1999 Camaro 5.7L
In australia

When the road has slight uneven surface my car seems to rock from side to side sort of following the dips but not bouncing like if the shocks were shot, is this because the suspension is too tight ?. The shocks seem ok and all the suspension gear is in good condition, should I get it checked or do all these cars react the same?.

Graeme

 

What size tires are you running? What you describe seems typical of low profile, very wide section width tires. The opposite edges of the tires alternately ride up and down the edges of the ruts, causing a problem know as tram-lining. Some brands of tires are worse than others.

A good reference on the problem:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=47

Does that sound like your problem?

 

Mine does this too on asphalt roads with truck ruts. The car wants to climb on top of the ruts when braking, and stay in the ruts when cruising. I have 245/50/16's. It wasnt as bad when I had 235/55/16's.

 

Try 275's front and 315's rear........

 

Try 275s in NJ.*

 

Heh...I wanted to get a set of chrome C5 vette rims.....but I couldnt afford to wrap them in those steam rollers. lol

 

Just went and checked them, GOODYEAR P245/50R16 I think they could be the original Tires as no Wheel / Tire Shops sell them in Australia.
That link was very informative I must say.
Graeme

 

Injuneer:
"Try 275's front and 315's rear........"

ReNxWar:
"Try 275s in NJ.*"

But it lets you get in some Auto-Cross practice just staying in lane, on the way to the supermarket!

 

I am in NJ. I pave roads for a living

The first time I hit it hard with the 315 BFG Drag Radials, the rear felt like it was fishtailing all over the road, but it was just the edges of the tires fighting the truck ruts in the asphalt pavement on US 1 in North Brunswick.

 

Route #35 at Morgan Creek (swamp land base) has usually been interesting. Route #184 East (Florida Grove Road) between Hopelawn and Perth Amboy has great "wagon ruts", minimum width lanes, almost no curbing and the added bonus of telephone poles on the edge. I've always been surprised at how long those poles have survived ... especially when it snows.

 

I KNOW your in NJ. Thats why I added onto your post .

I must look drunk as hell every time I drive up 295, the ruts are SO bad north of the 76/676 split.

 

You cant find the 245's? Really? Thats why I went to the 245's, because I couldnt find any decent models in the 235 size. I could get the OE goodyears, but damn did those suck. The 245's I bought (Falken 912's) ride quieter, smoother, handle better (wet and dry), and were significantly cheaper. Those good years would hydroplane every chance they could, to the point where it was just scary to drive above 50 in the rain. I have yet to hydroplane with these falkens.

 

Looks like I can get the Falken 912's down here in OZ its the Goodyears I can not buy here in Australia. So I will save up my money and try them out THANKS.

 

For top of the line performance, look at the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. Much better than the OEM GS-C's. I would even attempt to find a GS-C..... that tire was developed for the Corvette more than 20 years ago, and the technology is somewhat outdated.

 

Ok will check these out also, are they better in performance or wear ?