Good luck, let us know the outcome...

watchdogd

[QUOTE=TB,Oct 14 2007, 06:25 AM] Not saying I don't believe you, but that doesn't sound right to me.

INTJ

Alignment withing "spec" is meaningless. Get the numbers, post them, compare to other's. You can have horrific handling and still be within honda spec.

The belt is not the 1960s single crappy flap, but spiral wound. The do occasionally slip, but you can often just see it.

Be really careful with assuming some drift. I have found slightly crowned roads and minor ruts can give a false impression. This is normal with this type of performance tire, and some tires do this REALLY badly. If you are that sensitive, you might be better served going -1.

Now minor rack variation can cause similar symptoms. Get all that info from the dealer and see what they really came up with.

watchdogd

According to the dealer the Rack, suspension and everything is perfectly fine and performing to factory specification and tolerance.

And now after driving two full days, the car still drives like a champ so it is definitely something with those rear tires.

Now how they got to be that problem is yet to be determined but here are two results from two different alignment checks. One by dealer and one by third party shop.

Do you see something unusual ?

First alignment results:

Front Left Front Right
Camber -.5 -.6
Caster 5.8 6.0
Toe .03 .02
SAI 10.0 9.8

Rear left Rear Right:
Caster -1.6 -1.4
Toe .07 .08
Total Toe .15



Second Alignment results

Front Left Front Right
Camber -.5 -.7
Caster 5.8 6.0
Toe .03 .00
SAI 9.7 9.8

Rear left Rear Right:
Caster -1.5 -1.6
Toe .08 .10
Total Toe .18



According the the Range listed on the both sheets eveything was fine. Is there something that looks alarming ?

Thanks,

CaptainMike

The absence of rear camber data is somewhat alarming. And a 'good' alignment shop will generally get those L:R numbers perfectly matched. All that said this car is ultrasensitive to mismatched tire pressures. I can definitely feel a 1.5 to 2 psi difference, especially in the rear tires.
Any manufacturer can make an off-spec tire, I have had great luck with Bridgestones on this car, and prefer them to any other available tire.

TJF

I agree with everything stated above

s2killa

also, are you sure that the rear rims were in balance?