I recently bought a 2007 M35 for a deal I couldn't pass up on. The suspension makes no noises whatsoever, but I've noticed when I hit any sort of seam or imperfections in the road, I really have to hang on, as the car pulls. I took the car to a tire shop to check alignment and the tires, and we're good on that end. They weren't able to check much more. Could this be a control arm issue or something else or is this just a characteristic of the M35 handling? The car doesn't have the sport package, so has the standard 18" rims. Any thoughts?

The way the suspension is set up makes the car want to follow the road. It cannot truly be fixed without a huge expensive and lots of aftermarket parts.
It can be mitigated somewhat though by using the right tires and PSI, as well as customizing your alignment. The stock tires are HORRIBLE for this issue. Many people in the past have used Continental DWS, as well as Hancook S1 Noble 2 which I also have liked. I have some Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 on my car now that also have less of an issue with tramlining.
I had tried some Hancook Ventus V12 EVOs in the past and while they are better than OEM tires in this regard they still have significant amounts of tramlining.

As for alignment, ill have to look up the specs. I have them in a text doc somewhere. Its been a while since I last looked at it, but from what I remember it was a change to the "toe in" spec that helps

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 11, 2022 6:19 pm

As for alignment, ill have to look up the specs. I have them in a text doc somewhere. Its been a while since I last looked at it, but from what I remember it was a change to the "toe in" spec that helps

+1
Toe the rear wheels in slightly, it will help enormously with the squirrels.

I'm so bummed I wasn't aware of this being a common issue with the M, as I wouldn't have bought it had I known. The car already has the Michelin Pilot Sport tires I've seen recommended in a few other posts about this topic and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Any little imperfection or bump in the road and the car wants to pull to either side. It's a rather uncomfortable feeling. Both Q's that I owned didn't have any issue like this, so unfortunate.

COOLQ45 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 15, 2022 6:50 pm

I'm so bummed I wasn't aware of this being a common issue with the M, as I wouldn't have bought it had I known. The car already has the Michelin Pilot Sport tires I've seen recommended in a few other posts about this topic and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Any little imperfection or bump in the road and the car wants to pull to either side. It's a rather uncomfortable feeling. Both Q's that I owned didn't have any issue like this, so unfortunate.

Tweak the alignment. Toeing the rear wheels in slightly will help enormously with the squirrels.

VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 15, 2022 7:20 pm

COOLQ45 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 15, 2022 6:50 pm

I'm so bummed I wasn't aware of this being a common issue with the M, as I wouldn't have bought it had I known. The car already has the Michelin Pilot Sport tires I've seen recommended in a few other posts about this topic and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Any little imperfection or bump in the road and the car wants to pull to either side. It's a rather uncomfortable feeling. Both Q's that I owned didn't have any issue like this, so unfortunate.

Tweak the alignment. Toeing the rear wheels in slightly will help enormously with the squirrels.

Ya, once I changed my alignment from the stock settings the car got significantly better. These were my target adjustments that I got a LONG time ago from someone who posted them on this forum:

FRONT Camber: LF -0.3, RF -0.3
FRONT Toe: LF 0.02in, RF 0.02in Total 0.04
Steer Ahead: 0.00


REAR Camber: LR -0.2, RR -0.2
REAR Toe: LR 0.04in, RR 0.04in total 0.08
Thrust Angle: 0.00

EniGmA1987 wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 16, 2022 11:02 am

FRONT Camber: LF -0.3, RF -0.3
FRONT Toe: LF 0.02in, RF 0.02in Total 0.04
Steer Ahead: 0.00


REAR Camber: LR -0.2, RR -0.2
REAR Toe: LR 0.04in, RR 0.04in total 0.08
Thrust Angle: 0.00

Yah, that looks totally reasonable. A bit of negative camber can go a long way also.