Hey guys, in my last post I was torn between a staggered or non staggered winter tire setup. Well, I went with a staggered setup and my car drives very badly on the highway. It feels like it's "doglegging" and won't drive straight at all. It's really wobbly almost as if a tie rod end is loose or something. The back seems to just kinda drift back and forth (not sliding) whenever it wants. Is this due to the tires I'm running? 255 40 18 in the back and 225 45 18 in the front on stock 18" sport wheels? I did go to the dealer a week ago and they ordered new compression rods for my car but that was more to get the squeaks out of the front suspension. Any ideas? The car actually is feeling unsafe to drive in the snow like this.

 

Any rubbing? Are the tires balanced? Alignment? These are some of the things that come to mind...

 

You are now tramlining

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=47

Wide tires tend to do this. If you had them on your front, you'd find the front wheels will follow every groove and rut in the road.

255 series rubber is pretty excessive for a snow tire. I don't beleive staggered with snows is desireable due to uneven weight distribution on the contact patch. As you've found out, your rear end will feel lighter.

EDIT: This of course assumes nothing mechanical is wrong. Make sure the wheels are fully seated and torqued down correctly.

 

Maybe this is the 'wobbly' feeling i feel at times.

Would my 19s cause this?

 

wider/stickier/stiffer sidewall tires tend to do it.

 

Thanks for the help guys. This sounds like exactly what's happening. It's not like they're cheap tires as they are pirelli snowsport 240 v-rated, but i think it's the width. It happens the most on rough hard-packed roads, when you need the most control, and not so much on smooth highways. They're replacing my compression rods next week which I think they need to do an alignment for, so if that doesn't fix the problem I'm ditching these tires. BTW I did have tire pressure/balancing and torque checked on them.

 

I dont think you need to do an alignment with just the compression rod swap...

at least I didnt do an alignment afterward, LOL