New tires,Horrible ride. WM need help

[ConElite]

Well yesterday I got my tires put on my rims b/c I was going to drive up north about 3 hours and my old ones were slick and one had a patch (nail). So I pay to get them put on and I start driving to get onto the freeway, Im going around 60ish and I notice my car feels like an 18 wheeler. My cars steering is all sloppy and the whole car is swaying and makes it real hard to steer. I freak out and instantly thing they took some of my parts off my car (ie. panhard or control arms). I pull over on the freeway and everything is still fine, I still have my front and rear sway bar but it still feels like an old school cadi. So the next thing I figured is the tires. I understand there is a break in period but would it make my car feel this bad? Or are the tires defective? I have not driven it since I got here but it seemed to have got a bit better after about 200 miles and i know its 500 miles break in period. What do you gues think. I was thinking the tores need to heat up and swell then cool down to sure correctly. Maybe im wrong.

[Christopherrr]

New tires will act like that...it's the oils they use to keep the rubber soft while in storage. I freaked when I put my Nittos 555s on and it drove like I had only 10psi in the tires. Once it hardens up a little and the oils rub off after some spirited driving it'll be fine.

What tires did you get put on anyways?

[ConElite]

Do to low funds I ended up getting the Sumitomo HTR Z. My brother used these years back and they worked ok for him, plus I plan to get new Wheels in the near future so no point in spending $120+ per tire. Yeah Thats what I was thinking. I figured it was the oil. I thought the same thing, that I only has about 10 PSI in it. But nope. Ha ha ha then as Im driving I see this coming up in my rear view.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Check your tire presure. They have to put 40-50 psi in the tire to get the bead to pop. Most of the time they don't let it back out and just slap it on the car.

[ConElite]

Check your tire presure. They have to put 40-50 psi in the tire to get the bead to pop. Most of the time they don't let it back out and just slap it on the car.

Yeah thats true. What I used to do is fill it to about 40-50 psi until the bead pops but it didnt have the Valve in the stem so when you removed the air hose alot of pressure came out and it would drop. I dont understand why anyone would do it any other way but For sure ill go check it right now b/c we're going to the beach so.

[Injuneer]

Did you check the lug nuts?

I've never had a problem of the magnitude you describe with new tires..... not even drag radials or full slicks.

[97LT1Z28]

If they jacked the car up under the A-frames, could they have pushed the lower ball joints out? I've heard of that happening.

[ConElite]

Well I made it back home. Still pretty bad. 500 miles and still feels like crap. I dont know what it is. Im lost. I checked the tire pressure, Its good. The Lug nuts I have not checked but I would of lost a wheel after 500 miles. The A-Arm Im sure are fine. I replaced the Rear tires so The front would/should not have been touched. Im going to check everything out tomorrow b/c There has to be something really wrong. I dont know whats going on. Its to the point that I was Scared I was going to Crash at least every 20 minutes. It was a mission driving back home.

[Injuneer]

.....The Lug nuts I have not checked but I would of lost a wheel after 500 miles.....

Not a good ASSumption.... but hey, its your car, take whatever chances you want with it. Just make sure you don't take out some innocent family driving in the next lane when you lose it.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

My mom got new tires one time and they left the lug nuts loose. By the time she got home 2 nuts had fallen off and were rattling around in the hub cap. The other 3 were barely on the studs. She was very lucky.

The left side will tend to tighten as you drive. The right side tends to loosen. Before 1971 I think all Chryslers had reverse threads on the right side. (I hope I don't have that backwards. Those are some pretty old brain cells.)

You really should check them.

[Joe 1320]

When is the last time you had the alignment checked?

[MDMike]

directional arrows on tyres

Do these Sumis have directional arrows on them?
I know that tech is going away, but...

[ConElite]

When is the last time you had the alignment checked?

Its about time for that Joe. Its been a while and I never did it when I lowered my car, Im hoping to do it this afternoon.

Do these Sumis have directional arrows on them?
I know that tech is going away, but...

Yes They Are, They Are running the right direction so Im not worried about that. I made Sure they were running the right way. And Checked again and then one more time.

Not a good ASSumption.... but hey, its your car, take whatever chances you want with it. Just make sure you don't take out some innocent family driving in the next lane when you lose it.

Your right fred. Im going to make sure and check them on my break.

See this is the kicker. Today I drove to work and It felt alot better. A lot more stable. Still a little loose but Much better. So I dont know whats going on. Im going to try and get my alignment done today b/c ever since I lowered the car it pulls to the left and the steering wheel is not perfectly straight. Maybe its stupidity on my part I did not mention that the alignment was not done. Either way Ill keep you guys informed. Thanks for all the advice.

[93/96 f-body]

I had some what of the same problem with my old 96ss. I replaced the rears with and different brand and left the stock BFG's on the front and the rear end like it was loose as you explain. I put the new tires up front and it went away. My mechanic at the time said running different manufatures tires with the lower profiles will do that sometimes. It was a wierd feeling. I bought the other tires asap after that.

[ConElite]

Alright so, I went To get my car's Alignment done and Sure enough it was all out of wack. Not Extremely but the Caster Was off in the rear b/c of the Control arms (My Error) and the Toe was off a bit on the front. It still slightly pulls, but its almost completely gone. Im going to Drive it for about a month and if it still does im going to go back and excercise my Warrenty. As for the weird tire feeling. Its not as bad at all. Its almost Back to normal. The only thing it does is as the guy above said, It feels Loose. When Turning the car just feels loose. Its a lot better but still Loose -the-less. I have Kumho's up front (245-50/r16) and the ones in the rear are The Sumo's (255-50zr16).
So could it be that the front and rear are different?