ads@houxv.UUCP (12/06/83)
Recently, my '83 Mazda 626 (front wheel drive) sedan developed a tendency to pull to the left. I ruled out the brakes, & uneven tire pressure as the cause. My dealer checked the alignment, and it was perfect! However, they rotated the tires, (front to back on both sides) and the problem disappeared. I conclude that one original front tire had a problem. But What? The car has alloy wheels which show no signs of unbalance or distortion. Tire wear appears normal at 5000 miles. Are (steel belted) radials subject to some internal failure? - Al Schapira (houxv!ads AT&T BTL MH 7C-306 x3669)
rsg@cbscc.UUCP (12/07/83)
I own a Honda Civic (front wheel drive), and when my tires were rotated (front to back), the car pulled to the left. It also developed a shimmy at higher speeds (60-65mph). I took it back, they rotated the tires back to their original positions, and all was well in Honda Heaven again. I can't figure it out either. ...bob garmise...bell labs, columbus...
gant@parsec.UUCP (12/10/83)
#R:houxv:-22800:parsec:33000001:000:1186
parsec!gant Dec 9 14:15:00 1983
RE: tires causing a car to pull to one side.
I had the same problem on my 1980 Scirocco, with the original equipment
Goodyear Grand Prix's. At about 5000 miles, the car started pulling
to one side. Rotating the tires on that side cured the problem, until
the car started to pull the other way. Needless to say, this problem
continued until I didn't have 2 tires left which I could put on the front
without the car pulling. On a subsequent long trip, one of the front
tires developed an extreme version of the problem. While changing the
tire, I set it next to the car on a flat surface, on its tread. I was
shocked to see very visible indication that the tire was leaning! The
tread section was NOT perpendicular to the center line of the wheel
anymore, giving the tire a sort of trapezoidal cross-section! I was
later told that the steel belts were shifting internally, causing the
deformation of the tire shape. Rather than get the faulty tires adjusted
and replaced with others which would likely fail in the same manner, I
bought a new set of tires, this time Michelin XZX -- a nice tire, but a
little slippery in the wet.
Alan Gant
{ihnp4,uiucdcs,allegra}!parsec!ganthakanson@orstcs.UUCP (12/10/83)
#R:houxv:-22800:orstcs:3000022:000:578
orstcs!hakanson Dec 9 09:56:00 1983
You guessed it -- radials sometimes (not all too uncommonly) are subject
to an internal defect. This usually shows up when the tire is nearly
new, and results in higher rolling resistance in the affected tire. You
found it the correct way, by rotating the tires & checking for differences.
I don't know exactly why this occurs in radials, but I suspect that it has
something to do with how sensitive radials are to careful manufacturing
techniques. BTW, I hope you got a new tire.
Marion Hakanson CSnet: hakanson@oregon-state
UUCP : {hp-pcd,teklabs}!orstcs!hakansondmmartindale@watrose.UUCP (Dave Martindale) (12/10/83)
Your car developed a shimmy when the tires were rotated because one (or both) of the tires which were rotated to the front was out of balance, or out of round, or the rim was bent so it wobbled as it rolled. Most likely, it was just out of balance. You wouldn't notice a slight imbalance when the tire was on the rear, but you are much more sensitive to it in the front tires because the rack-and-pinion steering will transfer any wobble produced by it up to the steering wheel. As for the source of the "pull", I don't know. Check the tires to make sure that they are close to being the same. Is one worn unevenly?
billr@tektronix.UUCP (Bill Randle) (12/15/83)
I had the exact same thing happen to me. What happens (according to my alignment man) is that the steel belts inside the tires can slip (shift) over time causeing the tire to be slightly out of true, which causes it to pull to one side. In my case, I switched the front tires L <-> R (against the "normal" reccomen- dations of tire people) and presto! the car drove straight. He said that this was not uncommon at all and that the only tires he had seen that tended not to do it were Michelins. So, when I needed new tires I bought Michelins and haven't had any problems in 50K miles or so. -Bill Randle tektronix!billr