Tram Tracking???

[Boony405hp]

Most of our cars from factory from the 60's to lates 70's were probably riding on 14 to 15 inch rims from factory with a fairly high sidewall. Nowadays with a lot of these rides going onto 17/18" wheels and much smaller sidewalls I'm wondering if any of you suffer from the tram tracking?

What I mean is when the car wants to dart over the road following depressions in the road caused by trucks over time etc. I know over here in Australia a lot of people with these larger diameter rims on older cars suffer from this and wondering is there a way to compensate for this? Does it only occur with stock suspension of torsion bars etc? Do new coil over front end systems like RMS etc eliminate these problems?

Something I've wondered and thought I'd put it to you.

Cheers, Hughesy.

[Tom Welch]

i think you are referring to a bumpsteer situation, try Dave Pozzi's website for some more info. also email Marcus at SC&C, the guys at Prodigy Customs or Detroit Speed. I know that these guys will have an answer.

[SR71]

that's not bumpsteer. you need suspension movement to cause bumpsteer. the problem you are talking about is caused more by alignment settings than by the tire and rim combo.

[MrQuick]

yeah the problems associated with the older belted tires are long gone.

a quality tire wil not grab crack or tram as you described.
vince


lol

[Boony405hp]

yeah the problems associated with the older belted tires are long gone.

a quality tire wil not grab crack or tram as you described.
vince


lol

Well the tyres I'm currently using are Falken FK452's which are a current spec tyre so not really an old tyre at all. The same problem happens with my mate in the same model car, his car is well set up for track, he normally drives on 14" rims with roughly probably a 60/65 profile and has no problems, he switches to his 17" rims with Bridgestone RE55's (road legal track tyre) and the overall rolling diameter does not change. WHen he drives to the track he notices the same problem I mentioned but switch back to the 14's and its fine.

[MrQuick]

Could be a tread design issue with the Falken tires. Can he rotate his Falken tires front to rear to see if its an issue with one of his Falken tires? Seperation issue?

I don't see how changing the tires would affect the alignment that drasticly.

Vince

[ChrisRZ28]

Toe settings can have an effect on tire wander. I noticed on my 4th Gen the skinny stock 16s didn't have any problems but when I changed to 9-1/2, 275s it wanted to wander. I've since played with the toe settings, its helped but still wanders. IMO it has to do with stiff/short sidewalls that don't give much.

[PROLINE]

I do heaps of suspension, your problem could be worn bushes &/or toe settings. You need to have some "toe in" set in to your alignment to negate this but an alignment aint worth a dime with worn components.

[Yoda4561]

Tramlining happens alot with wider tires. Not much to be done about it, certain tread patterns tramline less than others, but it's mostly down to the individual vehicle/suspension/tire combo. Even new cars suffer from this, proper suspension tuning and tire selection can reduce it but never get rid of it entirely.

[mc84_zz4]

My car suffered terribly in Denver from the worn road lanes that are used the most (center lane) in winter.
In any case, I had Goodyear directional tires (245s) and tried adding 2 lbs of air, it helped a little, I had the car aligned by a shop that knew what they were doing (most shops would only work to factory specs). The alignment helped a lot, I also adjusted the on-center nut on the steering box, but switching to another brand tire cured the problem (non-directionals too BTW).
Years later I replaced a slightly worn steering rag joint which I am sure compounded some of the problems.
I since have moved from Colorado, so I could not confirm if that fully solved all the issues.
HTH

[drc270]

I am fine tuning my finished project...
hotchkis susp. new evrything...except steering box.
home aligned, test drive- nice tight ride but alot of "tram tracking"
to the alignment shop requested "O" toe- better but still tracking
added a little toe in alot better but still a little tracking
changed steering box(the only piece not new)
PROBLEM SOLVED.
I am running toyo proxy tires-very aggressive
She drives like a late model car now.

steering box?

[BA.]

Tramlining happens alot with wider tires. Not much to be done about it, certain tread patterns tramline less than others, but it's mostly down to the individual vehicle/suspension/tire combo. Even new cars suffer from this, proper suspension tuning and tire selection can reduce it but never get rid of it entirely.

My car suffered terribly in Denver from the worn road lanes that are used the most (center lane) in winter.
In any case, I had Goodyear directional tires (245s) and tried adding 2 lbs of air, it helped a little, I had the car aligned by a shop that knew what they were doing (most shops would only work to factory specs). The alignment helped a lot, I also adjusted the on-center nut on the steering box, but switching to another brand tire cured the problem (non-directionals too BTW).
Years later I replaced a slightly worn steering rag joint which I am sure compounded some of the problems.
I since have moved from Colorado, so I could not confirm if that fully solved all the issues.
HTH

My experience is the same as these 2 guys. Changing of tire brand/model does and can make a difference, and alignment settings can also help. (of course worn out suspension components will exacerbate the issue)

I had the issue, and read up on it a lot at ClubLexus.com for my GS400 and also read some others' comments at TireRack.com.

Good Luck getting it sorted out.

[MrQuick]

I am fine tuning my finished project...
hotchkis susp. new evrything...except steering box.
home aligned, test drive- nice tight ride but alot of "tram tracking"
to the alignment shop requested "O" toe- better but still tracking
added a little toe in alot better but still a little tracking
changed steering box(the only piece not new)
PROBLEM SOLVED.
I am running toyo proxy tires-very aggressive
She drives like a late model car now.

steering box?

yep, sounds like a worn box.