does anyone knotice when driving on the freeway in a focus it seems like the car is shaking in the rear section ? i knoticed this on my sedan first, thought it was because it was stock, after lowering it it helped a little but it still has a little shimmy feel to it. to my surprise my 05 zx3 did the same thing, mabey its california, but after lowering it, it still did it but not to the extent as in its stock state. i put on the fs rear stress bar only and it seemed to clear up the rear but now i feel it in the front, kinda bobblie wiggle but not bad. so i stuck on the front strut bar and its all gone, no more wiggles and wobbles as of yet but why do these cars do this ?
After finally driving in the LA area of California back in March I noticed that tracking is a problem on those cement highways. What are you dealing with so far as materials on the roads etc?
Are you only noticing this on hwy trips?
I'll ask the same q - how fast are you going? Is is on dry pavement? What tires do you ride on?
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
the roads are mostly like mentioned, cross grated cement that has rain grooves in it.
on the zx3, it has some pretty beefy sway bars on it and the sedan has nothing at all, just springs and shocks. on the sedan i had the pirellis i think, same ones on my zx3 now only a taller sidewall.
Last edited on Fri Jun 10th, 2005 06:31 pm by evil
fx, the sedan now has 16's and the x3 has 17's with a 40 series tire. the sedan now has the stock rims and tires that were on the zx3. first thing i did was get home and swap tires out. im thinking its just the roads around here because the farther out i go the smoother it gets, could be a combo of the roads surface and the sizze and weight of the car ? i dont know !!! i was just curious to see if it was just me. thanks all. later
I'll tell ya what...my 2k2 came with the firesquaks and I didn't mind them.
My 2k3 came with the Pirelli P6 and I HATE them. They don't make me feel comforatable in rain or on dry pavement. They track like a sonofab*tch and I can feel them 'roll' on the sidewalls when taking an entrance or exit ramp. I don't go crazy speeds on them, but I'm not impressed.
I have my 17' Ford Racing Tuners on now with Kumho Ecsta ASX and I absolutely love them. The road noise is there, but nothing I can't tune out with my stereo or just the wind from the windows, but I'm confident on them in the rain they're spectacular and the dry pavement - even grooved they handle very well.
You may want to consider a diff. tire if you think that may help. I know that even Pep Boys is carrying the Kumho Ecsta ASX's now for inexpensive money. I got mine from Tire Rack for less than $90 each shipped - AND they come with a 30,000 mile Kumho warranty.
Last edited on Sat Jun 11th, 2005 06:01 pm by Chelly03PZEV
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
Find yourself a good stretch of road out in the country somewhere and
test it out. Get up to the aforementioned speeds and see if the
"wobble" is there. I think it has more to do with the "rain grooves" in
the road- I always feel uncomfortable on those surfaces, no matter what
I'm driving.
If it still feels that way on a piece of regular blacktop at those
speeds, get your 4-wheel alignment checked! You never know what may
have thrown it off. It doesn't take all that much, and even a little
misalignment can cause that swaying feeling (and poor tire wear!)
____________________ Project FocusFast
'06 ZX3- Intake, exhaust, mount
'01 ZX3- Salvaged, SOLD
'01 ZX3- Repo'd several years ago
'80 RX7- RB Intake, RB header. Loud, slow, fun.
I know that feeling 110%, our 2000 ZX-3 did it with 153km on it and so does our 2005 ZX-5 with only 17km on it, glad to find you discovered a remedy, it is really disturbing. Not sure if you get winter and snow where you are, but here, if you get even a hint of ice, you get that same retarded feeling in the car, makes you feel kind of queasy... so weird!
