As of yesterday, I had installed a set of brand new Avon M500s. I noticed that when i turn the radio off, I hear little bits of gravel kicking up into the car underside. Is this normal or something? Is there anything I can do besides turn the radio up or should I be concerned?

Also, I had the car re-aligned with a Hunter alignment system, and it seems to be drifting to the left alittle.....even when I'm in the right lane of the highway...what the heck. I know the mechanic is going to tell me I'm crazy cause his Hunter system is going to say it's aligned.....

 

You mean you hear it all the time when you're driving even on a highway? That's a bit strange..

 

No, I do not hear it on highways. It is on side streets where there is more loose stones....it's almost like my tires though are sticky and hold onto the rocks until they are kicked off at some point into my wheel well.....or the ultra high performance summer tires make gravel stick more compared to my snow tires....

 

Its normal, new tires = great traction. The treads are deeper and will grab more loose pebbles and debris and fling it up all over your car. It sucks but it happens. I just got brand new Falken Ziex 512's on my 18's and they have been kicking stuff up all over my car but ONLY in my development. Everywhere else where the roads are driven on frequently (ie. your highway mention) is perfectly fine.

As for the fading to the right, mine does that as well and i just had mine aligned yesterday. Sometimes when they do the alingment, the steering wheel isn't exactly straight and when you let go it wants to go back to it center position and can pull it a little bit. If you have a copy of your alignment sheet, post it up and i'll take a look at it, but i'm sure your fine. Just for comparison, my alignment was this:

Front-
Toe: -.01/.00
Camber: -.1/-.2

Rear-
Toe: -.07/-.08 (wish they got that a little closer but its within spec)
Camber: -.09/-1.0

Mine probably pulls a little right because both the front and rear have a little more camber but its not gonna hurt anything. If it bothers you that much, take it back to them.

 

Hey, thanks for your help! I'm going to take it back but I hope the mechanic doesn't get pissed. But I paid $120 on a Hunter machine so I expect it kinda perfect.

Left Front

0.5 Camber
2.9 Caster
-0.01 Toe

Right Front

0.4 Camber
2.9 Caster
0.00 Toe

Left Rear

-0.9 Camber
0.14 Toe

Right Rear

-1.0 Camber
0.06 Toe


Front
-0.01 Total Toe
-0.01 Steer Ahead

Rear
0.20 Total Toe
0.04 Thrust Angle

 

The only major fix that was misaligned before was my Front Cross Camber which was at 0.9. The sheet doesn't say what they fixed it to though.

 

If you went with Avons on stock or plus sized wheels, I assume you went with either 225-45-17 or 225-40-18. To my knowledge, Avon doesn't make 215-50-17 (stock size) rubber. When you switch to wider tires (especially performance versions), you'll be more prone to tramlining... the tires will accentuate the inconsistencies of the road more. That's why you may start to drift a tiny bit. If it's overly pronounced, it probably is your alignment. You don't feel any vibrations when driving, do you?

 

csj0952- The only thing i see that could be changed a little is that left rear toe could def be kicked back in some more. I think the .14 should be like half of that (.07) but other than that it looks pretty good.

Good question from amadeus303, vibrations? I don't have any when my cars fades a little right....

 

Yes, I have the 225-45-17s.

 

I have the Falkens that jwood_06TSX mentioned above and noticed the same thing. I was a bit surprised at first. It is probably that big channel groove in the middle slanging debris. Sucks but what are you going to do?

 

Yeah, stop driving on unpaved gravel roads!!! Ha-ha...just kidding

Maybe a set of factory splash guards will help, but they are really small. It will only be a temporary problem until you get a little more tire wear. Until then your new tires will be picking up all sorts of sh1t.