[toureg]

I have a 2005 V8 with air suspension and factory 19" wheels. Since it was new the car wanders or pulls right all of the time. A constant steering input is required to keep car on the road. This is extremely annoying as you can imagine. I have had it into the dealership where I purchased the vehicle for problem resolution right after I bought the car, a year later and now 2 years after. They have tried aligning, rotating, inflation changes, new tires, all to no avail. VW customer service (Which is a jolk at best) claims that there is nothing wrong and that there is nothing to fix. They did replace two of the tires at 10K miles (I had to buy the other two). The dealer service manager said that he thought that the stock tires were too wide and that was casuing the tram lining effect and pulling to the right. Now I am two years into this relationship with no resolution. During the last trip to the dealer for replace of the navigation system for the 2nd time, I discussed trying a different size wheel and tire on the vehicle. He installed a set of 18" 255/55 R18 for a test. It did indeed make a significant difference. Of couse neither the dealer or VW is willing to replace my set of 19" wheels for 18's. They want me to buy a set ($1000 used) and pay for a new set of tires (they would buy two) for a total of somewhat over $1500 total. If I were to do that then the grand total bill would $1200 for the original 19" option + $500 for two wheels a year ago+ the $1500 now = $3200. All this to fix a VW caused problem.

Ok I'll stop ranting and get to my question for the group. Obviously I don't want to spend an additional $1500. Has anyone tried swapping the 275/45 R19 tires with 255/50 R19 tires. In the research that I have done I have found that the 19" wheel rims are 9" wide. The tire manufacturers specify allowable applications of 7"-9" rim widths for the 255/50 R19. The circumference of the 255/50 and the 275/45 vary by about 1%. All this leads me to think that it should work OK.

Any thought by the forum would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[nltomba]

Why don't you try to swap your 19's with somebody that has 18's
That could be zero dollars in cost

 

[toureg]

I'd love too. Do you know anybody that might be interested?

 

[xxxxRedneck Albertan]

I experienced a lot of what I call "tracking" particularly on roads with bad rutting in the pavement. After much research I switched from the 275/45 R19 Michelins to 255/55 R19 Nokian WR's. Not only did the "tracking" problem go away, I now have a tire that is actually great in snow and ice.

 

[toureg]

Do you have the air suspension? I was concerned that a xxx/55 R19 would have enough of a change in the circumference from the 275/45 R19's to possibly cause a problem with computer controlled suspension or the 4 motion control.

 

[xxxxRedneck Albertan]

I don't have air suspension. When researching the tires I found that the overall diameter of the 275/45 R19's and the 255/55 R19's was virtually the same. The only major difference was the width. I have had no problems with the 4 motion. An added bonus was a much more compliant ride over potholes and tar seams in the pavement.

 

[toureg]

Thanks for the info. Do you know what the tread wear rating is on the Nokians. I have been geting very poor mileage out the Pirelli and Michelins.

 

[spockcat]

Do you have the air suspension? I was concerned that a xxx/55 R19 would have enough of a change in the circumference from the 275/45 R19's to possibly cause a problem with computer controlled suspension or the 4 motion control.

As long as all four tires are the same size, you aren't going to cause any problems like you mention.

 

[AZBob]

I don't have air suspension. When researching the tires I found that the overall diameter of the 275/45 R19's and the 255/55 R19's was virtually the same. The only major difference was the width. I have had no problems with the 4 motion. An added bonus was a much more compliant ride over potholes and tar seams in the pavement.

It's not virtually the same. The height of the 275/45 is over an inch shorter (1.3" actually). The 255/55 is 4.33% different, so when you're showing 60mph on the 275's, you'll only be showing 57.4mph on the 255's.

In my opinion, that's actually a pretty bad choice in tire size. You'd be MUCH better off with a 255/50R19 size tire, it's only a 1% difference. I have no idea if that's a popular size or not (i.e. if you can by decent tires in that size).

 

[chrislaw92]

Nokian WR's

I experienced a lot of what I call "tracking" particularly on roads with bad rutting in the pavement. After much research I switched from the 275/45 R19 Michelins to 255/55 R19 Nokian WR's. Not only did the "tracking" problem go away, I now have a tire that is actually great in snow and ice.

