Steering gone awry

[hyuan]

So, I pick up my friend at his estate which sits at the top of a very steep hill. Because the driveway up to his estate had its driveway circle blocked by the gardener, I had to back down his driveway.

It was during this process, I heard a creaking noise.

Next thing I know, my steering wheel is squeaking like crazy. It felt like it was rubbing something.

As I continued to drive, the squeaking persisted.

After about half-an-hour, the squeaking was mitigated; but only slightly.

What is going on with my car?

Incidentally, I examined the car, and the wheels look suspiciously close to the inner wall on full lock.

 

[hyuan]

When I parked the car and posted the question, the steering was still squeaking when I was turning it (even slight turns off center). I don't know if its because it was rubbing or not, since I was alone, but the back portion of each tire was about 1cm away from the inner lining at full lock.

So what I meant to say was that, my symptoms eased a bit, but did not go away in the 40 minutes that I drove the car last night.

My tires are aftermarket, but from my research, it should not cause rubbing. The sizes are 255/40/17 and 255/40/16 (stock rims). I've had this setup for over a year now and I've never had a problem with it.

Hope this provides more insight into what happened. What do I need to do to fix this?



[This message has been edited by hyuan (edited 18 August 2002).]

 

[nsxtasy]

Those are the widest front tires I've heard of anyone using on an NSX. I suspect they are rubbing and that is causing your problem.

The only thing I don't understand is why you never had a problem before now.

I also wonder whether the handling on your car is compromised. I've never heard of anyone using the same treadwidth tires front and rear.

 

[ACR_Motorsports]

Are you sure you have a 255 wide front tire?

Originally posted by hyuan:
When I parked the car and posted the question, the steering was still squeaking when I was turning it (even slight turns off center). I don't know if its because it was rubbing or not, since I was alone, but the back portion of each tire was about 1cm away from the inner lining at full lock.

So what I meant to say was that, my symptoms eased a bit, but did not go away in the 40 minutes that I drove the car last night.

My tires are aftermarket, but from my research, it should not cause rubbing. The sizes are 255/40/17 and 255/40/16 (stock rims). I've had this setup for over a year now and I've never had a problem with it.

Hope this provides more insight into what happened. What do I need to do to fix this?

[This message has been edited by hyuan (edited 18 August 2002).]

------------------

www.acrmotorsports.com

 

[ACR_Motorsports]

Actually, he can't have a 255/40/16. Not one application is even listed on Tirerack for that size. Must be a typo and I hope he meant a 225/40/16

Originally posted by nsxtasy:
Those are the widest front tires I've heard of anyone using on an NSX. I suspect they are rubbing and that is causing your problem.

The only thing I don't understand is why you never had a problem before now.

I also wonder whether the handling on your car is compromised. I've never heard of anyone using the same treadwidth tires front and rear.

------------------

www.acrmotorsports.com

[This message has been edited by ACR_Motorsports (edited 18 August 2002).]

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by ACR_Motorsports:
Must be a typo and I hope he meant a 225/40/16

I hope so too.

Of course, because the 225/40-16 ought to fit, that still wouldn't solve the "mystery" of the screeching, but at least it wouldn't cause the obvious problems that a front 255/40-16 would.

 

[hyuan]

Oops. I guess I mismemorized my tire sizes. You guys are right! Its an egregious typo.

Here are my tire sizes:

225/45/16 and 255/40/17, Dunlop SP9000

(I wasn't involved with this selection, it came with the car)

Also, as a followup on this case. The problem is gone. Maybe the suspension got "compressed" somehow and didn't bounce back?

As another data point, my steering has a barely audible clicking when I am turning it at standstill (or very low speeds). The steering seems fine, so I never really paid much attention to it. Its probably not related.

Oh, And the car is a 94' so power steering.

Btw, I've put over 20K miles on my SP9000s. I'm trying to get rid of them, but the tire just isn't wearing out and I don't have room in my garage for a "spare" set. :-(

 

[steveny]

Originally posted by hyuan:
Btw, I've put over 20K miles on my SP9000s. I'm trying to get rid of them, but the tire just isn't wearing out and I don't have room in my garage for a "spare" set. :-([/B]

Damn, this means I will not wear out my POS SP9000's as soon as I would like to.

 

[ScienceofSpeed]

-- Chris

 

[hyuan]

Thought I would follow my own thread, as I think I know what happened and it may of use to someone else one day. A friend of mine had something similiar happen to one of his cars.

He thinks that I need new shocks because my shocks have "leaked their seals" causing them to stick while compressed.

My car has a ton of miles on the original shocks so I was going to replace them anyways. I'll have my mechanic check it out at my next scheduled maintenance (3K more miles to go).

 

[Zanardi 50]

Originally posted by ScienceofSpeed:

-- Chris

Great idea!

Luv them BAW (bad ass wing) too!