Jump to content

_Al_

Basic Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    56

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by _Al_

  1. _Al_
    Will do! Thanks.
  2. _Al_
    Ok. Will be interested to see what you guys make of it. Seems to be intermittent again though. Took it out last night on a "short but intense" run and no trace of shake. Baffled.
  3. _Al_
    Front wheels both have one set of weights on, both are stuck down and seem 100% secure. Should I have been expecting more than one set? As I didn't have time to call (again) today I'll try tomorrow. Is there any chance of dropping by on Saturday?
  4. _Al_
    Interesting, thanks. The ones on my car are "stick-ons" inside the rim. I'd have thought that the faster you go the harder they're held in place, unlike the clip on types. I was home very late last night so no chance to do anything. Hopefully tonight I can take a look and see if anything seems to be missing.
  5. _Al_
    This whole incident has been a great advert for you as far as I'm concerned! So many had tried and failed to make any difference at all - only WIM had the competence to help and even if nothing else you proved that the car can be saved. I've turned into something of an evangelist for you guys. Been spreading the good word non-stop. As far as I'm concerned it's highly unlikely that a weight is to blame. It came on gradually over two days. Surely a weight would be "all or nothing"? In any case I'll be interested to hear what you find. Will call ASAP to see if you can squeeze me in any time soon.
  6. _Al_
    Yep. The interesting part will be "what next if the balance is ok" or "why did it change so soon"?
  7. _Al_
    Update. Absolutely everyone on the MR2 club is basically screaming at me to not touch it until you gents have been able to take a look. I can see the logic as I'm just introducing more variables. Would you be able to tell if a wheel weight has worked loose for example? I'll call tomorrow to get it booked in..
  8. _Al_
    Hi Tony. It always used to come & go with the previous sets of wheels on. Never figured out why. Hopefully I can report back this evening.
  9. _Al_
    I'm back! And so is the shake.... I've only driven around 200miles since I picked the car up. On Saturday morning I was driving up the A10 and noticed an occasional "murmur" through the steering. By the time I'd got to my destination and back (say 30miles) there was a distinct and fairly constant vibration. Yesterday I took the car for a club meet in Kent. It had settled down and the run out there (an hour on the motorway) was fine aside from one burst of shaking that lasted 2 or 3 minutes, which was visible if you let go of the wheel but not if you held on to it. On the way back it was fine for about 30mins but then started shaking badly. It's not as savage as before but it's now clearly visible even if you try to hold the wheel still. Is there any way that the wheels could have gradually imbalanced? I've also got the red one which has done more mileage since WIM balanced the wheels but is absolutely fine. Will try and swap the fronts over tonight. Unfortunately the red one isn't insured so I can't drive it on the white one's wheels. I'm that fed up I may actually insure it specifically to try this!
  10. _Al_
    Absolutely! Unfortunately you've seen the bodywork. It's still very much a snotter.... It's a real shame as the functional parts of the car are in very good condition, but it needs a complete bodywork & interior restoration to be worth more than about £1k. I'm honestly tempted to do the TRD kit and strip the interior. That's probably the fastest route to a car worth keeping...
  11. _Al_
    What can I say...? Good job, well done! Not sure what I'm going to do with the cars now. Can't really keep both but they have completely different strengths & weaknesses. They look the same but underneath they could hardly be more different.
  12. _Al_
    Picking up the red one this afternoon
  13. _Al_
    Yep. Balancing was literally the first thing I tried, it didn't work so I took it back and tried again. No improvement. We took the wheels off, swapped the tyres front / rear and balanced them a third time. Still no change. Full 4-wheel alignment at this point but no change. Next I replaced the tyres (at a different garage) and had them balanced afterwards. Still no change. Then I replaced the alloys (at a third separate garage) and had the tyres balanced, still no change. Next up was a set of wheels off another MR2 - pre balanced and fine on the car they came off - still no change. Only then did I start replacing other parts. Once I'd replaced literally everything else I tried a few more sets of wheels out of sheer desperation, but still no change. Staggered and gutted to think that all of this could have been avoided so simply and for so little money. Live & learn eh.... Hoping to pick up the red one tonight. TBH I don't see much room for improvement, but you guys are miracle workers so let's wait & see!
  14. _Al_
    Swap successful! I've been driving it for hours. As I said on the MR2 club, I'll never take my car to a "generic" wheel & tyre place again. My car was becoming dangerous and not one of them could tell me why, let alone help. WIM sorted it effortlessly. I just can't believe the difference. The car is so smooth & quiet now! I still don't understand why this car is so susceptible to imbalanced wheels, but I can't argue with the results. It's perfect!
  15. _Al_
    On my way. Going to be close yet again!
  16. _Al_
    Well you'll be seeing it soon enough Tony! After this debacle I would actually prefer to drive it to you tonight and swap it for the white one. Would that be ok? I'd like the red one to have all four wheels balanced and the geo checked. Just need to check that I can get out of work in time to get over to you. I did come in an hour and a half early to try & make sure that I can...
  17. _Al_
    Cheers guys, the new car is a genuine "time warp" example. The interior in particular is literally like brand new. I've never seen anything like it. With regards to the white car - the main thing that strikes me is that it doesn't really matter if the other wheels are centre balanced or not. Two of those sets wheels came off, and are now fitted back on, cars that do not have a steering shake. How come on my car those self-same wheels are responsible for a vibration that literally pulls the car apart???
  18. _Al_
    Whoops, you're open till 6 - you said earlier
  19. _Al_
    Hi Tony, I talked to Joe yesterday and he said that he's balanced the wheels and it's A-ok now. That's really raised some eyebrows on the MR2 club, none more so than the two guys whose wheels I borrowed for testing! We added it up and the car has had six sets of wheels installed, each balanced at different garages with different tyres on. None of them has even reduced the shake so it's hard to get my head around this, and the two borrowed sets didn't vibrate on their "native" car. I guess the next question is "what could make my car hyper-sensitive to imbalanced wheels"? The steering damper is in good condition so I'm not sure where to go with it next. It all seems really bizarre, but I'll pick it up tonight if possible and see what happens. What time are you open till? I'll have to get the train so it might be quite close to the wire again unless you close really late. If so I'll try and get out early. Thanks Alan Edit: in other news, I might have slightly freaked out and bought myself another car when "chassis cracks" started looking like the main candidate. It may look a little familiar, but I'm a bit OCD and wanted "a good un". I have no idea what state the geo / balance is in so this will be coming your way ASAP for some of your finest fettling!
  20. _Al_
    Chassis crack sounds pretty serious! Looking forward to the next episode...
  21. _Al_
    Hi Tony, apologies once again for being so late, and thanks a million for looking at it for me. I say again, it seems to have got dramatically worse. Last time I put a set of stock wheels on the shake almost went away. Now it's every bit as bad regardless. I'm concerned that the inner track rod end may have unwound itself again on the way over so would strongly recommend you take a look at it before taking the car on the road. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
  22. _Al_
    Hi Tony, I take it you close at 3 today same as last time we chatted?
  23. _Al_
    Thanks Tony. Not sure how I'll mange that then as I work in Central London and don't finish till 5:30. May take a half day.
  24. _Al_
    That's great, thanks. What time are you open till as I may need to collect during the week. I'm guessing you won't be working the bank holiday? I now have a potential buyer even if it can't be economically repaired. Just have to get it to them. Away for my wedding anniversary next weekend though and keen to have this sorted one way or another! Thanks again for your help with this Tony.
  25. _Al_
    Definitely Saturday Car starts and runs, 90% of the interior is back in. How long do you think you'll need to hang on to it Tony?
×
×
  • Create New...