I just ordered a set of the WR's in 255/55/19 for my 04 V10 based on recommendation from the local wheel and tire shop. Have you had them off road at all?

 

[Yeti]

I just ordered a set of the WR's in 255/55/19 for my 04 V10 based on recommendation from the local wheel and tire shop. Have you had them off road at all?

I have had them off road, just not in that size. I have 245/65/17 on my Treg and did the Rally in CO earlier this year on them and they worked fine. We had a V10 Treg on the Rally with WR's but he was on 18" wheels and his did very well too.

 

[Vegas Matt]

My only fear would be the lack of sidewal height on the 19's would make it easy to pinch-flat the tires while off-roading. We had two vehicles on the Colorado rally with 19's. One made it through with a scarred/sliced sidewall (not deep enough to flat it, but still sliced) and the other pinch-flatted one in a stream crossing.

Back to the original poster, I have heard that wider tires can cause more wandering and tramlining, but I don't know if that is entirely your issue. I had my Touareg aligned within 2,000 miles after buying it, as it was pulling to the right. They aligned it, and it still pulled. The thing is, it pulled due to road crown. If I were on the left of a crown (i.e. left lane of a one-way street), it pulls left. Normally, since most driving is right of the crown, it pulls right. So, I think the Touareg (at least mine) is set up pretty neutral, but is sensitive to the crown.

Good luck,
Matt

 

[AZBob]

The thing is, it pulled due to road crown. If I were on the left of a crown (i.e. left lane of a one-way street), it pulls left. Normally, since most driving is right of the crown, it pulls right. So, I think the Touareg (at least mine) is set up pretty neutral, but is sensitive to the crown.

If owners would look at the factory settings, they'd see that the toe-in is nearly zero for our car, and will therefore exhibit the characteristics Matt describes (and I've described elsewhere). The thing is, hardly any cities have one-way streets anymore, so everyone is driving on the right side of the crown all the time so it seems like it only pulls to the right, when the truth is that it will to whatever side exhibits more force via road irregularity.

I've talked about this until I was blue in the face, but no one listens to me. If the OP has a real problem with it, have them dial in more toe-in when an alignment is done. But don't complain when the insides of your front tires wear out sooner than expected and the turn-in capability goes down the crapper.

 

[xxxxRedneck Albertan]

Had a bit of a brain cramp. The WR's I put on are actually the 255/50 R19 size. The difference from the 275/45 R19's is only 0.3 inches in overall diameter, with the 255's being larger.

 

[tencjedd]

Back to the original question, which was about "wandering" or a slight pull in steering. All of last winter I suffered a similar problem, slight pull to the right, despite 2 alignments and re-balances, constant monitoring of tire pressure (no TPMS), etc. Problem disappeared when I took my winter tires (Pirelli Scorpion Ice and Snows 255/55/18's) and put my 3 season Toyo Proxes back on. Straight as an arrow again. Winter rolls around, put the Pirelli's back on, and BAM, the car drifts right again. Alignment, re-balanced, and a rotation - car still slightly pulls right. I'm chalking it up to "tire bias" - i.e., the tread pattern design imparts a directional grip bias which results in the car slightly pulling. Just a thought.

 

[DicknNancy]

Right hand drift

If you take your stock tires and switch them from right front to left front and visa versa and you notice a difference in how your Egg steers, you have a radial tire pull problem. Could be eight a bad belt or uneven wear. If you notice no change at all then you have an alignment issue.
Our Egg runs 8 degrees positive caster on the right front and 7 3/4 degrees positive on the left and as such (very high positive caster) you will have some road crown sensitivity. A cure? Have an alignment tech drop the caster on the left front 1/4 to 1/2 degree and note the handling. Should compensate slightly if you spend most of your drive in the right lane. Carefull though, if you like all lanes and you Egg drives fine in the left lane, you may develop a slight lead to the left in the left lane. Our Egg also runs 1/8 inch toe-in on the front and bit more(3/32") toe -in in the rear and we now have 30K on our 18" Nokian WR's with 8/32 tread left and only 2 rotations during the 30 K. Outstanding tire and the only tire I recommend for all season driving for Touaregs. We do also sell and recommend the Toyo Proxis ST for those who do not need the agressive winter traction and they are making 50 K as well with no problems.