When will my tires stop squirming?

[Nick1994]

I got new General Altimax RT43s on Friday and have done about 150 miles on them so far. I really like them because they're extremely quiet and smooth but they squirm around when turning the steering wheel a lot while driving and don't feel so great on hard turns. I've heard that deep tread when tires are new can make the tires feel a little squirmy.

It feels like the steering wheel is connected to the rack and pinion with a rubber band. It's not awful or anything but definitely noticeable.

When touching these tire's tread, I can easily move it around with my fingers, they're very squishy tires. I had the same tires put on the 1970 Beetle and they're the same to the touch, don't know how they feel driving since that car drives like a washing machine regardless.

So when will they calm down and stop squirming?

I'm still very happy with them and got a great deal on them. It's a gutless old Camry, I'm not going to be racing it or anything

 

[raytseng]

There are several causes of squirm with new tires. Yes treadblock height is one, but for brand new tires, more than the tread depth is the release oils as well as the little rubber nubs that you are actually driving on before the treads actually bed down to your alignment.
Driving on those nubs or fresh treadblocks will be like driving on ball bearings.

These will greatly affect the squirm more than the treadblocks themselves.

Tirerack and practice say you need 500miles to get past that stage.

If after 500miles you're still in squirm state, then you're at the tire's actual performance which will should be the same at least 10k

 

[AZjeff]

This may be your only chance to drift that thing, better take it.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
This may be your only chance to drift that thing, better take it.

Yeah it won't even break the tires loose with these ones LOL.

 

[zach1900]

My worn out Michelin mxv4 primacies were quieter and less bouncy than my new generic Good year tires .

 

[skyactiv]

Phoenix is expected to be 104 degrees today. All-season tires are engineered to remain flexible in frozen temputures to provide light snow traction. Such a tire will be squirmy with new/new like tread deapth in the desert heat.

 

[tc1446]

Last year I resurrected my 2000 Ford Ranger which had Firestone 500 truck tires for past 10-12 years. With under 50K on the truck and less on the tires, they had lots of tread left but had enough cracking I was advised to replace them. I chose General Altimax RT's (predecessor of the RT43) in order to get a softer ride since the truck is basically my car. With the Firestones, the truck tracked straight with little correction of the steering wheel.

Not so with the General's; it seems to wander quite a bit, requiring a lot of correction. Now I'm stuck with these for a long time and wish I had stayed with a harder truck tire.

 

[eljefino]

I bought some MXV4+ Energy tires at a yard sale once. They had 9/32 tread and squirmed awful. Figured out why they sold 'em.

Every fall when I put my snow tires on they feel squirmy for a week but then I get used to them, get the muscle memory for driving a squishy sponge, and I get over it.

 

[Olas]

+1 on the release compounds that allow the tyre to come out of the mold.

If you can be patient, wait.

If you can't be patient lay a patch, rotate fronts to back, do it again and youre good.

 

[Turk]

Rev it up to 6000 RPM's and drop it in gear.
That'll burn of those darn nubs.


j/k

 

[TallPaul]

My son and I both got the same brand and style tires and we both experienced squirm on rain groves on the freeway, but never noticed it anywhere else.

 

[mcrn]

I have the same tires and I noticed a difference at around 500 to 1000 miles. I have over 10K on them now and am very happy.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

I would suspect that break-in will eliminate a lot of the unsettled squirm. I tend to go with the program of slightly more performance-oriented tires on economy cars and slightly less performance-oriented tires on cars with greater performance abilities. I've found this to work well for daily drivers if you take into context the individual tire on your car and not just the fave tire of the moment.

I think the RT43 is appropriate for a Camry but I might have gone slightly more performance-oriented in keeping with "the program". It's certainly a good choice that'll likely work well.

 

[Hollow]

I have a set on the beater Olds for about 4,000 miles. They seemed to break in fairly quickly, just a few hundred miles. Have no real complaints about them other than they will find every rock on the road to stick in the tread. No real chance for winter tests, as I took the Subaru if it was bad this winter.

But for a T rated tire on a rolling couch with shot suspension, they do the job. I'd consider the H rated version for the Subaru if a sale was right.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Hollow
I have a set on the beater Olds for about 4,000 miles. They seemed to break in fairly quickly, just a few hundred miles. Have no real complaints about them other than they will find every rock on the road to stick in the tread. No real chance for winter tests, as I took the Subaru if it was bad this winter.

But for a T rated tire on a rolling couch with shot suspension, they do the job. I'd consider the H rated version for the Subaru if a sale was right.

They attract rocks eh? Sounds like it'll be interesting when I take this thing on the dirt roads!

 

[Hollow]

Well, my parking area is gravel, so I hear it spit them out as I drive down the road. But, I think that is a trade off of the tread design looking good for water and slush evacuation.

For the price, I'd have to be supremely disappointed to not suggest these as a solid "bang for the buck" performer.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Hollow
Well, my parking area is gravel, so I hear it spit them out as I drive down the road. But, I think that is a trade off of the tread design looking good for water and slush evacuation.

For the price, I'd have to be supremely disappointed to not suggest these as a solid "bang for the buck" performer.
Yeah, even if they squirm for the rest of their lives I wouldn't be unhappy. I got almost $200 off the set

 

[Rand]

Check back after 1000miles and a few driving cycles. By then.. that's as good as they are going to get.

Part of what you feel is quite normal.

A new flexible tread tire with actual full tread depth is going to feel different from a low tread depth hardened rubber tire.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Rand
Check back after 1000miles and a few driving cycles. By then.. that's as good as they are going to get.

Part of what you feel is quite normal.

A new flexible tread tire with actual full tread depth is going to feel different from a low tread depth hardened rubber tire.
Yeah I'll check back in at 1,000 miles. I'm at about 280 miles now and they feel a little better.

My last tires were half worn Goodyear Eagle GT (came with the car when I bought it a few weeks ago) and they handled great, were very hard tires though. These are squishy tires.

 

[PTBH04]

I have to agree completely with the putting miles on them. I just replaced the Bridgestone Turanza EL400 on my Camry. Terrible tires. Got the Michelin Premier AS, and my initial impression was give me back the Bridgestones. I'm now about 800 miles in and they have completely changed character. When first installed were just as your describing, squishy terrible yuck. Now my only complaint with them is the mpg hit(3-5mpg)and they are LOUD.