New 18" Rims on 97Calais, "LOW TRAC" Keeps Activating

[aceslick911]

Bought a set of new 18" rims with lower profile wheels. I put them on myself (Not 100% I put the nuts tight enough but have tightened them as much as possible with my tools).

When i rev over 3000, the "Low Trac" Light commonly turns on. Im thinking either the traction control is having difficulty with the new tires/rims or I the nuts are still not tight enough and may be vibrating (I've checked the rims they have no give and the bolts are really on tight).

One other problem I am having is that in full lock while turning right, i hear a slight tubbing sound from the right wheel well...

Do i need to fix up the suspension? What do I do about the Low Trac light? I was told by a friend to try get some hex-nuts for the new rims.

Any help would be really appreciated cheers!

[brad_m_is]

for starters the tyre size is wrong it should have 235/40/18 so it could be rubbing and is the offset on the rims correct for a commodore

[aceslick911]

Thanks for the reply!

Is there anything I can do without having to buy new tires? Spring adjustment?
I don't mind that there might be a bit of steering issue but is there a way to tune the Traction Control?

[carra909]

yeah the 245/45/18 is to fit a ve that will cause the rubbing and will make the speedo read incorrect.

as for low traction try putting the old wheels on for a quick drive to see if it still happens, if it does it with the old ones on then that way you can rule out the new wheels.

[11gothevt11]

Thanks for the reply!

Is there anything I can do without having to buy new tires? Spring adjustment?
I don't mind that there might be a bit of steering issue but is there a way to tune the Traction Control?

If you don't fix the problem with the wheels
Just take out the globe from the cluster
Realy simple to do..I don't think that light is realy important
But on the other hand when the light goes on are you loosing power for a split second??

[oska]

i know it sounds simple but check your tyre pressures make sure they are all correct

holden recommends 29 PSI but i like 32

[aceslick911]

Ok cheers for the advice guys. Just went to the servo and realized I had massively over inflated the new tires (40psi) so I dropped them to 29psi and went up and down a straight. The speedometer was reading 1-2km/hr more than my GPS was indicating so I'd say that is fairly accurate.

I still hear a creaking noise but only when turning in a tight U-Turn. Normal steering is ok but this cant be very good.

0-80k was fine with the Traction control keeping quiet but as soon as i hit 85km/hr the LOW TRAC light comes on and goes crazy. Power on, power off. When Traction is turned off, car runs fine.

I measured the wheels and the new ones are about 0.9 inches larger than the stock Calais ones. This is probably the root of all problems. The other suggestion I got from a mate was I might not have tightened the nuts properly and the vibration might be causing the traction control to go off.

Really appreciate the advice, do you guys know anything else that might help me out?

Stock calais: 215/600R16 99H
New Rims/Tyres: 245/45R18 96W

Cheers,
Angelo

[aceslick911]

yeah the 245/45/18 is to fit a ve that will cause the rubbing and will make the speedo read incorrect.

as for low traction try putting the old wheels on for a quick drive to see if it still happens, if it does it with the old ones on then that way you can rule out the new wheels.

I only put the new ones on this week. Old ones never had an issue.

[11gothevt11]

Ok cheers for the advice guys. Just went to the servo and realized I had massively over inflated the new tires (40psi) so I dropped them to 29psi and went up and down a straight. The speedometer was reading 1-2km/hr more than my GPS was indicating so I'd say that is fairly accurate.

I still hear a creaking noise but only when turning in a tight U-Turn. Normal steering is ok but this cant be very good.

0-80k was fine with the Traction control keeping quiet but as soon as i hit 85km/hr the LOW TRAC light comes on and goes crazy. Power on, power off. When Traction is turned off, car runs fine.

I measured the wheels and the new ones are about 0.9 inches larger than the stock Calais ones. This is probably the root of all problems. The other suggestion I got from a mate was I might not have tightened the nuts properly and the vibration might be causing the traction control to go off.

Really appreciate the advice, do you guys know anything else that might help me out?

Stock calais: 215/600R16 99H
New Rims/Tyres: 245/45R18 96W

Cheers,
Angelo

I don't think the size of the wheels are at fault
I went from standard 15 inch to 18 inch
Never had such a problem
I have only had the trac off and abs lights coming on at time
Same with stock wheels
I changed to reco abs module no change

[aceslick911]

I don't think the size of the wheels are at fault
I went from standard 15 inch to 18 inch
Never had such a problem
I have only had the trac off and abs lights coming on at time
Same with stock wheels
I changed to reco abs module no change

What's a Reco ABS Module?
Do you know any way of adjusting/calibrating the traction control? Raising the spring guard? Really hoping I'm not going to have to sell these rims and go back to the 16s...

[11gothevt11]

What's a Reco ABS Module?
Do you know any way of adjusting/calibrating the traction control? Raising the spring guard? Really hoping I'm not going to have to sell these rims and go back to the 16s...

