# New tires, heavy torque steer



## MyShibbyEco (Jan 21, 2012)

I just got some new tires put on (replaced factory tires) and immediately noticed heavy torque steering on the way home. I've always owned rear wheel drive vehicles and this is my first front wheel drive. Is this something to be expected with new tires? Should I bring it back and have them rotate tires? Should I just get it aligned, or would that even help?

Just to define what I mean with torque steer, if I coast or brake there is virtually no pull on the wheel. As soon as I step on the gas, even a little, I can feel and even watch the wheel pull to the left, so much to the point I have to constantly fight it when cruise control is on. It did not do this with the old tires (although the wheel always seemed to be ever so slightly to the right to keep it straight), and they were pretty evenly worn since I rotated them regularly.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Stabilitrak on/off?


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

I'm not sure I'd call that Torque steer... but my experience with Torque steer is limited to back when I owned a 1985 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo... that thing had torque steer that would almost rip the wheel out of your hand when accelerating hard around a corner, particularly right hand corners. Even with that car, in a straight line, there was almost no noticeable pull in either direction... what I know as torque steer, only happened as you were turning, things tended to want to turn even more then you did.

Having said that... I don't know if I've ever experienced what you seem to be describing. If I had to guess, I'd say one tire is not the same diameter as the other or something like that, I'd immediately return to the tire retailer and demand it be fixed... or they take the tires back and replace them with some other tires that won't do that. 




MyShibbyEco said:


> I just got some new tires put on (replaced factory tires) and immediately noticed heavy torque steering on the way home. I've always owned rear wheel drive vehicles and this is my first front wheel drive. Is this something to be expected with new tires? Should I bring it back and have them rotate tires? Should I just get it aligned, or would that even help?
> 
> Just to define what I mean with torque steer, if I coast or brake there is virtually no pull on the wheel. As soon as I step on the gas, even a little, I can feel and even watch the wheel pull to the left, so much to the point I have to constantly fight it when cruise control is on. It did not do this with the old tires (although the wheel always seemed to be ever so slightly to the right to keep it straight), and they were pretty evenly worn since I rotated them regularly.


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## vwgtiglx (Jun 13, 2013)

You could try swapping the front tires; left to right. If it starts to pull to the right after that instead of to the left, then you probably have Tread Separation. I had that happen to me once with a brand new set of tires. Obviously, it would be covered by your tire warranty. Otherwise, you could try a different type or brand of tire.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

MyShibbyEco said:


> I just got some new tires put on (replaced factory tires) and immediately noticed heavy torque steering on the way home. I've always owned rear wheel drive vehicles and this is my first front wheel drive. Is this something to be expected with new tires? Should I bring it back and have them rotate tires? Should I just get it aligned, or would that even help?
> 
> Just to define what I mean with torque steer, if I coast or brake there is virtually no pull on the wheel. As soon as I step on the gas, even a little, I can feel and even watch the wheel pull to the left, so much to the point I have to constantly fight it when cruise control is on. It did not do this with the old tires (although the wheel always seemed to be ever so slightly to the right to keep it straight), and they were pretty evenly worn since I rotated them regularly.


Put a mark on each ft tire...such as RT/LT and rotate fronts to rear, rears to front.
If the pull on acceleration or under power does not diminish or dissappear it indicates a alignment problem.

If the concern dissappears, the tire that was on the front from the side pulling has what is called 'Radial Pull'
That means there is some issue from when the tire was constructed that has created a higher rolling resistance than the others.....a tire exchange is called for.

Rob


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## MyShibbyEco (Jan 21, 2012)

Jim Frye said:


> Stabilitrak on/off?


On, I don't touch it when I start the car.

@iggy, I'll probably bring it back. It's almost a chore to drive when I have to fight the wheel the entire time I'm driving.

@Robby, thanks for the tips. I think I'll give the shop a call first and see what they say, but I'll try your tip as well.


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## Slammed2014Eco (Feb 13, 2014)

Reminds me of my srt4, those things are the tourqe steer king. The cruze at least mine anyways doesn't really have sticky tires I'll break loose in 2nd and grab it around middle of 2nd gear. What is you're tire pressure at?


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## Farmboy (Apr 21, 2013)

I bet they cranked up the BOOST.  I'd take it back, probably a bad tire.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Did you have an alignment done?


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## MyShibbyEco (Jan 21, 2012)

Slammed2014Eco said:


> What is you're tire pressure at?


35psi all around.



jblackburn said:


> Did you have an alignment done?


No I did not. The car has never pulled before, and pulled almost instantly getting onto the highway with these (a couple miles).

And to preemptively guess the next person's statement of "you always need an alignment with new tires", no, you don't. I have gone through many sets on a car and never done alignments and they never pulled.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

> And to preemptively guess the next person's statement of "you always need an alignment with new tires", no, you don't. I have gone through many sets on a car and never done alignments and they never pulled.


No, I agree, but I always have them check the alignment when I have a new set installed and hand me a sheet before approving it.

A certain set of tires or tread pattern may exaggerate the alignment being off slightly more than another set.

But a tire with loose belts could be causing your issue.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

MyShibbyEco said:


> No I did not. The car has never pulled before, and pulled almost instantly getting onto the highway with these (a couple miles).


My cruze alignment was off from the factory. Last winter in a parking lot not long after getting new tires at about 2mph my tire dropped into a 8in deep pot hole I could not see in the snow. next time I was up to highway speed I could feel my car steering off ever so slightly. Had alignment checked again, sure enough it was off again. 

