Hi (me again)
I recently had the tyres changed on my volvo S60 T5 due to uneven wear, I had the tracking checked, the guy said that the wheels were 4 degrees out of alignment, but when i drive it, the steering does not pull one way or another, It also has a noisy tyre (or wheel bearing), I was wondering if the guy who had the car before me had kerbed it and damaged the wheel bearing and knocked the wheels out of alignment! could it be something to do with the four C chassis? Does anybody have any ideas?
Thanks
|
Have the car professionally aligned using PROPER 4 wheel alignment equipment with suitably trained technicians.
Avoid tyre shops for tracking.
Hunter, Bear, Beissbarth, Sun are the alignment systems to look out for...
--
groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
|
Cars can drive in a perfectly straight line even if the tracking is incorrect. There isn't a direct causal link between the two.
For a car to pull to one side, there has to be some side to side asymmetry.
The care taken by the people doing the suspension alignment is the critical factor in obtaining an acceptable outcome. Setting up a suspension is possible with some very basic tools - string, trammels, ruler, protractor, spirit levels etc., it just takes longer, much longer! :-)
number_cruncher
|
|
Yes but 4 degrees out is probably enough to see with the naked eye! That needs to be corrected very soon, otehrwise you will wear your front tyres out very quickly, as well as experiencing some odd handling characteristics! ...and don't forget that new tyres need "running in" so no mad steering inputs or fast cornering for a few hundred miles.
|
I have for many years adjusted the front wheel alignment myself by regularly checking tyre wear and assessing it along with the way the car drives. Reckon I have achived tyre longetivity far in excess of average with the added advantage of ensuring that the steering wheel is not off centre relative to the road wheels. Soemthing tyre centres/dealers do not always worry about.
This does not work if the rear wheels are out of line or if the fronts have been kerbed causing bent suspension components.
I have had 30k miles of enthusiastic driving out of the fronts on both a V6 Vectra and TDCi 130 Mondeo. I remember HJ quoting in the Telegraph that 10-12k is normal for the Vectra.
|
|
I think the severe tyre wear is for the back of the GSi models which have a lot of negative camber, in an affort to make it handle.
|
I think the severe tyre wear is for the back of the GSi models which have a lot of negative camber, in an affort to make it handle.
Certainly true in my experience. My 2000W GSi Estate would knock out rear tyres in 16,000 miles (fronts in 13,000) from memory. All the rear tyre wear was on the inside couple of inches of tread, with tread towards the outside shoulder remaining virtually 'as new' throughout tyre life. Although front tyres wore out more quickly than rears as you would expect, wear was even across the tread and 13,000 miles also what I would expect for soft, wide, rubber. 16,000 miles for rear tyres was shocking, and also caused a loud drum-drum-drum noise as wear neared the limit.
It must be said though that the car really did handle very well, in total contrast to any other Vectra I have driven, including my previous SRi V6 Estate.
I still miss my GSi Estate 18 months later...
|
What age was your SRi V6 estate, I had a '98 model on 16" wheels, had an extra suspension link on the front compared with earlier ones on 15" wheels (this suspension mod was fitted to all facelift Vectra's, I guess '99 model year on), handled pretty well, thing I remember best was excellent high speed stability, rock solid on fast sweeping corners, motorway slip/link roads etc. Tyres lasted 30k front and back, had three sets in 86k miles.
|
|
|
