Unstable on Highway

[sprocket1200]

kumho tires made our bmw wander. pieces of crap. back to michelin, forever...

[WAYNE'S X5]

I'm not suprised as they are a buget tyre,stick with michelin or toyo proxe's !

[Santib]

Originally Posted by Santib

I cant figure out what is causing my X to wander on the highway. It has 87000 miles and I have checked the front suspension to make sure that there are no broken parts in the front end. I was told that the tension struts could cause this condition when they get old. The bushings are not cracked but show some wear. Has anyone found any Urathane bushings to replace the stock ones? Thanks for your help.

I have checked the tires. Not the problem. The problem started around 3000 miles ago. I had Michelins all around. I just replaced(last week)the rear tires with Toyo
S/T. They grip and ride great. They have excessive roadforce but I am going to correct that this week by match mounting them. I am certain that the problem is coming from weak tension rod bushings(TENSION STRUT WITH RUBBER MOUNTING). I am going to replace them this week and will see how It changes the steering problem. I never had this condition when I first bought this X5 last Feb. I have put 30k on it in one year and hope to have the problem fixed as soon as I can.I would like to enjoy the awsome handling that I now it is capable of.

[paulgt3]

Have you had it aligned lately or checked?

[Santib]

I performed an alignment last week and changed the rear camber from -2.15 to -1.50 to reduce the inside edge wear. I set the rear Toe to +.2 to see if that would help keep it more stable. From what I can tell, it seems to have made the steering much more sensetive to the worn front bushings.
I have new bushings on the way and should have them in later this week.
I'm going to replace the bushings without realignment and see what the affect is. Then I will make some changes to fine tune.

It's great to be able too make all these adjustments myself with the proper equipment. hunter dsp600

[Santib]

Still have not installed the new bushings. Hope to have them in this weekend.
Will post results.

[CanadianX5]

Mine started wandering like crazy after I added 30mm spacers on the rear.
If Im not paying enough attention to my driving it catches me off guard and looks like Im drunk.

[vqt]

Mine started wandering after I upgraded from 18" to 20" (staggered). It wanders sporadically, especially when I change lanes, as if I over do it.

I had wheel balance done on all 4, but that didn't seem to help.

[Santib]

It was all coming from the front tires(michelins)they were cupped in the center. Which is what was causing the car to wander over any road crown or high spots. I installed new Toyo Proxy s/t and the ride and handling is awsome. I plan on lowering it now with H&R springs.

Thanks for all the great input.