forfour.co.uk
Forum => General Smart Chat => Topic started by: cumino on April 16, 2011, 07:19:50 PM
-
Have been reading topics on some cars crabbing, ie., pulling to one side on the road...well I noticed today on a run to Leeds airport that the Brabby's pulling to the left.
This is after I had the tracking done a few weeks ago, tyre pressures were checked before the run.. is this something that you just have to live with as the tyres are of such low profile and wide that any camber on the road seems to make the car pull to one side ??
Don't think this should be the case though...but was nice to give the Brabby a good blast down the motorway and back, sweet engine it does have :-)
Any thoughts ??
pb
-
Is it following the road camber (drifting) or is it actually pulling.
Is the steering wheel off center ?
-
-
Here is another thought. Does it feel heavy to keep the steering central ?
I've had a few customers that have said it feels heavy on the left side of the steering wheel and I've adjusted the track and it's taken that heavy feel away, and it's stopped the car from pulling.
-
Wider tyres seem to follow the camber of the road far and away a lot more narrower tyres.
So....you really need to find a perfectly flat road to check out if the car pulls to one side or the other.
If it does pull when on a perfectly flat road, and the tracking is checked and found to be ok, then there is the
possibility that the steering was not centralised before any adjustments were made. So in effect the adjustment
was made to only one of the track rod ends, whereas both need to be adjusted evenly. If that was the case, then
basically the steering arm on one side is longer than the other and the tracking/wheels/tyres are fighting the
steering rack which is trying to centralise itself.
-
-
There you go. It's the tracking that wants tweeking !
It's pulling to the left, so you need to adjust the tracking to the right.
'Lengthen' the left track rod by unwinding it, and 'shorten' the right side by winding it in, both by equal amounts...
or get a garrage to do it for you preferably ! You don't really need a 4 wheel alignment as you can't adjust the rear track
with the standard suspension.
-
Yep, solid rear axle, can't adjust anything on it >:( My car was rear ended before i bought it, and the rear right wheel has some negative camber on it. Luckly it's just a bit and the car drives straight, but it still bothers me knowing that. Might just have to get an adjustable suspension kit like CrazyG to sort it. ::)
-
You really have 3 choices if you have negative camber caused by a shunt...
1/ buy and fit a new rear axle sub assembly (part no. A 454 350 03 08)
2/ source a suitable secondhand rear axle
3/ get the 'twist' in the suspension arm or hub mounting bracker sorted (possibly not too hard to get done)
With cost being the main issue I'd plumb for 2/ or 3/.
KW's (or similar) will not correct or solve any rear camber problems you have !
-
Yep, solid rear axle, can't adjust anything on it >:( My car was rear ended before i bought it, and the rear right wheel has some negative camber on it. Luckly it's just a bit and the car drives straight, but it still bothers me knowing that. Might just have to get an adjustable suspension kit like CrazyG to sort it. ::)
It's technically not a solid rear axle, its a torsion beam (yes it is a solid 'lump') designed to flex to allow each wheel to be independently hinged, basically the cheapest form of independently sprung rear axle on a FWD vehicle (you can get a torsion beam on RWD for the front). For a true solid rear axle look no further than the current Ford Mustang!
But back on topic...
My car (1.3 Pulse on steels) had a major issue pulling left and very heavy steering to keep it centred, a quick trip to the garage for the tracking and she was driving true again (save the torque steer). It is amplified by the car riding lower I feel, my girl sits 40mm lower than standard to give the steering better feel so when the tracking is out I really feel it.
-
Note:- adjustment/correction made to my earlier reply...