What happened to my GS-D3's!!!

[hmwave]

hmwave I hear what you are saying but as long as you take it easy in the rain you should be fine. I have two sets of Nitto DR's my car is a daily driver. Now snow or ice that is a diffrent thing. I just feel for you $650 is alot to spend every 3 or so months.
Good luck.

Gil

I was quoted around $250 each for the Nittos so the bill wouldn't be much different anyways.
I'll fit the GS-D3's for the winter and may consider new rims/Nittos for the summer months, spread out the wear a little.

I really don't want to take the chance of Nittos in the heavy, sheeting rain we oftern receive here. The highway today was like a shallow river and I could feel the car getting light. With good tread on the GS-D3's it always feels firmly planted and safe.

 

[03DOHC]

if you're driving the car properly on the street, it doesnt kick on in the first place :bash:

How does one drive a factory 425hp car "properly"? The only time I use my traction control is when it rains.

 

[TenthScale]

Wearing on the outside more then the rest of the tread face is normally due to positive caster. The positive caster can be caused dynamically by hard cornering or statically by being aligned poorly. Either way you should dial in more caster I run max negative caster I could get on mine which I believe is 3 degrees. I also have Delrin bushings and MM tie-rod end which dramatically reduces the dynamic caster change during cornering.



They have the exact same tread design and tread depth as 555Rs. I run 555RII on the front and 555R on the rear.

I believe you mean to replace caster with camber here. You don't measure caster in the rear only front and you never run positive camber in the rear.

 

[toofast4u]

I believe you mean to replace caster with camber here. You don't measure caster in the rear only front and you never run positive camber in the rear.

You are are right I just fixed it to camber it was late. You never want positive camber in the front or rear.

 

[toofast4u]

Would you expect these settings to cause over 100% increased tire wear on a daily driver that has been on slippery roads for a good part of the time since I fitted the new GS-D3's?

Below is the data from the printout he gave me after the alignment.
Does this look out of whack to you?

Not the way you are describing. You should have slightly more wear on the inside shoulders then the rest of the tread face with those settings which is normal. If you are going through basically the entire tread face faster that is from spinning them. Slippery roads sounds to me that you have been spinning them on a daily basis. My stock F1s only lasted 6k due to unintentially spinning them during normal driving.

 

[CharlieCobra03]

They have the exact same tread design and tread depth as 555Rs. I run 555RII on the front and 555R on the rear.

Hmm, seems I read somewhere that the R's were 3/8's and the RII's 5/8's? Could be wrong. I just know that I've run these one dry day since I got em and haven't had any probs. This could change as the tires start going away because of the rather large spaces between treads.

 

[hmwave]

Not the way you are describing. You should have slightly more wear on the inside shoulders then the rest of the tread face with those settings which is normal. If you are going through basically the entire tread face faster that is from spinning them. Slippery roads sounds to me that you have been spinning them on a daily basis. My stock F1s only lasted 6k due to unintentially spinning them during normal driving.

That's the weird thing.
The last set lasted over 14K and that was on mostly dry, warm to hot summer roads with very spirited driving. I guess they weren't slipping then, just gripping and pulling!

The tread face wear is definitely uneven with this set.
I'll know soon but I believe the alignment must be off because there is 4mm of tread on the insides and just a finger nail tip depth on the outsides.

 

[hmwave]

BTW Toofast, congrats on 4444 posts!!! :beer:

 

[qwiktim]

If you need another set of GS-D3's, I just posted a pair of 315/35's with only a few hundred miles on them for sale in the classifieds..

 

[hmwave]

If you need another set of GS-D3's, I just posted a pair of 315/35's with only a few hundred miles on them for sale in the classifieds..

Thanks but too late! I bought another set yesterday.

One other factor I should add here...

When my last set of GS-D3's were near done and now that this new set is getting to the same point I find that the rear of the car will near 'violently' sidestep when I roll over heavy road imperfections, under power or rolling along in neutral. Over steel drain covers even when driving in a dead straight line off the power it feels like someone kicked and moved the driver seat sideways - yes, it's that noticeable. Kinda feels like the IRS is not solidly bolted to the car.

