Nokian WR G3 Tire Question...

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toddjb122

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Had a question for folks who have run these tires. I have a new set of 19"er, probably have 1500 miles on them.

Initial impressions are good. Low road noise, good feel, improved braking. The tires they replaces had about 53K miles on them, so I would hope they'd feel better.

Have one issue I've noticed in two different scenarios and I'm not sure if it is related to the tires or a TBD suspension issue that could have happened at the same time.

1) When driving at highway speeds (60-70mph) around banked turns, or even off ramps as I'm decelerating, the truck seems to sway/lean more to the outside than it used to. I can almost feel the body leaning out instead of hugging the turn.

I can't tell if the tire does not like to be redirected at speed, or it's suspension related.

2) At times the lanes on highways are not paved evenly and there is an asphalt overlap ridge which occurs between two lanes of traffic. (near the line, but usually not exact) The truck seems to be grabbing on to that asphalt line where I used to just ignore it.

In both cases, while not causing panic it has caused me to alter my usual lazy one handed driving and put both hands on the wheel when I sense it is not handling as effortlessly as usual.

I will have my mechanic peek underneath, but was wondering if anyone else noticed this with tires. My LR3 has 216K miles on it. At this point, I sort of lose track on what suspension work I have had, when, but I have also driven just about all 216,000 of those miles so I am sensitive to changes in driving behavior.

Thanks!
 

toddjb122

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Okay, it's one of two things.

#1 - This is my first directional tire. Might be that it just behaves different than I'm used to. When the front tires turn the back ones want to keep tracking straight. Also the tread could be gripping on to pavement overlaps differently than my Michelins. Only odd thing to me is that a lot of folks on this forum have owned and recommended this tire. Nobody mentioned this.

#2 - My left rear upper control arm is all wobbly since the bushings are shot. If you jack up the car you can wobble that wheel top to bottom. Maybe that wobble is causing it to pull me at highway speeds around turns and pavement?

What's your guess? I'll get my upper control arms fixed and see what that does...
 

roverman

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I'd say it's your bushings. Unidirectional tires wouldn't have anything to do with your symptoms. Although tread pattern might have a different feel over tar strips or grooved roads.
How many bushing replacements will this be for you? I know you've got a ton of miles, just wondering what the average life for you has been.
 

catman

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Tires can definately play a role in what you are experiencing. They grooved/shaved some concrete highway sections around here and my wife's car with Michelin Pilot Super Sports on it tracks the grooves so hard it makes driving difficult on those sections. My LR3 and her RR have no issues and she did not have issues with her car before they grooved the road.

I imagine your new tires just have a sticker compound which gives better traction than what you took off. The sidewall strength can also be different and play a role in the sway during turns. It depends on the construction of the tire. I am assuming the control arm issue was there with the old tires, so I doubt that is the sole issue, but it is possible that it is exacerbating the different traits of the new tires.
 

toddjb122

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I'd say it's your bushings. Unidirectional tires wouldn't have anything to do with your symptoms. Although tread pattern might have a different feel over tar strips or grooved roads.
How many bushing replacements will this be for you? I know you've got a ton of miles, just wondering what the average life for you has been.
Thanks for the feedback. While I'm not looking forward to the bill, I hope you're correct.

The rear uppers have never been touched. So, even though only the left side is shot, I'm getting both sides replaced while he's in there.

Now, the front bushings have been through a few iterations over the years. Some of that early on with warranty when they were trying to figure our the correct alignment settings for our front ends, I guess.

My lower control arms were pretty rusty, but have been otherwise solid. I sprayed them with rust reformer last year and they've looked pretty good since.
 

cperez

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I've put about 16K miles on my Nokian WRG3's and have not experienced any of these issues. To add to that, I have had new lower control arms replaced during that time span, so I have driven these tires on both good and bad LCAs (more accurately, bad bushings but I went ahead and replaced everything).

I'd agree that that it makes sense to suspect your bushings. Maybe yours are way more shot than mine were. I don't think the tech at my indy shop was able to get significant wobble when it was up on the rack before they were replaced.

One thing I did note the other day was a bit of understeer while going around an onramp. However, it was wet at the time. While I wasn't flying around the curve, I may have hit it a little hotter than usual. Still, I was a little disappointed to feel this as I thought these all-weather (different than all-season) tires would be grippier especially in wet conditions. But I'm not ready to badmouth the tire when it may have been my driving plus a touch of bad oily spot or other slick road condition. I will keep an eye on that. Otherwise I am very happy with these tires.
 

toddjb122

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...I'd agree that that it makes sense to suspect your bushings. Maybe yours are way more shot than mine were. I don't think the tech at my indy shop was able to get significant wobble when it was up on the rack before they were replaced.
When you grip my left rear tire, there is an inch of play along the vertical axis. The right rear is solid...barely noticeable.

One thing I did note the other day was a bit of understeer while going around an onramp. However, it was wet at the time. While I wasn't flying around the curve, I may have hit it a little hotter than usual. Still, I was a little disappointed to feel this as I thought these all-weather (different than all-season) tires would be grippier especially in wet conditions. But I'm not ready to badmouth the tire when it may have been my driving plus a touch of bad oily spot or other slick road condition. I will keep an eye on that. Otherwise I am very happy with these tires.
Interesting feedback. Thanks.

As @catman noted, it's definitely pulling on uneven pavement. Not drastic, but when it makes me put a second hand on the wheel when I have kids in the back, it sketches me out just a little.

In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing how these tires handle the snow. Other than this issue which may or may not be the tires, I've been otherwise very happy with the Nokians.
 

Houm_WA

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I suspect it's the bushings. I have Nokians as well (Hakkas not WRGs) and they don't exhibit any strange behavior. They are like butter.
 

toddjb122

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I've now had my rear uppers replaced and gotten the required alignment. The tracking issue has gone away at highway speeds, so I suspect the left rear wheel's vertical wobble must have been doing something scary. Anyway, that's fixed.

I do notice more road noise and road feel than with my Michelins, though. It's not a bad ride, but if the road surface isn't smooth I feel it more than I used to. It's like even roads that are not washboard...feel a little like it. Again, this is at highway speeds.

Took them out on the beach last weekend and they did fine. Not the typical long beach drive this trip so I can't give a 100% review, but they did what I needed though soft patches. I wasn't going far enough to air down.

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I do enjoy sitting on the tailgate with a beer, parked on sand, waiting for the sunset...
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cperez

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Good to know that your tracking issue is resolved. And your photos were the perfect touch for this beautiful early fall day in my part of the world (DC). Cheers, fellow Landy people.
 

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