JamesV6CDX Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesV6CDX Posted September 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Very thoughtful. Makes a difference when little things like that are done prior to the job.When I had the windscreen replaced earlier this year I sprayed the wiper spindles the night before and loosened the nuts. Then the next morning I popped the wiper arms off with a puller so he could get straight on with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Well done with the new chariot ....... Other things to check on the Omega is up/down play in the Idler arm and a broken rear coil spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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