Never had a car that seemed so easily to go out of alignment, so with the cruze I would always have them check alignment when getting new tires.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Always get an alignment when you put brand new tires on. I've had cars that have no apparent pull or odd tread wear but which were out of alignment.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

spacedout said:


> My cruze alignment was off from the factory. Last winter in a parking lot not long after getting new tires at about 2mph my tire dropped into a 8in deep pot hole I could not see in the snow. next time I was up to highway speed I could feel my car steering off ever so slightly. Had alignment checked again, sure enough it was off again.
> 
> Never had a car that seemed so easily to go out of alignment, so with the cruze I would always have them check alignment when getting new tires.


Interesting. Mine was the best I've ever seen for a 31K period.


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## Vetterin (Mar 27, 2011)

so........................what tires did you get??


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## MyShibbyEco (Jan 21, 2012)

Vetterin said:


> so........................what tires did you get??


I'll have to check when I get home because I don't remember off the top of my head. I'll also be swapping the sides to see if it follows the tire or if I'll be seeing an alignment in the near future.


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## MyShibbyEco (Jan 21, 2012)

Swapped the front tires, and it still consistently pulls to the left, although not quite as much. I wasn't testing it on the same roads though either so that might have an effect. I'll be looking at an alignment tomorrow and will post how far off everything is when it's done.

Edit: The tires I bought are General Altimax RT43's. They're a slightly harder tire which has a little more road noise, but warrantied to 75k miles. I doubt I'll see that, but I get a prorated discount on the next set. So far they have had no problems in the snow (they are all seasons).


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## MyShibbyEco (Jan 21, 2012)

Welp, now I don't know what to think. The pull seems to have gone away, and is where I remember it, being ever so slight pull to the left, virtually not there on a flat road. I also got my alignment checked and everything was square, didn't even need adjustments. For now I am going keep on keepin' on until it acts up again.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I wonder if you had a tire that wasn't seated quite right on the rim causing it to be out of round and it's now seated itself.


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## Farmboy (Apr 21, 2013)

I worked at a tire place for quite a while, while I was going to college and I never heard of that.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Something changed.


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## BowtieGuy (Jan 4, 2013)

As a side note, how do you like the General Altimax RT43s so far (not counting the issue that seems to have disappeared)?


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## vwgtiglx (Jun 13, 2013)

BowtieGuy said:


> As a side note, how do you like the General Altimax RT43s so far (not counting the issue that seems to have disappeared)?


First, did you swap your front tires left to right or front to back? Second, it's just my opinion, but I would not get General tires, even if they gave them to me for free. I have been driving for 51 years and I know a lot of people who have had issues with them.


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## BowtieGuy (Jan 4, 2013)

vwgtiglx said:


> First, did you swap your front tires left to right or front to back? Second, it's just my opinion, but I would not get General tires, even if they gave them to me for free. I have been driving for 51 years and I know a lot of people who have had issues with them.


I have the same General Altimax RT43 on my 04 Grand Prix and they have been good tires so far. Quiet, comfortable, and handle as expected for a standard touring all season tire. People also say they do well in the snow, but I have not had a chance to test that yet. They are also currently the top customer reviewed standard touring all season tire on TireRack.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Just a thought, is it possible they mounted one of the tires backwards? allot of tread patterns are directional these days, if that’s the case the tire will sometimes have a clearly labelled outside.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

spacedout said:


> Just a thought, is it possible they mounted one of the tires backwards? allot of tread patterns are directional these days, if that’s the case the tire will sometimes have a clearly labelled outside.


I have had this happen before!

Doesn't look like the RT43 is a directional tire though.


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

> I have had this happen before!


 yes - same here. Had to replace a Michelin Pilot Sport, on my Mercedes C230K, tire shop mounted backwards. Before I drove away - I pointed it out and got it resolved.


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## MyShibbyEco (Jan 21, 2012)

BowtieGuy said:


> As a side note, how do you like the General Altimax RT43s so far (not counting the issue that seems to have disappeared)?


I like them so far. They ride nice, probably comparable to the factory Eco tires.



vqgtiglx said:


> First, did you swap your front tires left to right or front to back?


I mentioned in another post that I swapped the front tires and the problem wasn't quite as bad, but now seems to have disappeared.



BowtieGuy said:


> People also say they do well in the snow, but I have not had a chance to test that yet.



Plenty of snow here to test with, they handle about as I expect for a non-snow dedicated tire. They aren't going to stop on a dime in snow, but they don't make me feel like I can't pass over that drift in the center or can't take a corner at normal speed. So far I'm happy with them.



spacedout said:


> Just a thought, is it possible they mounted one of the tires backwards?


They are non-directional. I figured it'd be silly getting directional tires on a daily driver that sees all seasons. Plus I like to rotate them regularly.


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## pL2014 (Dec 29, 2013)

I had General Altimax HPs on my previous car. They were great. 

I also just bought some Altimax Artics on 16" LT1 wheels. I'm plastidipping them (as there is a little curb rash) this week and then putting them on next weekend. They are my first set of snows. I'm pretty excited. Hope I don't have any issues with them.


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## PonchoIndian (Oct 15, 2013)

I've had them rotate the tires on my Fiero GT, only problem is that the stock rear tires are 215/60/15 and the front are 205/60/15, and to add insult to injury, the front and rear wheels also look different enough that you'd assume the person doing the rotating would notice the rears have and extra inch of lip on them.

Never hurts to double check for obvious things. Just because a guy works at a tire shop doesn't mean he actually knows or cares about cars.


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