Handling Issue

Illgresi

Illgresi

Illgresi

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Joined
18 Feb 2013
Posts
1,125
Location
Perth
I realise this is much the same as the 'no medical advice allowed' on the General forum, but the car is booked in to be looked at; I'm just hoping for some (hopefully learned) information.

Since my recent MOT, I've noticed a seemingly random desire of the steering to pull. The only way I can describe it is that it feels like a really windy day, except it's not windy. Then that same slight pull is usually followed by a slight pull on the opposite direction.

I've also notice that my front tyres look freshly worn constantly. I haven't measured precisely, but the tread looks to have gone down at least 2 mm over no more than 2000 miles.

There's also a general pull to the left.

It's clear I need to have the alignment seen to, but that wouldn't explain the random 'windy' pulling?

Edit: I should specify I'm talking about the front tyres (FWD)
 
Mine felt like this after fitting new inner tie rods. Did it on the drive & when driving to get the alignment done it did exactly this.

Garage told me it was a mile out.
 
Our Focus developed a really bad low speed pull to the right, it was so bad I was convinced something was bent in the steering or suspension.

I put it in the garage who found nothing on the ramp. They did a 4 wheel alignment which was a little out but didn't cure the pull. They then swapped the wheels back to front and the pull disappeared. The wheels were undamaged. Replaced the tyres and it's been fine since.

I would never have imagined a tyre would cause such a bad pull. They we're Michelin tyres but 5 years old as the car doesn't do many miles. Try swapping the wheels round.
 
That was probably more down to the wheel balancing rather than the tyre itself. Having the badly balanced wheel or wheels on the back would have have made a difference since the properly balanced wheels would've been on the steering axle. It's worth either trying that or getting the balancing looked at.

My previous car seemed to do similar after getting the rear tyres changed (it was RWD). It was weird in that I could loosen my grip on the wheel to the point of almost not touching it and the car would be straight without veering off. But on motorways and other faster roads it definitely felt like it was taking a lot more effort to keep it straight. I never did figure out what the problem was but since it seemed to be after the rear tyres were done, balancing would make sense.
 
Illgresi said:
There's also a general pull to the left.
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This is normal as part of the alignment, so that should you lose control of the vehicle on a bit of straight road, it would hopefully veer the car into the curb and not into oncoming traffic. Though if the pull is quite severe sounds like they could have overdone it.

Was any other work done?
 
OP after a run in the car feel the tyres across the tread to see if there are any Hot parts. It should be an even temperature but if it is a tracking issue the inside or outside of the tread will be noticeably hotter than the rest.
 
kindai said:
This is normal as part of the alignment, so that should you lose control of the vehicle on a bit of straight road, it would hopefully veer the car into the curb and not into oncoming traffic. Though if the pull is quite severe sounds like they could have overdone it.

Was any other work done?
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Hmm not sure it is normal. I think some of the standard alignments setups just aren't right for our roads. The Toyota I have tracks perfectly straight on the OEM setup, but 2 Fords I had previously needed tweaking to get them right. You can take the car to a specialist and they will work with you, adjusting and testing to get the feel right and also check for any bent parts etc (which can happen from pothole damage and will throw off the alignment), though it will be more expensive.

This sort of steering issue seems to be more common in FWD cars though I find.
 
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I've got a similar issue with my MK2 Focus at the moment - only had the car for a few weeks but has done it since purchase.

For me I only have the gusty wind feeling from under the car while doing 70mph+ on the motorway and during dry conditions only, I also have continuous steering wheel wobble at 60mph+. The following still occurs despite having four new tyres out on, new discs / pads & having all wheels balanced twice.

I'm now certain this is a ball joint / tracking issue (have to slightly position my steering wheel to the left when on a straight road), but also found on last year's MOT both front wishbones were advised as looking worn so I'm currently looking to get these done as my next step.

Liam.
 
LEK-89 said:
I've got a similar issue with my MK2 Focus at the moment - only had the car for a few weeks but has done it since purchase.

For me I only have the gusty wind feeling from under the car while doing 70mph+ on the motorway and during dry conditions only, I also have continuous steering wheel wobble at 60mph+. The following still occurs despite having four new tyres out on, new discs / pads & having all wheels balanced twice.

I'm now certain this is a ball joint / tracking issue (have to slightly position my steering wheel to the left when on a straight road), but also found on last year's MOT both front wishbones were advised as looking worn so I'm currently looking to get these done as my next step.

Liam.
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Steering wheel wobble is likely to be wheel balance. Or a bent alloy.
 
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Nasher said:
Steering wheel wobble is likely to be wheel balance. Or a bent alloy.
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That's exactly what I thought from the beginning, however now I've had the wheels balanced twice now and last week in particular during the last attempt they said all four wheels looked straight.

Saying that - I noticed the last place despite my instructions still didn't remove all the old weights from the wheels and again like the first time, only added extra weights to compensate (I asked them to remove all the old ones as all wheels have a mix match - adhesives & rim bolt ones). Perhaps a third and final wheel balancing done properly may be in order.

Liam.
 
Nasher said:
Sounds like they didn't do it properly if they just added more :/
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Precisely... or there again adding more weights to one particular wheel could in effect mask it being buckled, I believe balancing machines can't pick up a bucked wheel.

I'll see if I can get them all balanced properly for a third time somewhere else this week. Do you think worn wishbones could also play a role in this if that's the case?

Liam.
 
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