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Terrible groove wander

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by Rob Patton, Aug 26, 2012.

  1. Rob Patton

    Rob Patton New Member

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    Brand new to the Prius here, just turned in a 4Runner for a new Prius 4. Love the car so far, but I have noticed that it has ridiculously bad groove wander (lateral movement when on rain grooves). To the point where I'm at 110% concentration on the steering wheel just trying to stay in my lane. Yet no problems when on regular highway surfaces, traction is just fine there. I have searched and seen similar complaints posted, but no real answers. Forgive me if I missed them. Is this common? I've seen this more mildly with other vehicles before, and had to try different tires until I found a set that worked right, but it is quite $$$ getting through that process. Around LA / Orange County a lot of the highways are heavily grooved so this is a real problem.

    Thanks!
    Rob
     
    #1 Rob Patton, Aug 26, 2012
  2. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    The phenomena is calling tramlining.
     
    #2 cwerdna, Aug 26, 2012
  3. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    Some of the phenomenon has to do with the high pressure and low resistance tires that cause a sympathetic oscillation.
     
    #3 Mike500, Aug 26, 2012
  4. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    The OE Yokohama S33D tires are very bad about this until they are well broken in (more than a couple thousand miles). I traded these tires for something different and the problem was much reduced but still evident until the tires had a few thousand miles on them. As the tread wears down the problem is lessened to the point of barely noticeable. As stated above, some tires are worse than others in this respect but it gets better.

    When I picked up my car from Carson Toyota I drove through similar stretches of freeway with grooved cement and the car was barely controllable.
     
    #4 F8L, Aug 27, 2012
  5. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    What F8L said, plus the steering on a Prius is very light and somewhat non-linear with poor feed back. Kind of like an X-Box 360, but you can get used to it. After 17,000 miles I hardly notice it anymore and my wife who rarely drives my Prius hates the steering. The rear axle also has some rubber bushings that allow it to "steer" a very little bit, that can't help stability.

    If it doesn't start feeling better in a couple of thousand miles, get your wheel alignment checked, it is sometimes not real good from the factory.
     
    #5 xs650, Aug 27, 2012
  6. Rob Patton

    Rob Patton New Member

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    Thanks for the info everyone, good to know.
     
    #6 Rob Patton, Aug 27, 2012
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