Steering loose / light, tramlining at high speed, braking pulls left at speed

[ryan666]

Hi guys,

I am having problems with my F handling. The steering wheel feels incredibly light in a straight line. If i move the wheel about 5-10 degrees in either direction whilst driving i get little response from the car, its like driving with a cloud for a steering wheel. After the initial few degrees of turning the steering picks up and the car steers well. The problem is that in a straight line it feels like i have no control.

yesterday was driving down the M1 and got really bad tramlining in slow lane, i know that is probaly normal becuase of the ruts but i have had the car a while and never happened before. Also, came in late for a junction and broke reasonably hard, but not bad enough to worry me, until the car began to move to the left. With the light steering thing mentioned above this was pretty scary.

Now you may ask if i had any work done recently and yes i have. The rear track control arms have had to be replaced because they had play in them and had a rear wheel blow out, great fun! £180 a side, plus two new back tyres which are Avon ZZ3 215/40/16, same as old ones. I then took it to have a four wheel alignment and the guy said the front was out by quite a bit. I checked the front tyres and front drivers side is worn on the inside edge. I assume that it is not wearing anymore after having the tracking done but could it be causing the problems? Surely i would have noticed it before the tracking was done.

The steering feeling light has always been a problem with my car and is nothing new but just seems even worse than it has ever been. In all honestly my car has been a knightmare for repairs, ball joints, trackrod ends, 3 front sets of tyres in 1 year because of trackrods and ball joint probs. Some guy in a white van smashed in the front and large dent is still there (front nearside). I wonder if that affects aerodynamics? any ideas?

So in conclusion car feels dangerous to drive, steering loose, brakes slightly pull to the left, balding on inside of one front tyre and tramlining. Help please!!!!!!!!!

Ryan

[Catweazle]

Are all four tyres the same make/type?

Have you had your bearings checked?

[ChrisTromans]

The tramlining will almost definately be the inner-worn front tyres... I've had this twice now... changed the tyres and it was back to normal again...

Its difficult to get the right setup so they don't wear on the inside it seems..

Chris

[SHARKYMGF]

I had an interesting chat with VHS (vehicle handling solutions) at Stoneleigh yesterday about suspension geometry on the F and TF.
To cut a long chat short, they have identified that a substantial proportion (possibly as high as 90%) of F/TF's have incorrect camber as a result of MG sourcing poor quality subframes, with the front LH seeming to be most commonly effected. On an F this means that even if the ride height and tracking are correct on you can still get inner edge tyre wear.

Incorrect camber also causes bump steer (i.e. when the wheels steers when the suspension is compresed) so the TF doesnt escape the problem either as this effects both F and TF.

Their solution to this is a revised bottom wishbone with a degree of camber built in to correct this problem (they can actually make them with any amount of camber you want, but they believe 1 degree will cure the camber problem on the majority of cars)
So its worth finding somewhere that can check the camber as well as the tracking and then giving VHS a call and telling them the results as they may well be able to help and stop you having to keep replacing tyres due to excessive inner edge wear.

Ryan's symptoms sounds just like what my car was doing when the rear bearing failed, but I would have thought the garage would have checked them when they replaced the track control arms. If not them I would get it checked out ASAP.

[ryan666]

Yeah all four tyres the same. Should i change both fronts even though the right has loads of tread?

The garage probably havent checked the front bearings becuase i took it in with the rear blow out and asked for a diagnosis, hence rear control arms.

Although i have jacked the front up tried rocking the wheels in the 3-9 and 12-6 positions and they seem fine. Could it still be a bearing?

Thanks fot the quick replies guys, much appreciated

Ryan

[Yigit]

Originally Posted by SHARKYMGF

I had an interesting chat with VHS (vehicle handling solutions) at Stoneleigh yesterday about suspension geometry on the F and TF.
To cut a long chat short, they have identified that a substantial proportion (possibly as high as 90%) of F/TF's have incorrect camber as a result of MG sourcing poor quality subframes, with the front LH seeming to be most commonly effected. On an F this means that even if the ride height and tracking are correct on you can still get inner edge tyre wear.