Insead of buying new i bought a recondition one....
Seller with a great history but this problem has never been fixed
I don't understand how your car is low trac light is coming on

Does it loose power when the light goes on??????????????????????????
Can you just turn the traction control off?

[aceslick911]

Haha gotcha. Ok so what problem hasn't been fixed?

Yes it loses power, and then comes on again about twice a second. I can turn trac off but sure would be nice to have it working.

I'm searching right now how to heighten the springs.. hoping this might work.

Cheers

[11gothevt11]

Haha gotcha. Ok so what problem hasn't been fixed?

Yes it loses power, and then comes on again about twice a second. I can turn trac off but sure would be nice to have it working.

I'm searching right now how to heighten the springs.. hoping this might work.

Cheers

When driving over a bump in the road the abs and trac off light comes on

WOW Heighten the springs While your at it put some 4x4 tyres on lol

[aceslick911]

When driving over a bump in the road the abs and trac off light comes on

WOW Heighten the springs While your at it put some 4x4 tyres on lol

Yeah not bloody likely huh? Might consider just selling the new rims and going back to the old set..

Electronics, how do they work? ####.

[nathanVY]

Take it to a tyre shop and get the right profile tyres fitted would be a good start. If you run the wrong parts then expect problems to occur.

[aceslick911]

Yeah about time for a service so might do this properly. Will report back the findings.

Cheers JC

[Cúl-Báire]

The 245/45"s might be a little big for the front hence the gaurd scrubbing, but I can not imagine it being an issue in the rear.
I reckon you may have knocked something when changing tyres, put the stockos back on and see if it does the same thing; if it does you've got an electrical problem.

[aceslick911]

The 245/45"s might be a little big for the front hence the gaurd scrubbing, but I can not imagine it being an issue in the rear.
I reckon you may have knocked something when changing tyres, put the stockos back on and see if it does the same thing; if it does you've got an electrical problem.

Hmm yeah might try that before doing anything dramatic. Takes a bit of effort for 4 tires, oh well gotta suck it up haha.

[oska]

have you gotten the wheels balanced?

[aceslick911]

have you gotten the wheels balanced?

No. Can unbalanced wheels cause these traction issues?

[nathanVY]

No. Can unbalanced wheels cause these traction issues?

Potentially, if they are really out of balance they will shake around heaps but you should notice that through your steering/driveline etc. Get someone to drive behind you and see if your wheels are shakin around heaps or not.

[Darcon666]

Ummmm....We are talking about the traction control that is only applied to the rear wheels ONLY... This should be OK as there is more than enough room in the rear(width wise...) for quite wide tyres provided the offset is OK.

As for the front.... My guess it's your tyre size as previously mentioned + the rim offset & the camber on the front wheels(not more than 1deg, negative).

[ryda921]

I still hear a creaking noise but only when turning in a tight U-Turn. Normal steering is ok but this cant be very good.

that clicking will more than likely be your front sway bars get them replaced
mine started off like that and just got worse after i changed them it was all good

[aceslick911]

Ok so I switched back to the Stock Calais rims and drove for a bit, everything was perfect. Traction shut the hell up and I was able to cruise in peace.

When I had the two wheels next to each other they looked like the similar height/diameter. I dont think that was the issue, it was probably the width of the wheels that was causing the issues:
Stock calais: 215/600R16 99H
New Rims/Tyres: 245/45R18 96W

I've already sold the custom rims (they go that quick! got a bit of a profit off it too so no big loss, the calais rims look fine anyway)

So just a caution to any commodore/calais drivers out there wanting to get custom rims, i think 18" size is fine but you need to get an appropriate width or else you may have Traction control and U-Turn issues like I did.

Thanks everyone for your input. If I ever meet you fellas I'd buy you all a beer.

Cheers.

[11gothevt11]

Ok so I switched back to the Stock Calais rims and drove for a bit, everything was perfect. Traction shut the hell up and I was able to cruise in peace.

When I had the two wheels next to each other they looked like the similar height/diameter. I dont think that was the issue, it was probably the width of the wheels that was causing the issues:
Stock calais: 215/600R16 99H
New Rims/Tyres: 245/45R18 96W

I've already sold the custom rims (they go that quick! got a bit of a profit off it too so no big loss, the calais rims look fine anyway)

So just a caution to any commodore/calais drivers out there wanting to get custom rims, i think 18" size is fine but you need to get an appropriate width or else you may have Traction control and U-Turn issues like I did.

Thanks everyone for your input. If I ever meet you fellas I'd buy you all a beer.

Cheers.

Glad it all worked out in the end
I still don't think its the tyre size to blame as i had 245/45/18 on my rear for ages i never had such a issue
Maybe the offset is to blame
But who will ever know ??