Hey
I thought I posted this on the 7th but don't see it on the forum!!! ooops
My 05 is all over the road, all the time. It's terribly hard to drive! I have continental SportContact 2 tires; 225/40 R18 and 255/35 R19 on the back - standard as far as I know, and they're about 36 pounds (according to the mfg suggested pressure). Any clues Does anyone else have a hard time driving this car?

 

First question, does this occur on roads with groves and pavement changes on it? If so, you are probably fighting the tracking of the car. The wide tires and stance of this car are such that it will try and follow the groves and small pavement changes somewhat. I don't know if I'd describe it as "all over the road".

If this is occuring even on smooth and level pavement... Get the alignment checked ASAP!!!

Tire pressure in this car will have little effect on the handling like you describe.

Hope that helps. Cheers!

 

Agreed, it's either "tramlining," which you really can't do much about:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=47

or it's an alignment issue (most likely a bunch of toe out)

 

Great article on tramlining. Thanks. My 05 roadster does this to some degree and I thought it was the wide tires and the article confirmed it. We have alot of rubber on the ground for the weight of the vehicle. Thanks again.

 

I really started noticing this effect since I got the Xfire. We have BADLY rutted concrete freeways and they do tend to pull you around.

MikeR

 

There are a couple of specific stretches of road where my Crossfire will tramline a bit, but not any worse than my other car does in the same places. If your car is doing this all the time you really need to get the alignment checked. I have the same model year roadster with the exact same tires and it handled beautifully on a couple of different race tracks - Buttonwillow and California Speedway.

 

Hello, I just spotted your "all over the road" concerns. My '04 coupe does it too - on some roads. These cars will tramline because of their large aggressive tires, but I experience tramlining as more of a "pulling" feel with the car wanting to follow a pavement feature. I had a Supra with Goodyear "Gatorbacks" that was much more prone to this than the Crossfire. What I experience besides this, and what I think you may be talking about, is more of a rear end lateral movement phenomenon. The rear of the car seems to jump sideways (feels like) and not while cornering. I experience this on a badly truck abused stretch of concrete interstate. The road is grooved in the direction of the lanes, which would make you suspect tramlining; but when the sun is right I can see it is washboarded within the grooves. That I believe is the problem. I can drive my daughters Corolla over the same road and experience some bumpiness, but no sideways motion. It has been sugested on this forum that the fix may be reducing the weight of the rear wheel/tire. Some have suggested 18" all around with a taller tire on the rear to keep the stock overall diameter. If you search "18" wheel" I believe you may find some helpful discussion. I am considering puting original equip. front wheels on the rear of my Crossfire (if I could find some cheap and my current rear Contis wear out). Good luck. Let us know if you make any progress toward a solution.

 

36psi in the tires?
I thought it was 32 front, 33 rear according to the b-pillar/door jam!!!
I would recheck the tire pressure AND the manufacturers data - you don't say whether that's Chrysler or the tire manufacturer. The tire manufacturer will have a maximum psi - this is not always the recomended one by the vehicle manufacturer.

 

It's 36 psi all around for the SRT6 and 32 front, 33 rear for NAs.

 

I run my fronts higher and rears lower than reccomended.

Crossfire needs as much help reducing understeer as possible.