Poorgasman Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Hi Just had some new tyres fitted to the front of my car. The old tyres were wearing evenly and the steering was perfectly straight. After having the tyres fitted to the front I found the steering wheel to be off centre, not massivly but enough to be annoying the car does not pull at all. The tyres fitted were goodyear eagle F1s (directional type) Fronts were Fulda excellero crappo which are directional, As are the rears. I had the car checked by the dealer for any worn bushes, shocks or any thing bent etc they said they could find no reason for the steering wheel to be off centre. Got the alignmeant done on a hunter machine and although it was better it still wasnt quite right. The car didnt pull but the steering wheel was ever so slightly off centre still but better than before. I thought I would let the car settle in to see if it got any better and left it around three weeks, the steering didt get any better and stayed off centre. So yesterday I took the car back to have it re-checked. I was told although it had moved slightly it probably wouldnt have been noticeable. They reset the two which had moved and sent me on my way. As soon as I got in the car I could tell the wheel again was not straight, It was in fact worse this time than before and worse than when it was very first done. I couldn't go back because I didnt have time to go back and wait another hour on my day off. On the road the car drives dead straight and doesn't pull at all. Have tried taking the steering wheel off to compensate for it but my cars wheel isnt on a spline so can't be adjusted. Anyone got any idea what the problem might be? Was thinking of swapping the rear wheels with the front, is this likely to help? On the printout I have been given both times all parts on it are on the green so it would suggest they have done it correctly? Other option is going somewhere else and getting it checked again, but this place is also a 50mile round trip away and will obviously charge me again. Really don't want to go back to the first place again as they've had two goes at it and got nowhere. Also not sure if this is in the right area? Thanks for any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorgasman Posted March 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Just to post up the results of the alignment http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/jac...ent1sttime2.jpg This is the results from their 1st effort which was the closest to getting the steering straight. http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/jac...ment2ndtime.jpg This is the 2nd time the alignment was done. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIH Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 I wonder why the big SAI movement first time round ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorgasman Posted March 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Do these figures look about right or is the big change in SAI an issue? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 The problem is the tyres..... Have them move then (side-to-side)... i know they directional but for testing purposes it will prove this is a compression issue. As for the SAI.... It's a problem with their machine, unless your car fell off the ramp during the measurements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 100% agree with Tony, mine was the same and since changing tyres again the steering wheel is spot on center again.. incidentally mine were F1's as well ... is this a flaw with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 100% agree with Tony, mine was the same and since changing tyres again the steering wheel is spot on center again.. incidentally mine were F1's as well ... is this a flaw with them? Yes... more so with the asymmetric though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorgasman Posted March 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Hi Thanks very much for the quick replys and info. Just wanted to ask what you mean when you say its a compression issue and will be proven with a swap of tyres? Will change the tyres as soon as I can, although am being hampered by a jack which is brand new but has somehow broken. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Hi Thanks very much for the quick replys and info. Just wanted to ask what you mean when you say its a compression issue and will be proven with a swap of tyres? Will change the tyres as soon as I can, although am being hampered by a jack which is brand new but has somehow broken. Cheers The tyres internal construction is radial, this is then overlapped by a radial tread, the alignment is this is not always uniform so a miss-matched bias can offer the same compliant as yours. Proof of the pud is in the moving, if the steering position changes then we have our criminal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 I've had the same problem before, once I put new tyres on it sorted it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorgasman Posted March 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 Hi, Managed to get a jack today and swap the wheels around with some strange results. First of all I swapped the two fronts side to side so the left went on the righthand side and the right on the lefthand side. Took it for a drive and it had made no difference as far as I could tell. Got back home and swapped the fronts with the rears at the same time putting the wheels back to the correct side so original left front swapped with the left rear etc. Took this for a drive and the steering has swapped, originaly it was slightly tipped to the right when driving straight and now its quite a way tipped to the left but still drives straight. So to re-cap, swapped the fronts side to side- no difference swapped the fronts back to how they were then put the rears on the front and the fronts on the rear- Steering is now tipped opposite way to what it was. Any ideas as to what this might be? Seems strange that swapping the rears and the fronts would cause the steering to be out in a different direction. baffling me!! Thanks for any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 This thread explained the same thing with new tyres, yours are not new so your flying blind> http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...p?showtopic=165 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poorgasman Posted March 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 Hi, I assume this means the problem is going to be with the goodyears as there were no symptoms untill these were fitted? Or could it be a combination of both? Each way I take it there is nothing I can do now untill the tyres are due for replacing? Will have a look to see if there is any remains of the lines in the tread where the rubber doesn't contact the road to give a better idea of what might be going on. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 The fact the symptoms changed when the tyres were moved proves it's a pneumatic issue not mechanical or geometric, unfortunately you are stuck with this until the tyres are changed and when they are keep an eye on those colored lines because most tyre centres are not aware what the mean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.