Incorrect camber also causes bump steer (i.e. when the wheels steers when the suspension is compresed) so the TF doesnt escape the problem either as this effects both F and TF.

Their solution to this is a revised bottom wishbone with a degree of camber built in to correct this problem (they can actually make them with any amount of camber you want, but they believe 1 degree will cure the camber problem on the majority of cars)
So its worth finding somewhere that can check the camber as well as the tracking and then giving VHS a call and telling them the results as they may well be able to help and stop you having to keep replacing tyres due to excessive inner edge wear.

Ryan's symptoms sounds just like what my car was doing when the rear bearing failed, but I would have thought the garage would have checked them when they replaced the track control arms. If not them I would get it checked out ASAP.

Thats really amazing. So today i learned that i might have an incorrect camber. At least no tyre wear so far.

[Tim.]

[QUOTE=SHARKYMGF;1873748]I had an interesting chat with VHS ..../QUOTE]

Great post. Thanks Sharky

Have a rep point

[Lee121]

Also......and no-one seems to have suggested it yet.... ......make sure your tyre pressures are correct.....

[SHARKYMGF]

[QUOTE=Balrog;1874747]

Originally Posted by SHARKYMGF

I had an interesting chat with VHS ..../QUOTE]

Great post. Thanks Sharky

Have a rep point

Thanks, I haven't even told you about the larger rear brake disk conversion they have also developed yet

[AndyBrad]

Originally Posted by SHARKYMGF

I had an interesting chat with VHS (vehicle handling solutions) at Stoneleigh yesterday about suspension geometry on the F and TF.
To cut a long chat short, they have identified that a substantial proportion (possibly as high as 90%) of F/TF's have incorrect camber as a result of MG sourcing poor quality subframes, with the front LH seeming to be most commonly effected. On an F this means that even if the ride height and tracking are correct on you can still get inner edge tyre wear.

Incorrect camber also causes bump steer (i.e. when the wheels steers when the suspension is compresed) so the TF doesnt escape the problem either as this effects both F and TF.

Their solution to this is a revised bottom wishbone with a degree of camber built in to correct this problem (they can actually make them with any amount of camber you want, but they believe 1 degree will cure the camber problem on the majority of cars)
So its worth finding somewhere that can check the camber as well as the tracking and then giving VHS a call and telling them the results as they may well be able to help and stop you having to keep replacing tyres due to excessive inner edge wear.

Ryan's symptoms sounds just like what my car was doing when the rear bearing failed, but I would have thought the garage would have checked them when they replaced the track control arms. If not them I would get it checked out ASAP.

Had the same discussion with vhs last year. Do a quick search and you should find it.

The camber arm is a MG part designed to correct the usially 1.2deg negative camber on tf's There are also rear adjustable tie bars for the tf (again mg) the parts were sold for "repair" basis to correct the problems but only if the customer complained enough. Ther certainally didnt offer them to me when i complained though.

VHS will also weld up and redrill your front arms for about 350 quid i think.!

[gooseman]

not sure if this is any use?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MG-ROVER-MGF-M...QQcmdZViewItem

[Baracus]

similar thing happened to me not so long ago!

i knew my fronts were worn and i got tramlining but i thought i'd cure it with new fronts, only i got a puncture on the rear that week and replaced both rear with brand new goodyear f1's and the front went even worse and got the shakes too, the car was all over the place for about 2 weeks then i had the 2 front replaced with brand new goodyear f1's and it's never felt so good! no tramlining or shakes..so putting new rears on really upset the car big time for me with wear already on the fronts!

[soutram]

I have the exact same problem with my car wobbling all over the place on certain roads, almost feels like the front wheels are loose! Got new tyres, check all joints and even fitted upgraded adjustable shocks!

I also had the scary pulling to the left when braking suddenly, this was due to my epas, I took the fuse out and tried it, this cured the problem, I now have my epas on a switch so when parking I can turn it on & when driving I turn it off! much cheaper than getting a new one fitted!

Sarah