I've carefully checked the underside of the car a number of times, the hubs, IRS welding and mounts, shock mounts, etc, and all the aftermarket parts (MM IRS bushings, IRS 14mm/12mm bolts, 00R shocks, welded/bolted in Steeda IRS top mount anti-hop plates, aluminum pumpkin bushings) and everything is bolted up tight and looks fine. The welds on my MM subframes also look fine front to back, both sides.

However I have a feeling something is wrong down there, just don't know what.

I fitted Powerslot II rotors six months ago but I'd assume they are properly balanced and are not causing any tire killing dynamic vibration as the car rolls smoothly at any speed with the clutch down.

 

[StngStr]

If you drive like a responsible adult, traction control won't kill you.

 

[hmwave]

If you drive like a responsible adult, traction control won't kill you.

With all due respect to you that's not true. Depends on your definition of 'drive like a responsible adult' I suppose.
You are driving a high power muscle car after all.

The implementation of TC on the 03/04 Cobra is dangerous. It can leave you with effectively zero power to accelerate which in ANY car is dangerous.
This car is heavy, nearly two tons, it has high torque at low revs and part throttle, and on slippery roads the wheels can break free and spin with a rotational delta across the 'axle'. If the car is also yawing at that point, even slightly, boom, the ECM cuts power and your left hanging there.

I once had to leave a slippery boat ramp onto a major roadway at rush hour, crossing leftward to the far lanes. After easily a five minute wait of constant traffic a small gap opened and I had to move out quickly. Not recklessly or with deliberate loss of traction, just quickly to cross the lanes safely.
The rear wheels broke free on the grit in the center lane and the turning moment caused a slight yaw. The TC cut *ALL* power and I was left in a flowing lane with a MAC truck bearing down, horns blaring.
I was lucky to get the damn thing moving again when the ECM finally gave me control back.

A driver should NEVER have engine power yanked from his/her control in any circumstances. I'd easily have caught that skid in an instant and kept the car rolling out into the traffic. As it was the ECM thought it was helping me when in fact it was close to killing me.
Ask a pilot if he'd like the same behavior on his jet? Ever seen the A320 going into a wood because the computer wouldn't let the pilot fly out of the envelope for a few seconds?

Sorry, you won't change my mind here. Ford's TC implementation is badly designed and poorly implemented. It's an accident waiting to happen.
Mine is off, forever.

 

[toofast4u]

Hmm, seems I read somewhere that the R's were 3/8's and the RII's 5/8's? Could be wrong. I just know that I've run these one dry day since I got em and haven't had any probs. This could change as the tires start going away because of the rather large spaces between treads.

The 555R in 275 and 315 for the 17" rim have 6.3/32" tread and the 555RII in 275 for the 17" rim have 6.3/32" tread right from Nittos website. I have not had any problems in the rain with them as long as your drive smart. If you try to do 80 mph in a rain storm then you are sooner or later going to get into trouble no mater what tires you are running. I never do over 60 mph in the rain and haven't had a problem.

 

[toofast4u]

If you drive like a responsible adult, traction control won't kill you.

WTF does that mean. If you are such a "responsible adult" you most likely have no need for or reason to be driving a 400+ hp sports car never the less perusing a high performance website primarily interested in modifying them. Go find a minivan forum somewhere and have fun there.

 

[hmwave]

WTF does that mean. If you are such a "responsible adult" you most likely have no need for or reason to be driving a 400+ hp sports car never the less perusing a high performance website primarily interested in modifying them. Go find a minivan forum somewhere and have fun there.

Down boy, down! :lol:

 

[hmwave]

Toofast4u,
Any thoughts on the post I made above, why the rear is 'leaping', 'shimmying' and 'sideways stepping' over road imperfections and drain covers?

