Took my ace for a tracking check today because it was pulling to the pavement near side, it went on a lazer alignment machine which projected a lazer from the front wheels to targets on the rear wheels,however the fitters told me that the tracking was fine and no adjustment was required.
So,both my front tyres are new,
Tyre pressures 2.5 bar,
Both front wheels turn freely,
no play in steering or wheel bearings,
The ride height looks fine but Iam unable to find the wishbone bolt to check the 262mm measurement for ride height.
The only thing that I can see is a difference in the length adjustment of the lower tie bar,castor adjustment.n/s measures 23mm protrusion on locknut and o/s measures 15mm protrusion.This tie bar is clamped to the body mounting bracket with two large rubber insulating 'doughnuts'.(should this tie bar length
be equal for both sides?)
Both the camber adjustments in the crescents are dead centre on the scale aligned with the pointer at 12 o clock.
I have had a good read in ace answers but have not been able to come up with an answer.
Vehicle is a 2wd new shape townie.
Thanks,and thanks to everyone who shares their townace knowledge.
Phil.
- (#8628) Phil, 19 May 03 12:42
Hi Phil, Unless you have the N/S/F brake caliper binding slightly, then the 'steering pull' you refer to is most likely due to the camber that most roads in the UK have built in (for water drainage).
If you know of a dead flat road, take you bus there & see if the steering is straight. Failing that find the flatest road you know & when there's no traffic (late at night) quickly drive along the centre of the road, where its flatest, hopefully then you will see that your steering is ok.
Regards, Tony.
- (#8629) Tony Lloyd-Jones, 19 May 03 15:04
Hi Phil.
I had a similar problem on a car I used to own. Someone had replaced only one of the front shocks, and the imbalance of new and old caused it to wander to the kerb. If I remember correctly, the cause of the much publicised Mondeo wandering some years ago, was also attributed to shock absorbers. And that was on new cars fresh from the factory.
- (#8630) dave Bright, 19 May 03 15:19
Having searched ace answers and the web I have now found and cured the problem with my ace pulling to the near side.
Try these sites for info,
http://www.cartoday.com/content/car_magazine/booklets/DIY_booklet/wheel_alignment.asp
http://www.rhocar.org.uk/buildtipz/011.shtml
http://silverstone.fortunecity.com/ferrari/999/setup2.html
http://www.wahtyres.com.au/align/align.htm
Or search under castor angle.
My castor angle was not set correctly.
This was confirmed when I took my vehicle to another alignment specialist.
The specialist put my townie on a lazer machine which fed information from all four wheels to a computer which brought up ALL the angles and settings on its screen.
I allready had the settings for all the steering geometry which I had printed from ace answers,however they were allready in the machines database.
The display on the machine told the operator everything
and even colour coded the measurements in red or green to show if they were in or out of spec and gave me a printout on completion.
The adjustments were,first Castor, then tracking (toe)
Well the proof of the pudding is in the eating or driving and now the ace drives in a straight line with
an equal amount of steering wheel movement to turn left or right,nice.
Cost, first lazer check was free,
Check and adjustment by the specialist, a different garage to the first £20.
A good result and in my view money well spent.
- (#8741) Phil, 22 May 03 11:12