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Steering wheel jerks when hitting bumps

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So im having this problem now that i put my summer tires/wheels back on.

 

Rewind to the start of winter. My car drove fine in my eyes but soon as i put my winter wheels on it turned to hell. Car was wandering @ highway speeds while also drifting into other lanes. I chalked it up as bad winter tires since they was near bald. I replaced those tires with brand new snow tires and the problem was still there. I took my car into my buddy family shop who found out my driver side tie rod end had tons of play. I have no idea how long my tie rod was bad but im assuming it mightve caused my front tires summer tires to wear wrong.

 

Once the shop fixed the tie rods the car was aligned with my winter wheels (205-65-15)  on the car and the car drove better. Now Friday i installed my summer tires which are 245-45-17's up front and now everything seems screwed up again while driving. These are the same wheels i had on with the bad tie rod end maybe there worn wrong?

 

The problems im having now is:

-Car follows imperfections in the road now pretty bad

 

- car jerks to the side it hits the bump on.

 

- Steering feels VERY TIGHT now.- I checked the air already.

 

- Sometimes i have to fight the wheel to control the car.

 

Now i have four things that could be wrong that i can think of.

 

 

1- The old summer tires could be worn wrong from the bad tie rod.

 

2- My alignment is off because i switched from my 205-65-15 tires to my 245-45-17 tires (alginemt was done with the 15 inch tires)

 

3- Something in my front end is screwed up?? (i know stuff is worn, but the problems only came with the tire change)

 

4- When the alignment was done. The shop that did it said they couldnt do something because my car doesn't have adjustable caster camber plates. The only problem with that is my car has bbk caster camber plates , So something was left unaligned but they got the main stuff. Maybe they couldn't change the caster? Ill have to find the printout sheet. (but i didnt notice this problem with the winter tires so i dont think its the problem)

 

So what would you check first? I could get 2 new front tires.. or i could get another alignment with the 17's. Im assuming one of these will fix the problem and im leaning towards the tires. Would uneven tires cause my problems???

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Is the car lowered? Assuming that every suspension item is in good working condition (tie rods, ball joints, etc) i would recommend getting a bump steer kit.

Its lowered but i dont remember this issue last summer. 

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A lowered car with factory tierods screws up the steering geometry. I'm willing to bet that you are noticing this more now due to the wider tires. I agree with MaximumRisk.

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I can't remember 100% but for some reason when I try to roll the two front tires on the ground they don't roll straight... they kind of veer off and lend to the ground.. Starting to think my front tires are screwed from the bad tie rod and alignment being off for so long..

The issue is these wheels been on the car for years at the same lowered height. This issue only popped up when I switched from my brand new snow tires that's been the car perfectly aligned to my old summer tires that's been on the car for months with a bad alignment.

So I'm stuck with thinking bad tires or alignment off from switching to bigger taller and wider tires all around

* Sent from tapatalk while sitting on the toilet at work*

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Any problem will be magnified when you go to larger wheels and tires. Jack the car up and inspect the balljoints, tie rods (inner and outter), bushings, etc. Make sure all suspension components are working correctly then take it for an aligment. If problem persists you may need a bump steer kit.

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Any problem will be magnified when you go to larger wheels and tires. Jack the car up and inspect the balljoints, tie rods (inner and outter), bushings, etc. Make sure all suspension components are working correctly then take it for an aligment. If problem persists you may need a bump steer kit.

 

This, exactly.  If it's a good shop they wont align it if there is some issue that needs to be corrected. 

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