Tramlining

usually were the car wanders when the road surface is particularly uneven, white lines etc. happened to my mondeo a lot.

width of the tyres and the quality of them can also make a difference.
 
There are a number of things that can effect the way a car deals with road inperfections, or why it 'tramlines'.

- Tyres (Tread wear, pressure, miss matched types, out of shape, flat spots)
- Suspension (Camber, toe in, bad/broken components, tracking)
- Chasis (Twists, bends and general other alignment stuff)

More often than not it will be tracking or tyre related however, but ask Gibbo how camber and toe in an effect a car on the road after he drove my GT3. Gives you musscles like Conan :)
 
Tramlining is where your car wants to follow ruts in the road, its often noticable on badly maintained motorways in lane one, where trucks have made deep grooves in the road.

The fatter and more expensive your tyres, the more likely you will notice tramlining, different suspension setups will also affect it. Toe out on the wheels will increase the effects of tramlining for example. Worn suspension componants may cause the same effect as toe out, and therefor increase a cars tendancy to tramline.

A certain amount of tramlining is perfectly normal, and of course the worse the condition of the road, the more tramlining will be felt even in a 'theoritically perfect' car.

I noticed a few places in norway, where the roads were so bad, that you could almost let go of the wheel, and the car would tramline you around corners!, kinda freaky, and not a good idea to try it though. If your getting tramlining, its best to take a firm grip on the wheel to make sure you have maximum control over your vehicle.
 
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Think of trams, and tram lines, the tram follows the lines of the track (it has no choice obviously) but that's exactly what it means, it means your tyres follow the natural path of the texture of the road they are on. As mentioned by housemaster the different reasons for it and what accentuates them. But the term is just as has been described. All tyres will tramline to a certain extent, but it's an undesirable thing that happens more or less on the conditions that housemaster and others have explained.
 
It happens more on FWD/AWD cars I think thinking about it and the way it would work, though it still happens in a less obvious manner on RWD cars.
 
panthro said:
check my sig :)

How do you remedy it then?
Click to expand...



Stop driving in the left-hand lane?



Seriously: is the road actually rutted, as the left lane on dual carriageways tends to be? If so, I wouldn't worry unless the car struggles to get out of the rut when you try to change lanes - with ruts more than an inch deep it's a common problem. If the ruts are barely there and you get this problem, I'd go for a geometry check.


M
 
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