What is Tramlining???

[msp]

New to the forum, great info. I keep seeing tramlining when ready about tires. What is it???

[AZhitman]

Hey msp, welcome aboard!

It's not a real common term, but it's usually called "tracking"... it's when a car's tires tend to follow a lateral groove or irregularity in the road (a groove that lies along the direction of travel).

It can feel like the car is "following" the groove. This is more noticeable when a car has wider-than-normal tires, and can be pretty severe at times.

My Q45 did it on 275's, and my S13 convertible does it as well.

Unfortunately, I don't really know specifically what auses it, but we have some tire and suspension experts on here that should be able to explain it better than I can.

[M45Caliber]

AZhitman is correct -- it's also caused by roads that have more severe crowns than normal (for water runoff) and you can often feel it on roads that have been worn over time by studded snow tires (like in Colorado, etc.) The worst case I ever had was while living in LA - the tires I had installed had their tread grooves at EXACTLY the same width as the rain grooves that SoCal DOT placed in on the freeways. My car would track on those and my car would swerve back and forth in the lane. I got stopped for suspected DUI within a day. I took them back and replaced them with a different brand of tire.

[msp]

Oh, ok! I used to call it "Holy S**t!! My '08 with stock Goodyears seems to done it quite a bit. Currently looking at Yoko's w4s.Thanks for the info.

[M45Caliber]

Ironically that's what I am running on my M45 now Yoko W4s -- 245-45-18's They are wearing GREAT and they stick like velcro in the dry and the rain. I have about 12K miles on them and they still have more than 1/2 the tread left. Still quiet on the freeways too. You will be in awe should you put them on the car. Also, no tramlining that I am aware of.

[szh]

Welcome to NICO!

Oh, ok! I used to call it "Holy S**t!! My '08 with stock Goodyears seems to done it quite a bit.

Yes. The Goodyear Eagle RS-A are particularly prone to this problem and I don't like this tire at all!

However, not all Goodyear tires are bad ! I consider their Eagle F1 GS-D3 to be an outstanding summer tire (do NOT use at or near freezing temperatures or in slush/snow), and have been hearing good things about their Eagle F1 All-Season too.

Z

[palincal]

Here is some good discussion on tramlining and possible fixes. Notice that a fix for tramlining varies from car to car. Some people are satisfied with tire change and some go as far as precision alignment.

zerothread?id=377012

[M4T5]

New to the forum, great info. I keep seeing tramlining when ready about tires. What is it???

Best scenario to describe it would be a 4-wheel drive truck going off roading in mud trails. Basically it would be the same as your vehicles tires sliding or tracking off to one side of the other into a rut. Some roads (mostly asfalt type) have a tendency to sink where the tires ride at causing two sections of a given lane to sink and the center section begins to crown upwards, therefore causing two "ruts" in the road. Your tires will tend to pull into these ruts. Which direction your car/ truck pulls to depends on if one side has sunken lower than the other or if your closer to one side than the other.Some tires will resist this tendency to follow the road grooves and others tires will constantly slip off into the "ruts" from one side to the other. I agree with the statement that the GDY RS-A's do this a lot on roads with grooves in them. I will wait until mine need replacing before I change them out though. So, I have quite some time to research which tire to use in the future.

J
Modified by M4T5 at 7:56 AM 1/14/2009

[antzrus]

Question: What is tramlining?

Answer: An M, cruising down the most level and smooth highway on planet Earth on a set of OEM Goodyear RSA's; and the pilot clinging to the steering yoke for dear life as the machine careens violently side to side as an epileptic in a gran mal seizure.

[M4T5]

I think you guys must really have bad roads where you live. Our Houston roads are bad, but my M45 with the GDY Eagle RS-A's do not make the car go side to side unless there are excessive grooves it the roadway path.Mine are still the factory RS-A's with 19,000mi on them. There is about 1/2 tread life left to them. I'm just not experiencing a horrible ride really worth mentioning. One thing I will note is, they have no wet or dry weather traction what-so-ever!Now that could be worth mentioning!

J

[szh]

GDY Eagle RS-A's do not make the car go side to side unless there are excessive grooves it the roadway path.

Highway 101 in the Bay Area is grooved for water dispersal. The RS-A is dangerous on high-power RWD cars on this road!

One thing I will note is, they have no wet or dry weather traction what-so-ever!Now that could be worth mentioning!

Yup. My other reason for not liking them is their lack of wet weather traction - the dry was not as big a deal. I have posted on this topic before.

Z