New member - DSC light after wheel change

[1FastCasper]

Greetings!

I recently sold my 01 4.4 Sport (171,000 miles) and purchased a 2004 4.4(69,000 miles). The "new" e53 had 18" wheels on all corners. I swapped these for my staggered 20".
The problem I have is when passing on a mountain road, the yellow light on the dash lights up and acceleration is impossible until I lift the pedal. I assume I have pissed off the computer and it believes there is wheel spin because of the staggered wheels. Am I correct? If so, how do I make it happy again?

Thanks for your time and input!


John

[1FastCasper]

Originally Posted by trader4

I assume by staggered wheels you mean you have different size tires
on the front and back. And yes, the vehicle isn't going to like that.
It needs tires that have the same rotating circumference front and
back.

Please explain further, as my Sport had staggered tire sizes from the factory.

[Joshdub]

What are tire sizes?

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by 1FastCasper

...purchased a 2004 4.4 (69,000 miles). The "new" e53 had 18" wheels on all corners. I swapped these for my staggered 20".
The problem I have is when passing on a mountain road, the yellow light on the dash lights up and acceleration is impossible until I lift the pedal.

If your staggered tire set up is within spec (3% +/-) each other side to side...as well as axle to axle...then check the tread depth and air pressure to make sure that something really simple isn't causing the issue. Are your tires directional? If so, make sure that they are mounted on the correct side of the vehicle.

Also, you may want to check your wheel speed sensors...perhaps you bumped one while swapping the wheels...or they may have some crud/corrosion that needs to be cleaned up...or maybe a wire has chaffed or cracked.

My 06 4.4 came with the 18" Style 153 wheels...and I upgraded to a staggered set of 20" Style 87 wheels...and I had no issue at all since the tires are within the 3% spec of overall tire circumference/diameter (275/40/20 fr & 315/35/20 rr).

I go from 18" Style 153 Wheels (with 235/60/18 dedicated snow tires) for part of the year:

To 20" staggered Style 87 Wheels (275/40/20 & 315/35/20 tires) with no issues for the rest of the year:

[1FastCasper]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

If your staggered tire set up is within spec (3% +/-) each other side to side...as well as axle to axle...then check the tread depth and air pressure to make sure that something really simple isn't causing the issue. Are your tires directional? If so, make sure that they are mounted on the correct side of the vehicle.

Also, you may want to check your wheel speed sensors...perhaps you bumped one while swapping the wheels...or they may have some crud/corrosion that needs to be cleaned up...or maybe a wire has chaffed or cracked.

My 06 4.4 came with the 18" Style 153 wheels...and I upgraded to a staggered set of 20" Style 87 wheels...and I had no issue at all since the tires are within the 3% spec of overall tire circumference/diameter (275/40/20 fr & 315/35/20 rr).

I go from 18" Style 153 Wheels (with 235/60/18 dedicated snow tires) for part of the year:

To 20" staggered Style 87 Wheels (275/40/20 & 315/35/20 tires) with no issues for the rest of the year:

Front 275 40 20
Rear 295 40 20

Tires are directional,and new. They were on my 01 for 800 miles and I had no issues.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by 1FastCasper

Front 275 40 20
Rear 295 40 20

Tires are directional,and new. They were on my 01 for 800 miles and I had no issues.

Normally with stagger tires setup you need to run a lower aspect ratio on the rear if you have wider tires then the front.

I pretty sure if you measure the circumferences of the tires, the rear will be a lot more than the front. It may had work on your other X but it's not working for this X.

[1FastCasper]

Originally Posted by trader4

By my calculator, that's 2.2% difference. IDK what the limits are,
someone else said 3%, and 2.2% sure doesn't sound like much.

I was thinking the same thing. Not much difference between stock 255 55 18
and 295 40 20 either.

Do these vehicles have a bank angle sensor? I am wondering if "spirited" driving can make the vehicle think it is rolling over?

[ants_oz]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the '01 model was NOT x-drive, and the '04 model IS. The x-drive models are a lot more sensitive to wheel speed differences between the front and rear axles, because of the active torque apportioning system.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by ants_oz

Correct me if I'm wrong but the '01 model was NOT x-drive, and the '04 model IS. The x-drive models are a lot more sensitive to wheel speed differences between the front and rear axles, because of the active torque apportioning system.

Bingo

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by 1FastCasper

I was thinking the same thing. Not much difference between stock 255 55 18
and 295 40 20 either.

Do these vehicles have a bank angle sensor? I am wondering if "spirited" driving can make the vehicle think it is rolling over?

I think your calculations are off. There's a 6% difference between the two circumferences. (Front 275 40 20, Rear 295 40 20)