Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Wheels & Tires Tramlining (look ma' I learned a new word!)....

Drives straight, handles well, rides ok, but follows rain grooves like crazy.

Anyone with this problem?
Would a tower brace help? Tires maybe?

I have this real bad.

The only thing anyone has ever told me is the tires, but this is my second set, both were BFG, but different styles, so if anyone has an answer to what causes it I would love to fix it, it annoys the [censored] out of me.

Getting an alignment helped a lil, might want to check that.

Also what kind of tires do you have?

I've got mixed and matched cheap tires, because......well.....I'm cheap.

195 / 65 R14
Front: Douglas XTRA-TRAC (at the moment)
Back: BF Goodrich Excentia Touring (at the moment)

I've covered a lot of ground with a lot of cars with different types of tires, and never had a problem.

This car with any tires has had this problem as long as I've owned it (since 97 I think). It does fine until I hit a patch of pavement with rain grooves, then all of a sudden it is like the road starts telling my car where to go. Tossing it back and forth.

I will switch to better tires all the way around if it will fix the problem, but it seems strange that I would have to.

I'm not sure it will. I had BFG VR4 215/50/16's and it did it and now I have BFG KDWS 225/50/16 still does it. They all match and everything, and the KDWS are fairly new.

i had the cheapest tires you can get and went to nitto 450s. the nittos do that in the rain and it sucks. the cheap tires were much better in rain. so i think it has something to do with finding the right tire.

I have a feeling that it has to do with the torsional ridgidity of the tire. The more rigid the tire the lower it ability to flex.

generally the inexpensive tires will not be as stiff and therefore the tread will have a higher tendency to flex to better take the shape of the road.

The higher performance tires are stiffer and don't flex as easily to conform to the shape of the road so they tend to take their own path, one in which all the tires are, for the most part, on the same plane.

Invest a few bucks in a matched set of tires. Try Yokohama Avids, either V4 or H4 (the V is a little stiffer in the sidewall), for $70-$75 a pop. That will at least take away one variable, the mismatched cheapo tires.

Alright, so I guess the answer to my question is it can only be the wheels or tires since the thread was moved here. I will get better tires next time.

my kdw were horrible at that. i thought something was wrong til someone told me low pro tend to do it. my t1s's haven't done it once. i love it. so maybe its also the tire. even going over ripped up grooved hwy they dont do it like the kdw's did