A few months back while showing my S4 owning buddy what real power feels like ( :rockon: ) I heard a loud 'bang' from the rear end when I floored it in 1st. It was loud and unusual enough for me to think WTF was that?
As noted above though I can't see any damage of any sort.

If the limited slip had gone bad could that cause the 'leaping', etc?

BTW, what's the difference between toe and thrust angle on the rears?

 

[Most]

TC is permanently programmed off on my car as its pretty useless.
Has been for two years now so was off with my last GS-D3's that lasted over 12K miles. The new tires lasted around 5K miles..

My first set was down after less than 4000 miles!
I think thats normal on that extreme heavy car if you drive it "sportive".
Even on my superleightweight LOTUS ELISE I had to change my tires after 6000 miles!
Maybe thats extreme, because I live in the Swiss Alps, near the German "Autobahn" and may drive faster and more fast cornerings than most "daily drivers" in your country.
But I never have seen 12k miles on powerful and "sportive" driven cars!

BTW: Yes I think the TC in the 03/04 Cobra is VERY DANGEROUS. How did you program it "permanently off"?

 

[toofast4u]

BTW: Yes I think the TC in the 03/04 Cobra is VERY DANGEROUS. How did you program it "permanently off"?

Your tuner can do it with a chip or you can do it with a programmer like the Diablo Predator.

 

[ercizm]

I'm on my 3rd set of tire's in under 6000. The 2nd were the BFG drag radials.I didn't care for them for daily driving. Knowing ford i'm now curious about the alignment. The TC definatley sucks and almost killed me to. I shut it off with the predator. I can drive sideways better than I can with no power and the car bucking like a bronco. I drove a new F-150 and the TC was way better even in the snow. We got hosed with a junk TC we had to pay for. :xpl:

 

[toofast4u]

Toofast4u,
Any thoughts on the post I made above, why the rear is 'leaping', 'shimmying' and 'sideways stepping' over road imperfections and drain covers?

A few months back while showing my S4 owning buddy what real power feels like ( :rockon: ) I heard a loud 'bang' from the rear end when I floored it in 1st. It was loud and unusual enough for me to think WTF was that?
As noted above though I can't see any damage of any sort.

I have felt that at the track when I run to little pressure in my rear tires. Actually one of my 555Rs had picked up a piece of steel on the track and aired down from 35 psi to 10 psi. It was not a good feeling going into a turn at speed when I really noticed it. I think you need to seriously examine your rear suspension and make sure everything is in spec and does not look damaged. The first thing I would expect are the toe links since they are very weak stock and a toe change at speed which could happen especially when hitting road imperfections will cause the issues you are describing. I replaced my end links with the ones my MM which also allow you to adjust bumpsteer which will also cause the issues you are describing, but I doubt bumpsteer is the cause of your problems unless you have really lowered your car a lot since the 03 have a revised inboard mounting location which dramatically reduced bumpsteer in comparison to previous models. After that it could be almost anything that is broken or loose and moving in the suspension.

If the limited slip had gone bad could that cause the 'leaping', etc?

I wouldn't expect that, but you will get the one wheel spin which will cause issues especially with the power our cars are making. You can have the stock ones rebuild.

BTW, what's the difference between toe and thrust angle on the rears?

Toe is the angle the tires are facing if you are looking straight down at them. If the front of the tire is facing outward of the rear that is toe-out and if the front of the tire is facing inward of the rear that is toe-in. Toe-in will increase high speed stability to a point. Toe is adjusted on the front and rear of our car and you should have toe-in between 0 and 1/16" per side. Depending on the suspension compliance, bushings and component rigidity, the toe is typically used to compensate for there deflection. As an example with the stock rubber bushings you want more toe-in then with much higher durometer Delrin bushings.

Trust angle compares the angle the rear tires are facing in relation to the centerline of the vehicle. This can be adjusted to some point with the toe and should be as close to 0 degrees as possible. I have heard of some people having to move the IRS assembly to bring there thrust angle in spec. Solid axle cars that are way out have a real issue and using need to have the chassis straightened.


This url I just found will probably explain it better then I can.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/align.jsp