after alignment car seems to liek to wonder and drives not so nice

[96bmwcosmosm3]

got my alignment done on my old tires, recently had my ps2 put on and not the car drives like shit, steering is sloppy, seems to wonder on the roads especially freshly paved one..... the dude showed me the spec sheet and everything was green. the thing is that when i first picked the car up with the old tires i dont recall having these issues now with the ps2's the car is all over the place. also i think it is pulling to the right. any ideas?

oh ya, new tie rods, sway bar links, 25k on h&r coilovers, new strut hats, rogue rsms, poly rtabs, new rear balljoints, 25 k front ball joints when i jack the car up their is ZERO play in either wheel.....

[Uraharasan]

Have the alignment done again?

I had mine done every time I got new tires or wheels on my old car.

[96bmwcosmosm3]

thats what i figured...... the worst part is that now i need to remove my splitters AGAIN...... and watch them pull the car in, wtf. i think i am going to just go some were else where i wont need to baby sit the operator... but this sounds like an alignment thing?

[Itsablurr]

Post your alignment specs.

[96bmwcosmosm3]

meh, i would need to find it, this was liek two weeks ago

[Balthazarr]

meh, i would need to find it, this was liek two weeks ago

Two weeks...I've still got mine from 5 years ago.
Keep them in the Bentley or your owner's portfolio/case.

[Stück]

I happen to wander if its more of an owner problem.

[Balthazarr]

I happen to wander if its more of an owner problem.

don't be sarcastic. lol

[96bmwcosmosm3]

I happen to wander if its more of an owner problem.

yet again another pointless post........ my sincerest apologies for using the wrong spelling.

anyway, i usually do, i have my other two from the last 5 years, but i knew i was going to be getting the car re aligned after i did the rest of the bushings in the sub frame.

[NoLastName]

Definitely need to see your alignment specs. Showing everything green on the alignment printout only means that the parameters are within the range of spec tolerances. That still leaves a lot of fudge room. Silly question but you've checked your tire pressures already, correct? Also, some tires will tend to wander or follow road imperfections more than others (I don't have personal experience with PS2s though).

[Balthazarr]

I'll take a stab and ask about the tire belts...are any loose?

Is the subframe solid?

[xveganxcowboyx]

Did you ask for stock specs or go for one of the more aggressive alignments often recommended here? Aggressive alignment can cause wandering, especially toe.

So, another for the "needs to see numbers" camp.

[joenationwide]

So with the old tires the car drove fine and now you've done nothing but get new tires and the car feels terrible?

[96bmwcosmosm3]

well one of my exclaims had the inside tire worn plus was trouble shooting wheel shimmy. i dont travel much on the highway now a days since i moved, so didnt really notice right away if the car wandered on the old tires it seemed fine, but still shimmied, so i put on spare wheels same thing on the roads jsut not as bad ( 205/50/17 e46 oem conti) put once i put on the pilot sports and got the wheels re balanced thats when i noticed the car wandered all over the road at high way speeds.......untill i put the pilots on i avoided high ways.. idk... it seems liek the more i drive or warmer the tires get the worse it wanders. and all tires have even 34lbs cold.

also before doing the tie rods and did alignment car drove straight as an arrow. idk, i guess i will see if i can just get a front alignment....

[RRSperry]

I'd find a better shop to do the alignment. Also search for the Alignment thread here and have a good read.

[96bmwcosmosm3]

this is what i told them to do,

Front
Camber: -2.5 deg (per side)
Toe: 0
Rear
Camber: -1.5 to -2 deg (per side)
Toe: 0.20 total toe in (IIRC this is 1/8" total toe in)

[NoLastName]

I'd say that's a fairly aggressive alignment. -2.5 camber and zero toe up front will naturally be more darty and wander more than stock. When I had my Miata I was running -2.0 and zero toe all around... and I couldn't sneeze in that car without changing lanes. At the track though the turn-in and cornering balance felt good. You have to find settings that work for your intended use. If you drive mostly on freeways then you might prefer something closer to stock specs. Otherwise the more aggressive alignments will generally trade straight line stability and tire wear for better handling.

[Balthazarr]

this is what i told them to do,

Front
Camber: -2.5 deg (per side)
Toe: 0
Rear
Camber: -1.5 to -2 deg (per side)
Toe: 0.20 total toe in (IIRC this is 1/8" total toe in)

Get that neg camber reduced up front.

[xveganxcowboyx]

That is almost exactly where my current alignment is. I may have slightly more aggressive camber up front, but not much if any. I went there from about -2 degrees camber in the front and ~.20 toe in on the front. (I don't remember what the rear was before). It went from being perfectly stable over road bumps and changes to being very squirrely. That is to be expected though and I feel is a fair trade off for better cornering. If you don't like the random darting you'll have to switch back to a standard alignment.