Steering Wheel Problem

[izzue.hk]

Today when I was driving my G Coupe, I notice that the steering wheel position was not centered. When I was driving straight, the wheel was to the right. My car is dropped on tein springs and it hasnt been in any accident before.

I have done alignment when I put on my winter tires. But now I switched them back to the OEM summer tires. Do I have to do another alignment? But my friends told me you don't have to do another alignment. What should I do?


Modified by izzue.hk at 11:49 PM 2/22/2009

[tollboothwilley]

If the wheel isn't centered then your alignment is off

[pfarmer]

Today when I was driving my G Coupe, I notice that the steering wheel position was not centered. When I was driving straight, the wheel was to the right. My car is dropped on tein springs and it hasnt been in any accident before.

I have done alignment when I put on my winter tires. But now I switched them back to the OEM summer tires. Do I have to do another alignment? But my friends told me you don't have to do another alignment. What should I do?

Modified by izzue.hk at 11:49 PM 2/22/2009

So you are stating all is good with the winter tires and the wheel is only off with the OEM summer tires?

I would first check air pressure left to right to make sure they are exactly equal.

If your tires are the same front to back then try switching them.

I had a 300 m with OEM Goodyear tires that showed two problems, starting at about 30 mph. The first was a shimmy that would start in abround 30 mph. and then disappear. The second was similar to what you described only it would vary based on speed.

The dealer (Goodyear) first moved the back to the front and put a new set on the back. Then in a couple of days since the problem wasn't fixed a new set was installed on the front. For a new set of tires this came to about $100, not a bad deal and the problem went away.

The stated cause of the problem was that the OEM tires had a layer of belts that would shift. On most cars this went unnoticed however on an M it really presented itself.

May be worth a try to swap front to back assuming air pressures were checked exactly and of course if running the same size front to back. Weird thought, not sure if you are prevented somehow from doing this, but could you actually mixed sizes front to back on a coupe?

Perry

[izzue.hk]

Oh, I talked to a mechanic today. He said that I need to do another alignment because my winter tires are 18 inch and the OEM tires are 19 inch. And when i installed the winter tires i did an alignment. So he said that the setting doesnt match with the 19inch tires right now.

[pfarmer]

Oh, I talked to a mechanic today. He said that I need to do another alignment because my winter tires are 18 inch and the OEM tires are 19 inch. And when i installed the winter tires i did an alignment. So he said that the setting doesnt match with the 19inch tires right now.

Left out one of the key statements. Are we speaking all 4 tires were swapped out or just two?

Perry

[pfarmer]

Oh, I talked to a mechanic today. He said that I need to do another alignment because my winter tires are 18 inch and the OEM tires are 19 inch. And when i installed the winter tires i did an alignment. So he said that the setting doesnt match with the 19inch tires right now.

When I went from 17s to 19s on my 300m one thing I found is that I could match up the tire diameter. This was one of the factors that came into play with their selection. If I went to 18s, then I could not get an almost exact match. The same was with 20s unless I ended up with banana peels. In my area I needed a little bit of rubber between the rim and the road or I would be purchasing wheels on an ongoing basis.

Perry