Possible drive-train damage???
 

Hello fellow evo members, how are you guys today?? Ok, so basically i need some advice from my fellow members. Here is my problem, So I was using four Kumho Ecsta tires size 235 45 17 tires setup on my car, i had one go low and i drove on it, so i temporarily replaced it with my stock enkei rim, I was driving with the three kumhos and and one enkei with the yokohama tire(Front passenger tire). Now i drove the car like that for about a week and had the usual binding and the car would steer itself to the left and would feel unstable if I brake hard because of the difference in thread in the yokohama's and the kumho's. Now i have replaced my setup with some brand new falken's 235 45 17 all around . Most of the steer pulling has gone away but then i noticed that the car still feels unstable at about 80-90 miles an hour or faster. So, I then decided to get an alignment and the car feels better but it tends to pull very slightly to the left, and feels unstable with really really hard braking. Now my question is, could i have caused damage to the car when i drove the car for a week with one yokohama and all three kumho's??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks

Depends on how much you drove. How big was the tread difference between the Kumho's and the Yokos? The short answer is yes, you very likely could have cause some damage to your center and front or rear diff, depending on where you put the tire. Sounds like you were driving a little bit hard when you had different tires as well. Bad idea.

It was placed in the front passenger tire, and threads are real different on both tires kumho and yokohama. How would i check for damage??

replace your transfer case fluid and look for any shavings in the fluid.

Transfer case fluid, i havent done that ever since i bought the car, I bought it at 15k and it now has 25k miles on it. I should change it then but i noticed the change after i changed the tires on it.

I think you will be fine. it's time to change your tc oil anyway so if you see an excessive amount of shaving you will have your answer as to how much damage it did or didnt do.

Yea thanks guys, i came out of the dsm community, but i had a gst not a gsx, im kinda new to the awd platform. Its alot more maintenance and even the clutch was a pain, but the evo runs well and it feels fine after the alignment and the new falkens, it just tends to be a bit unstable at high speeds, more than usual. But ill go ahead and change the transfer case fluid.

just for fun pull a string around the circum. of each of the tires mounted, and measure each of them. I am curious to kow how they measure. see what the diff. is. that should tell you how bad it is. the more the diff, the more trouble your in.

So i should measure around each tire, The car tends to be fine on the street and it pulls a little to the right, could the alignment be wrong on the car still?? But it feels unstable when im on the freeway at about 70 miles an hour or faster . If I caused damage to it, how would i go in repairing it, especially if its the differential, then im up sh*t creek without a paddle.:crap:

if youre alignment was within spec (which you should know from the print out) and you are still experiencing high speed vibration, my guess would be you messed something up. change the oil as everyone else has reccomended, and diagnose it from there. good luck.

Well, when i got the alignment done, they didnt get me a spec sheet or anything, it was just done. It did improve the stability of the car but still feels unstable at high speeds.

Tell us a little more about your car:
Is it a 03 - 04 Regular EVO 8? Those came with open front diffs, a viscous center diff and a clutch type rear diff.
Is it a 04 EVO 8 RS? Those came with the same as above but a helical front diff.
Is it a 05 EVO 8? Those came with a helical front diff, ACD center and clutch type rear diff.
Is it a 06 EVO 9? Same as 05 EVO 8 drive train layout.

If it is a regular 03-04 EVO 8 then there is nothing to worry about.

Remember 235/45/17 tires from different manufacturers will be slightly different in sizing, therefore it is always recommended to stick to the same tire model from the same manufacturer. With that, a 2% difference in sizing is within normal operating standards. If you only drove for a week, it should be nothing to worry about.

A slight amout of pulling with high performance tires is normal when driving on the street, the grippier the tire the more its effects, tramlining, etc. Under HEAVY braking no car is going to stop prefectly straight without slight corrections from the driver, most of them will feel unstable due the uneven transfer of weight. Not having the steering wheel perfectly straight and can also make the car feel unstable.

Do what others have suggested and check for metal particles/flakes when you change out your tranny fluid.

Well, thanks my car is an 03 Evo 8, and also i forgot to meontion, that when i had my cluctch installed, the rack and pinion fell apart and the steering wheel wasnt positioned correctly, could that have to do with it?? Also, i didnt feel the car unstable until i had the Falkens installed,they are the Ziex's. Everything seemed fine when I had the Kumho's on.

Well, since you have an 8 with an open front differential, if the tire was a different diameter all you did was put a little extra wear on the pinion shaft - not a big deal. So, I'd look to the steering, alignment or the tires. My guess is it is either the new tires or your front end is toed out.

if its vibrating its probably that they were not balanced right.