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

aceslick911

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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!
 

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brad_m_is

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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

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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?
 
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carra909

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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

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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

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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

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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
 
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aceslick911

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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

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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

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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...
 
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