JamesV6CDX

I remembered his exact words. Slaughtered!!

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to WIM. I had all manner of handling issues with my Omega. I changed the knackered wishbones, which helped, but it was still not handling right, so I went to WIM today. PETE did my set up, Tony wasn't around (hope you're ok mate). After checking for play in all the components, Pete noticed that the subframe wasn't straight. He unbolted this and straightened it out, and then set to work on the Geometry - which he said words to the effect of was screwed! Whilst I've always been totally happy with the outcome of WIM visits, I've made no secret that in the past felt just a tad disappointed that after coming in for a full geo, I've only ever needed the front toe adjusting. Today, that changed! I lost count of then angles Pete adjusted, front toe, camber, castor, and angles at the rear too. He was happy to talk through what he was doing, and nothing was too much trouble. The car is a complete transformation. Apart from a slight tramline on some roads due to my front tyres nearing the end of their life, the car now has gone from handling like a pig, to handling perfectly. This geo was worth every penny and more. Pete did say because he had to do so many angles, I should pop back soon just to check all is well. I will do this when I get the tyres in the next couple of weeks, which I will get WIM to supply. I know he's cured it, though. Even SWMBO was impressed, to the point she now wants her Chevvy Kalos on a 56 plate to be "Wimmed"! We'll get that booked in, maybe co-incide it with getting my tyres fitted. I'll be in touch within two weeks to get all this ordered and in the diary. Pete - Massive thanks to you - Tony - Give him a payrise Living 6 miles from WIM is cool - see you soon!!

PS - I've just given all the joints/trackrods etc a good soaking in plusgas to hopefully make life easier for you, I'll give it another spray in the morning before I head over

Well I'm booked in for 1300 hours tomorrow at Chesham for a full set up, I'll look forward to coming over again Last week I bought a 53 plate Vauxhall Omega CD with 90k miles. It was cheap enough and I expected to have to do a few things. My only concern with the car having driven home was the handling. Fine on motorway, but on A roads with small bumps, very wandery, seemed to pitch about all over the place and was quite noticibly pulling about at the front under braking, it was like each wheel was fighting against the other! I looked on the MOT advisories and saw "slight play in both front wheels" I've raised the car onto stands, and saw both front wishbone bushes absolutely shot to bits, to the point the bushes were almost falling apart out of their housings!. With a small screwdriver levering the bush, you could make the front wheels kick out quite a bit! SO I've changed the front 'Bones - doing so correctly, torquing the front bush with the weight on the wheels. This has brought about massive improvement, the steering feels sharper, and there is no longer any pulling on braking. It's still not right, though. She tramlines a lot still,and just doesn't seem "tight" on the road. I did think at one point, (after wishbone change) that when I was shaking the NS front roadwheel at 12 o clock with the weight on the car, there was a tiny amount of detectable play, but I've not been able to replicate this every time. The shock feels secure at the top mount, I can't find any play here, so I guess at worst, it would be a whel bearing in the early stages of failure. If there's even an issue at all. Since the wishbone change, after 100 miles the front tyres are starting to very slightly scrub on the inside, there is a band which looks "cleaner" than the rest of the tyre, so the geo needs doing pronto regardless, for safety. I think I've checked everything, before the visit, ready for the setup, I certainly hope so as I don't want to have to pay for another setup a month down the line Any thoughts or suggestions are most welcome, but I guess getting it set up at WIM is the next step. As a complete aside, everyone on the Omega forum who goes to WIM reports having loads of angles changed, camber, castor, toe, some even report tweaking the subframe and rear end tweaks.... the only thing I've ever had adjusted during my setups on my last 4 Omegas at WIM has been the front toe.. I'm almost hoping more stuff needs adjusting, to get my money's worth

cool, cheers Tony!

The bolts look fiddly - but do-able Would poly bushes be recommended?

Hi Guys, Decided to have another look myself.. I'm stubborn like that. I disconnected both of the antirollbar droplinks again, so I could properly inspect the ARB bushes. I'm not sure how on earth I (and indeed the garage) missed this before, but the ARB bushes are shot. The ARB makes a horrible noise when you push it up and down (just like the creaking I get over bumps!!) and although there isn't a huge amount of play, as such, the side to side movement is very, very free, and you can see how worn the bushes are much more easily with the ARB free. Just as a test (I stress, a brief test) I left the droplinks off, suspended the ARB with a universal securing device (cable tie!) and took a very slow, straight, and careful drive down my road. It would usually knock like mad under these conditions - but it was as silent as a mouse Thanks very much, genuinely, to all of you, for your suggestions and ideas. My last question. I've never done ARB bushes... are they easy enough to change?

Hi Tony, apologies, I didn't get the chance to pop over hopefully will do in the near future. Noise is still there.. if this helps at all.. if seems worse from cold!

Thanks so much Tony. Chances are if it's anything much more complex than a droplink I would be booking it in with you for the work anyway - I am not 100% with all suspension work.. You're an absolute star

Hi Cruiser - Yep that's me! Tony - what would you charge me to take a look at this on the ramp and give me your opinion? I MAY be able to swing by tomorrow afternoon, but it's a provisional at the mo... and obviously subject to you having a spare few mins

Is there a way to confirm this, without stripping / replacing?

Yep, It's definitely suspension, zorst is fine

Hi Tony / Racer - many thanks for that. I did change both the droplinks - the knocking is still there - loud and clear With both the links removed the Antirollbar did seem very free to move up and down, but, I can't feel any obvious play in the antirollbar bushes? Cheers, James

Hi Tony, to me it sounds metallic, just like a balljoint clonking away...

Hiya - and many thanks for the reply The Jag is correct (rear) wheel drive, so there won't be any driveshafts/CV joints at the front to worry about. I have done as you suggest - no play can be found at all Cheers, James