High Speed Stability is Off After Flat Tire?

[davemarco]

Hi All. I recently experienced a blow-out of my front passenger side tire. I was driving along the highway at night and hit a grapefruit-sized rock in the middle of the lane. It did enough damage to the tire and wheel that it necessitated that I put my set of all season tires/wheels back on while I shop around for a replacement. The all seasons should still be perfectly balanced from this past winter, and I just had an alignment done following the incident.

Everything should be working perfectly, but I feel like my high-speed stability is off. The car previously felt like a rock, even at triple digit speeds. Now, I feel like there's a mild shimmy/shake that starts at around 65-70 mph. The guy that did my alignment noticed that the rock had cracked the underside of my side skirt, but did not see any additional damage.

Is there anything else beside balancing and alignment that could be compromising my stability like this?

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[tinyman392]

Hi All. I recently experienced a blow-out of my front passenger side tire. I was driving along the highway at night and hit a grapefruit-sized rock in the middle of the lane. It did enough damage to the tire and wheel that it necessitated that I put my set of all season tires/wheels back on while I shop around for a replacement. The all seasons should still be perfectly balanced from this past winter, and I just had an alignment done following the incident.

Everything should be working perfectly, but I feel like my high-speed stability is off. The car previously felt like a rock, even at triple digit speeds. Now, I feel like there's a mild shimmy/shake that starts at around 65-70 mph. The guy that did my alignment noticed that the rock had cracked the underside of my side skirt, but did not see any additional damage.

Is there anything else beside balancing and alignment that could be compromising my stability like this?

So you hit something hard enough to damage both tire and possibly wheel? Have your suspension and alignment checked.

 

[davemarco]

So you hit something hard enough to damage both tire and possibly wheel? Have your suspension and alignment checked.

Alignment was redone yesterday. Anything in particular on the suspension that could be prone to damage?

 

[xc1v1cx]

Probably not telling you anything you don't already know, but are the all season rims hub-centric? I've heard of that kind of behavior for rims without hub rings.

 

[FifStreet]

Recheck the tire balances and air pressure on your all-seasons?

 

[_dc_]

Could be a bent tie rod. Alignment won't fix that.

 

[davemarco]

Probably not telling you anything you don't already know, but are the all season rims hub-centric? I've heard of that kind of behavior for rims without hub rings.

That’s a good question. They’re Motegi MR924’s - I am admittedly unsure if they are hubcentric or not.

 

[xc1v1cx]

That’s a good question. They’re Motegi MR924’s - I am admittedly unsure if they are hubcentric or not.

Ahh in that case you should be good there. I have a set of those too and they do not require hub rings.

Good luck with getting it resolved- hopefully it isn't something pricey!

 

[tinyman392]

Alignment was redone yesterday. Anything in particular on the suspension that could be prone to damage?

That's where my expertise ends unfortunately. I wouldn't be able to tell you what specific suspension components would be broken since the event cause a huge shock to go through the entire suspension components.

 

[Driveitlikeuboughtit]

Could be a bent tie rod. Alignment won't fix that.

Wouldn't you see this on the alignment though?

Maybe the alignment was done improperly? Have you checked the lug nuts? Double check they're all tight and torqued properly if someone else did it.

Also tire pressures. Might also want to check tread depth? Front axle has LSD, tires have to be within a couple of mm's in depth of each other.

 

[davemarco]

Wouldn't you see this on the alignment though?

Maybe the alignment was done improperly? Have you checked the lug nuts? Double check they're all tight and torqued properly if someone else did it.

Also tire pressures. Might also want to check tread depth? Front axle has LSD, tires have to be within a couple of mm's in depth of each other.

They let me watch them align it - the numbers on the computer all looked green. My steering wheel is still slightly off to the right - not sure if this is alignment related?

 

[s2kdriver80]

It's possible the alignment machine could be out of calibration.

 

[garoto]

Sounds to me like you were just used to better tires and wheels.

 

[davemarco]

Sounds to me like you were just used to better tires and wheels.

That may be as well!

 

[RacingManiac]

A/S tires might have softer sidewall/more tread squirm than performance summer tires also. I don't know if it'd be that noticeable though. Snow tires are very noticeable...

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