Car Sways

[Brucealeg]

Guys,
Here in Tallahassee we have crappy roads, with a lot of ruts. On the stock F1's I feel like the car is moving back and forth and I am fighting to keep it moving in a straight line. It's not all the roads as my Explorer doesn't do it. So I assume it's a horse power / tire or something issue.

Can someone tell me what exactly causes this and what I can do to kill it?

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[CobraBob]

Depending on the road surface, wide tires will tend to do that. On a very smooth surface you shouldn't notice any swaying.

 

[Brucealeg]

<< Depending on the road surface, wide tires will tend to do that. On a very smooth surface you shouldn't notice any swaying. >>

You are correct. It's perfect on a good road. I was just curious if there was anything to do about out. The wife's Exlorer has wide tires and doesn't really do it. The Cobra does it all over town, until I hit a smooth road.

I'm scared to get anything fatter then the stock tire over it. Wasn't sure if there was a good way to negate it.

Bruce

 

[AtomHeart]

Does your wife's explorer have 275 wide tires on it?

The difference could also be that the explorer has much less precise steering...the tire tread of a truck tire vs. the wide flat gripping surface of a performance tire...

I switched from a 225 tire to a 255 high performance tire on my Crown Vic, and it suddenly needed a lot more attention to the steering while driving it. While I'm not sure why your explorer doesnt do it, I would definitely guess its the wide tires causing it on your cobra. You could try going with thinner tires up front to get rid of it, but that would be pretty expensive as a test, especially if it didn't improve the problem.

 

[Brucealeg]

I guess it's something us Cobra owners just have to live with? I wanted fattter tires for the rear, but yikes.

Has anyone here been successful with negating this with thinner front tires?

Bruce

 

[BuffDigits]

it pulls due to the wide tires and it gets even more noticable the wider the tires.

not sure if skinny front tires will help.

 

[05 Roush]

It's the tires. Get a set of Nittos and a lot of your issues will disappear (mine did).

 

[grnenvy]

Sounds like your car is tracking, you need an alignment. My car did the same thing, most of these cars are out from the factory.

 

[RedfireVert]

I'm fairly certain it's a function of the 40 section tires and stiff sidewalls. Tires with taller sidewalls do not follow ruts and grooves as much.

Tires with shorter, stiffer sidewalls tend to track the grooves in the road.

This is what I have been told/ this has been my experience with changing wheels and tires.

Your Exploder does not have this problem because it has tall sidewalls. Nittos may not have this problem because the sidewalls are a little softer.

 

[Brucealeg]

That interesting Redfirevert. I've been meaning to get new tires. I hope I can get some more feedback on this.

Bruce

 

[geepaw]

Originally posted by RedfireVert
I'm fairly certain it's a function of the 40 section tires and stiff sidewalls. Tires with taller sidewalls do not follow ruts and grooves as much.

Tires with shorter, stiffer sidewalls tend to track the grooves in the road.

This is what I have been told/ this has been my experience with changing wheels and tires.

Your Exploder does not have this problem because it has tall sidewalls. Nittos may not have this problem because the sidewalls are a little softer.

I agree w/redfire if you are talking about the
steering following grooves and bumps....

WRT to swaying....I think suspension design & ride height seems to affect this swaying feeling.
Probably the worst I felt of this side to side swaying was in a friend's jeep grand cherokee. If I drove it I bet I would get
car sick on long trips.

 

[beabout]

Just a suggestion. You might experiment with tire pressures. Higher tire pressure will make ride harsher but, will help lateral stability... good luck.

 

[Brucealeg]

Tire pressure? I keep my tires about 31lbs.

 

[CobraBob]

Here's a blurb I found on the 'net. "Wide tires give good traction while cornering on a good clean road surface, but give a firmer ride and are more prone to wandering on irregular road surfaces. Narrower tires give a smoother ride and handle far better in poor conditions such as rain or snow." So I'm inclined to believe that ANY wide tire is going to cause some degree of wandering on irregular road surfaces, and the wider the tire the worse the problem becomes. Certain tread designs and sidewall compositions might help, but I don't think they will eliminate it all together. JMO. I'm no expert. I will say, though, that over the year every one of the cars I've owned with wide tires have wandered to some degree over irregular surfaces. The worse was my '94 Z-28.

 

[magnum4000]

remember, you are in a Cobra, not an Explorer. Your Cobra's suspension is tighter and you will have a bumpier ride as a result. It's the price we pay for a high performance car.

Just think, we could have the performance suspension that they had only a few years ago - tight all the time, with bumps that make you think your teeth are going to come out. Reactive suspension stiffens when you get on it, but just tooling around town is not bad.

Nittos may help - but wide tires are going to have that affect (tracking) no matter what.

 

[GIRLIE5OH]

I have the same problem. Had to take it back two weeks after I bought it to get it re-balanced. Still pulls though...gotta get tires I assume. :shrug: