Problem: New tires; now pulling right and more torque steer

[sluflyer06]

OK So i have a MS3 its got about 1,500 miles on it. I live in Chicago so I had some all seasons mounted for the winter.

As soon as I drove the car with the new tires its now pulling right and has lots of torque steer where as before it tracked straight and IMO torque steer was VERY minimal.

Tire pressure is 100% in check from side to side 37F/35R to the tenth of a psi.

Anyone have this happen? I haven't had a FWD car in almost 6 years, been all RWD&AWD.

Thanks,
Anthony

Update Post #34

 

[Kain]

Get an alignment.

 

[sluflyer06]

I've never needed a alignment after a tire change before. The car is exactly 14 days old...is this a common issue with the MS3?

 

[numbnuts22715]

I've never needed a alignment after a tire change before. The car is exactly 14 days old...is this a common issue with the MS3?

no, its not a common problem.

I would still take it somewhere to see what the alignment shop says.

 

[bacarl]

What size is the tire, and did you mount them on stock wheels or aftermarket wheels? If they're aftermarket, what are their dimensions (including offset)?

I can't think of an explanation for the pull, but wheel and tire width and construction can have surprisingly severe effects on ride/handling. Last summer I put 235/40R18 Falken Fk452 tires on 18x8+48mm wheels and had big problems with torque steer. Ride quality deteriorated severely too as well as some other effects.

Unfortunately you might have just come across a tire/wheel combo that the car is particularly sensitive to.

 

[sluflyer06]

What size is the tire, and did you mount them on stock wheels or aftermarket wheels? If they're aftermarket, what are their dimensions (including offset)?

I can't think of an explanation for the pull, but wheel and tire width and construction can have surprisingly severe effects on ride/handling. Last summer I put 235/40R18 Falken Fk452 tires on 18x8+48mm wheels and had big problems with torque steer. Ride quality deteriorated severely too as well as some other effects.

Unfortunately you might have just come across a tire/wheel combo that the car is particularly sensitive to.

Stock wheels, 215/45/18 Pirelli Pzero Nero M&S Pinna's.

 

[bacarl]

Damn, stock sized everything cuts down on my theory... Still, tire design/construstion can affect a lot of stuff more than people think.

I'm inclined to agree and recommend an alignment, but it really shouldn't need one since the car is so new, didn't have any problems before, and hasn't hit any road hazards.

 

[bacarl]

Actually, in this case maybe the dealer will check alignment for free if you tell them it's pulling. They probably won't even notice the tires aren't OE, and if they do, you can emphasize that they're still the OE size.

 

[sluflyer06]

Damn, stock sized everything cuts down on my theory... Still, tire design/construstion can affect a lot of stuff more than people think.

I'm inclined to agree and recommend an alignment, but it really shouldn't need one since the car is so new, didn't have any problems before, and hasn't hit any road hazards.

Yea, no potholes, no curbs, nothing like that. Literally just the tires changed. These are asymmetrical tread as well which I'd think would help against these issues. Also as far as I know there are many people running this tire on the board as I saw alot of positive reviews on it.
(confused)

 

[mhrebin]

mazda would probably say they found bits of rubber on the wheel wells and then state the car was abused so they cant work on it or warranty anything.lol

 

[sluflyer06]

Actually, in this case maybe the dealer will check alignment for free if you tell them it's pulling. They probably won't even notice the tires aren't OE, and if they do, you can emphasize that they're still the OE size.

Yea I was thinking I'd try for the dealer, i'm sure they won't hesitate due to how new the car is to check the alignment.

 

[bacarl]

Try rotating the tires front to back and see what happens. Maybe one is defective and it's acting up.

 

[sluflyer06]

mazda would probably say they found bits of rubber on the wheel wells and then state the car was abused so they cant work on it or warranty anything.lol

hey now! lol. BONE STOCK!!!! I'll even get it cleaned b4 it goes in. Is mazda as bad (or god forbid even worse) than Subaru about trying to get out of warranty work?

 

[CWPspeed3]

Those are the same tires i went with but i opted for the 225/40, I have had no problems with them, great tires. I dont believe they are directional but theres always a chance that you just got a bad tire. Give the dealer a try and tell them your car pulls they should cover alignment for 12mo 12k miles or something, just dont say anything other than the car pulls weird.

 

[sluflyer06]

Yea, I PM'd some locals to see what dealer to go to here in Chitown since I bought the car in Florida.

Dealerships are easy just play dumb and stubborn.

 

[mhrebin]

hey now! lol. BONE STOCK!!!! I'll even get it cleaned b4 it goes in. Is mazda as bad (or god forbid even worse) than Subaru about trying to get out of warranty work?

lol every dealer is different. i was just poking fun. since the car is new and the new tire size is the same as OEM there should be a problem at getting it checked out.

 

[Russm]

Good Day
A hunter road force balancer or John Beam high end balancer will tell you if you have a bad tire match which may be correctable or it can show you a bad wheel or tire. I have had vehicals run straight as an arrow and do a rotation only to end up with a front end pull.
If it didn't pull before you put new tires on the chances are slim that the allignment is off but it never hurts to have it checked for free.

 

[mhrebin]

make sure the tires are mounted and balanced properly too. which im assuming they are.

 

[sluflyer06]

@ mhrebin well it was done at the shop where I had all my tunes done at with my WRX they are large and reputable, I can't see how they'd have fked it up, but you never know.

@Russm...quite familiar with the Road force balancers(used them when I worked for Mercedes in Highschool in FL) but here in the midwest they are few and far between. Actually most places have never even heard of them out here...its sad.

 

[bombermanx]

Rotate the tires side to side, if it was pulling one way and swapped to the other side, it'll likely pull the other way. If you rotate back and forth, it's hard to judge how much/less it is pulling, but with side to side, you can tell right a way if it changed direction.