mac Posted May 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Havent posted in a while, but had a nice surprise today Changed the kumho 712s that were on the front of the mondeo for hankook s1 evo's and the difference was noticable very quickly. Have only driven about 20 miles so need to scrub them in before i can comment. Straight line holding is much better, no extremely sharp pull to the left. Car is much more stable over bumps and doesnt want to dart off in the direction the bump sends it. Steering wheel still drops off to the left on release and the car actually goes to the right now slightly, just my luck huh. Still obviously not quite right but the suspension/steering has been checked numerous times and nothing found. I am getting closer to getting my car back. Not sure if i should get another allignment done as the last one was only 2 months ago but there is clearly still something not quite right. hard to believe kumhos with 4mm left on them and just inner shoulder wear could be so bad but clearly they were. Car actually seemed dangerous for the last week. hope everything is ok with you tony and you have my condolences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Thanks How many times in this thread have i blamed the tyres? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Thanks How many times in this thread have i blamed the tyres? A few. I had other wheels on before, was the same. But you were right, the tyres were somewhat at fault. reflecting on it now, the car drives as it did at the end of last year before i had the slide on the ice and hot the rear left. Just been out for another spin and theres still definately a problem as there is a particular section of road which is superelevated (lot of camber) and it always feels unstable on it and it still very much does. The tyres have improved the situation maybe 30% but there is still a major problem in their sumwhere. Havent a clue how im going to find it although im probably going to go back at teh subframe. Still open to any ideas. 30% down, only 70 to go :angry: Thanks for help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 knocked up quite a few miles today and although tyres an improvement, steering problems persist. want to get these sorted asap as i dont want another set of tyres ruined. Car is acting as per my description in previous post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 13, 2011 Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 Your car is doing my head in.... I wish you were in the UK!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 Your car is doing my head in.... I wish you were in the UK!! haha that one actually made me laugh. your annoyance with it x 100 = mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2011 Hi tony Able to give you a better picture of how the car is now. Was out with my mechanic on friday and had a chat and a drive. Situation now 1. on a normal road (2.5% crossfall), car follows the road quite well but now pulls to the right not left. Steering wheel still drops off to the left when it is let go but not as much. The car will often change direction depending on the small imperfections in road. 2. on heavily cambered roads, 5% crossfall or so in either direction, the car wants to go in that direction strongly and requires the steering wheel to be turned approx 15 degrees in the opposite direction. 3. on a straight road, the front of the car is undulating on both sides up and down. this is obvious from looking at the bonnet at each side. This is the best description i can give. My mechanic is of the opinion that the guy what moved the subframe for me (when car drove better) got lucky and thats why he couldnt replicate it again even though i had the car back with him twice. he says the subframe is in the right position according to allignemnt reports and also according to pins. My mechanic thinks that the shocks are good all round and the ride height is good. However, he thinks that one of the shocks on the front could be partially seized hence holding the car in a particular position on a heavily cambered road. Any thoughts on: 1. why its now pulling right not left on straight road (dont want to get another allignment without reason) 2. That one of the shocks on the front might be seized and causing the driving conditions. Cheers as usual. Im giving this one last push to solve, dont want to admit defeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 A seized shock would cause very unpredictable handling. Any witness marks on the shaft? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 A seized shock would cause very unpredictable handling. Any witness marks on the shaft? none that were mentioned. Will have a look myself later, would they be at the top of the sleeve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 Anywhere on the shaft really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 Anywhere on the shaft really. Nothing obvious on the shafts. Looking at the new hankook s1 evos i mounted on the front recently, i noticed something. Im guessing you will be able to answer this one straight off. Front right. the threads across the tire are going in a slighly rear direction. Front left. the threads across the tire are going in a slighly forward direction. for frame of reference, the following is fitted as per front right description with left side of tire in picture as outside side. (http://compare.ebay.com/like/250822642178?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y) also outside is visibily stamped on both tyres as they are currently mounted. Could be being paranoid here on this, am just curious as they are not directional tires. Are they fitted incorrectly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Yes..... Those tyres are asymmetrical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Yes..... Those tyres are asymmetrical cheers tony hmmm this will be interesting. so the tyres threads on both side should both be heading either rearwards or forward. so even though outside is stamped on both tyres on the outside, they are actually side specific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 No..... have a look at these.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 No..... have a look at these.... yep thanks i got it. I was aware that some tyres are both directional and assymetric. Found a good article online about the s1 evo and that they are just assymetric. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 Tony At a bit of a loss now. Not sure where to go from here. Dont want to go back to the garage that moved the subframe for me in the past as last time they misdiagnosed the rear trailing arm and wishbone bush. Have no confidence in them. If my own mechanic cant find anything wrong with steering/suspension parts, i highly doubt another place will. Any allignment place will just be mad keen to do an allignment, which would be pointless as its not where the problem is. I priced up coming over to you and it would work out around €500 before you got near the car. Havent really got this at the moment. Any thoughts on where i should go from here? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 26, 2011 Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 Are you getting any noise at all when driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 Are you getting any noise at all when driving. 2 noises 1. Sounds like a wheel bearing going front left. Thought it might the old tyres previously so when i changed tyres, checked it on the lift. No movement when shaking and no droning noise when spinning. Had one go on the back right before so know what it sounds like. The noise is not there all hte time when driving. When transitioning to a section of road with heavy camber (i.e. more weight transferred onto front left) it gets much louder. 2. Noise from back left that has been there since i got the car. Almost like a squeaking in around the strut. Can be simulated when stationary, moreso through side to side movement of the car rather than bouncing on the strut. Nothing found to the wrong and i have had new rear shocks last year and the same noise persisted. Sprayed a lot of lubricant up there at one point and it stopped for a while but came back. Thinking it might be a bump stop. really dont think its relevant to problem. Thats it. Car does seem to be vibrating a little more than usual lately but thats probably due to whatever is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 As an extra, car is easily pushed about in the high winds we have had lately. Was never like this at the start and the mondeo weighs over 1.6 tonnes so is not a light car. This would appear to be a firm clue to me as to whats wrong. Needs huge corrections to steering to keep the car between the lines. Was driving a 406 on the same day in same conditions on same road and it was barely moving at all. Now theres a thinker for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 26, 2011 Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 Thanks..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 welcome Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 27, 2011 Report Share Posted May 27, 2011 No, i'm still thunking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted May 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 No, i'm still thunking Any thoughts on noises or other info on where i should go now? (apart from the scrapper) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted June 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 any thoughts at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted June 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 Hi Tony Just for fun the nearside spring snapped at the weekend so am taking the opportunity to have what may be a last shot at this. I am going to change springs and shocks at the front, did rear shocks last year. Am also considering top mounts and bearings (my mechanic says he wont know about hte bearings until they are out). Anything else you would recommend looking at changing in this process? OE springs are ridiculous money and not interested in exacerbating allignment issues by putting un lowering springs. Have sourced a pair of no lowering kilen springs (which seem to get good reviews) to stick in the front. Any comments on these. Had decided on sticking in bilstein b4s after much research. However after ringing many places in the uk and ireland, they all have the same answer, they are out of stock an they dont have a date for delivery. So im bakc to looking at an alternative, i remember you saying to avoid munroe so what would you recommend? im looking for an OE replacemnt such as the b4. As usual, cheers for any help and good to see you back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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