Palmo Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Hi, first post on here. Looking for some advise. Recently went to have my Vauxhall Omega (2.5TD - 1999) wheel alignment done as the steering wheel has always been off centre (to the left) since I have had the car. When the garage went to adjust the rear he said the "off-side Rear Track Control Bar was seized" and so he could not adjust. He tried to heat this up to free but with no joy. Apparently the near-side was also very tight but he managed to free this a little. The end result was that three of the 4 wheels were aligned within spec? - see following for details - , but the off-side rear is out. Presumably this is the cause of the steering wheel being off-centre? The Before and After settings are as follows: These settings seem to be all over the place to me - even though they all appear to be 'green' after adjustment except the off-side rear toe. Anyone in the know care to comment - the car does seem to drive OK. It would appear after ringing around that the rear track control bars are only available direct from a Vauxhall dealer at a retail cost of £56 each. Can these be purchased from anywhere cheaper do you know? Cheers, would really appreciate any advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Welcome to WIM. First off im no expert but Tony will be along sometime today,but they may seem to be all over the place but as long as they are within the limits they should be o.k apart from the rear. Is £56 dear for a rear track arm?(its the cost of a cheap tyre) so you may go through a couple a year just on the rear...it could cost you more in the long run. But stick around as someone with more knowledge than me can answer your q's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmo Posted August 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Welcome to WIM. First off im no expert but Tony will be along sometime today,but they may seem to be all over the place but as long as they are within the limits they should be o.k apart from the rear. Is £56 dear for a rear track arm?(its the cost of a cheap tyre) so you may go through a couple a year just on the rear...it could cost you more in the long run. But stick around as someone with more knowledge than me can answer your q's. Thanks for comments. £56 is for the arm. However, I have asked a similar question on an Omega forum and apparently it's a common problem that these sieze. Seems there's two options: 1. Soak with loads of WD over several days before visiting a wheel alignment centre - often works. 2: Remove from car and place in a vice whilst heating them up - usually works too. So, my only real question remaining is around the Steeering Wheel being off-centre. Do the above alignment figures (particularly the rear off-side) point at the cause of the Steering Wheel being off-centre? I'm looking at going to the alignment centre on Drury's Lane in Oldham (listed as a trusted centre on here) - this is fairly local to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Stick around and keep an eye on this thread as im sure Tony (the Dr) will pin point the exact problems for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanF Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 I'm no expert but I know that ALL GREEN does not mean ALL GOOD. Symmetry between left and right is probably more important than having everything green. It doesn't seem like a good idea to have both rear wheels pointing to the right. When Tony gets here I hope he will explain what 'Steer Ahead' means. Also if you do go elsewhere ask for a full geometry check and a full printout. There is really no excuse for just giving you the bare minimum of camber and toe measurements. ======================= Regarding price of the rear track control arm; are you a member of any car clubs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Hello Palmo and welcome to wim. Unfortunately the Geometry you was given is incomplete, the Castor and KPI/SAI angles have not been measured so i cannot be absolutely conclusive of your problem, but with the data available i can see a problem. The front Toe positions are set according to the rear Thrust angle, if the Thrust is displaced, and it is, then the steering position will be compromised. A point to note is that the Geometry machine is disinterested in the steering position only the road wheels positions. The dynamics (driven) results displayed will off-set the steering..... Have a read of this link here in wim http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...p?showtopic=118 Hope this helps. note: I'm not happy with the OSF Camber either, but that's another topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmo Posted August 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Hello Palmo and welcome to wim.Unfortunately the Geometry you was given is incomplete, the Castor and KPI/SAI angles have not been measured so i cannot be absolutely conclusive of your problem, but with the data available i can see a problem. The front Toe positions are set according to the rear Thrust angle, if the Thrust is displaced, and it is, then the steering position will be compromised. A point to note is that the Geometry machine is disinterested in the steering position only the road wheels positions. The dynamics (driven) results displayed will off-set the steering..... Have a read of this link here in wim http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...p?showtopic=118 Hope this helps. note: I'm not happy with the OSF Camber either, but that's another topic. Thanks for this info. Why are you not happy with the OSF Camber setting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Hello Palmo and welcome to wim. Unfortunately the Geometry you was given is incomplete, the Castor and KPI/SAI angles have not been measured so i cannot be absolutely conclusive of your problem, but with the data available i can see a problem. The front Toe positions are set according to the rear Thrust angle, if the Thrust is displaced, and it is, then the steering position will be compromised. A point to note is that the Geometry machine is disinterested in the steering position only the road wheels positions. The dynamics (driven) results displayed will off-set the steering..... Have a read of this link here in wim http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...p?showtopic=118 Hope this helps. note: I'm not happy with the OSF Camber either, but that's another topic. Thanks for this info. Why are you not happy with the OSF Camber setting? Not easy to explain but this is wim so here goes... we have three ranges (scales) to consider... 1: The setting range 2: The static range 3: The dynamic range The OSF position is within the setting range (tolerance) hence the green color, but the static position is suggested to be -1d 40' from memory, so the dynamic range will be exceeded since the static position is near to -2d 03'.... Historically the Omega's static position needs to be set at -1d 20', this will deny the dynamic camber wear issues so prominent on the Omega. Sometimes the manufacturers do get the dynamics wrong and this makes all the corrective data/suggestions redundant... The Omega owns a very fluid suspension and an aggressive Camber curve. To allow the setting range to be near the static range will wear the tyres dynamically. That is why i don't like the displayed position. It will wear both front tyres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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