bunjeeman

The front end of my Escos wonders around terribly, it tramlines and feels like the front end is on casters....... Driving along on the highways requires constant steering input changes!!!

We've looked at all the obvious culprits such as CV joints, ball joints, it's fully poly bushed, wheel bearings, steering rack and inner and outer rod ends.

The geometry has been checked with no problems and there is no play in the drive shafts etc.....

It's driving me crazy and really upsets me that I hate driving it now!!!

Please Please Help so that I can enjoy driving my baby again!

mikedaf2

try looking for play in the shock absorbers whilst at road hight.

bunjeeman

Thanks Mike , I'll check, but I have changed the suspension with all new top mounts and bearings etc...... this did not make any difference to the wondering around!

ECOS95

When you had the geometry checked did they set it to 0.5mm toe in ?? Had mine set that way & it did make a difference. Also tyre pressures could affect the feel through the steering wheel.

bunjeeman

We have have tried various degrees of toe in and toe out........ The sensation is really big and inconsistant unlike geometry settings. Kinda feels like the steering rack is not attached to the wheel sometimes!!!

When testing, we have tried to monitor and maintain tyre pressures etc. So really don't know what the variable is now.

ECOS95

Have you checked the steering coupling to the rack ?

bunjeeman

with the engine swiched off, there is no play in the steering...... there doesn't seem to have any play when the car is stationary.....

ECOS95

Wheels out of balance ?? (clutching@straws)

bunjeeman

if only........

it's got be baffled

But thanks for helping me think!

El Grand Tomismola

Have you looked at your wheel bearings and hubs?

A worn wheel bearing in a worn hub comes on gradually, but would make the car feel like shit.

I'm in the process of changing the drivers front hub because it was worn, i.e the outer races of the bearing where loose in the hub

This could account for your wheel wobble, thus causing the car to wander

bunjeeman

Will take another look, already has new bearings and no play in the wheels when the car is inspected on the lift......

dojj

iTrader: (3)

i reckon it's the wrong anti roll bar you've got fitted if everything else is coming out to be fine

if you've got a 2wd bar in there the angles are different when it goes into the tca's and this makes it very nervous in the straight ahead position, but brilliant round corners

at very slow speeds does the steering self centre or does it carry on turning if you let the wheel go?

bunjeeman

Thanks for the feedback, it does center and the roll bar has never been changed and came with the car from new........

Komm88

Not got much idea myself. Any chance it could have been in a smash and hasnt been jigged out straight properly????
Sorry prob way out but just a guess!

bunjeeman

Thanks to everyone who is giving me feedback, I will recheck all these items again eventhough we've looked into these........

ECOS95

Bent / damaged drive shaft ??

bunjeeman

Has anyone else here experienced similar problems???

L3 COS

hi, you say the steering rack feels like its not attached to the wheels sometimes, have you actually changed the steering rack?as it could well be the problem if its worn out, they are a common thing to wear out on the escos and make strange noises, saying that have you got any noises coming from the car at all when this is happening?
have you had a 4wheel alignment check?

cozzymatt

i would be looking at the rear beam mountings and bushes! I had the same problem on mine, polybushed the rear and it was like a different car..

bunjeeman

Had the car checked and it was straight.......

bunjeeman

No strange noises that I can hear, I did have the rack rebuilt about an year ago (leaking seals), but I had this problem before the rebuild. But it didn't seemed to have gotten more severe in the past few months......

Anyone know where I can get a new rack? May be worth trying!

bunjeeman

Thanks, this was what I was planning to do, as I thought I had run out of options at the front end......

But the car seems to be pulling from the front end, not the back, is this what yours felt like?

lowman

hey mate
you should also check the rear end..if the bushes are worn at the back..that will affect the front end aswell.

also...another thing..what tires are you running?
have you tried to change the wheel set...with someother set and see if it changes?that is a pretty easy way to rule out if its the wheels.i know any V shaped pattern in the tires are pretty much shit..cause it makes the car track alot..and very oversensitive.just an advice mate.

hope you will get it sorted.make a list of all things to check..maybe get a car technician to check it for you..check all bushes...for wear and to much play.
the steering rack should be fine as long as there is no play when you rock the wheel back and fort when you hold your hand at 9 o clock and 3 o clock..and rock it back and forth.

other stuff regarding wheels...tyre pressure is also a usual fuck up.

do the checklist thing..with everything that could possibly be worn out.and see what possibilities there are.

good luck mate

bunjeeman

Thanks for the input, sounds like the rear end is my best bet! I've run Yokohama A048 and Dunlop D01J both molded slicks, at 32PSI, both have don't seem to have much affect on the symtoms......

Hope that the rear bushes will make a difference.

Daveysaff

iTrader: (9)

My 2wd saff did this. I changed pretty much everything on the front end, new tca's all the bushed etc but nothing worked. Had to pull over on the motorway sometimes it was that bad, felt like the car was steering itsslf
Put polys in the beam mounts and the rear arb and i'd say 99% was dialled out. Was using spacers on my front wheels though, so I reckon that would have been part of it too.

lowman

did you say you run street legal slicks?

they can do this ...wander...they do grip alot..especially if the road is uneven..at least so i heard.

bunjeeman

Sounds exactly like my car, sometimes I'm scared of driving it and it's very tiring to drive like this......... I'll get the rear busy kit ordered ASAP.

bunjeeman

Yes, they can make the car more nervous, but not to this extent. Also had this problem with high performance road tyres too.....

lowman

did you try the car with other wheel on it?

bunjeeman

Not much change with different wheels, currently using 17" MO's.......

lowman

hm.then it is not the wheels.rule them out.

have you checked the bushes in the rear?both the big bushes ones holding the frame of the rear axel..and the four small ones holding the suspensin arms?
i really cant believe that the wheel geometry is as it should be on the car..but if a garage checked it..and the angles is okei..then it should be..so..but its weird that in that case ,that they are okei..cause it doesnt seem like it is like its supposed to be..

bunjeeman

There's no visible damage to the rear bushes, but they could have gone soft or cracked inside. So these will be replaced shortly, I'm going to have all this done when the new engine goes in next month.

The rear was slightly toed out, as the car is lowered on coil overs and there is no way to adjust to rear beam as standard, may go for one of those adjustable ones from Danny B.......

Really hope to get this all sorted so I enjoy driving it in 2008!!!

Derek Burleigh

I had this problem once with an XR4x4 twin turbo.

Turned out to be the replacement front springs were too short causing the car to run on the inside edges of the tyres. Was a nightmare to drive, especailly in the wet or icy conditions. Simple solution was to put springs in to correct the wheel camber so the front tyres had more even road contact.

bunjeeman

Thanks Derek, I tried 2 sets of completely different coil over kits but no real change......

bunjeeman

Happy New Year to All!

Any thoughts on where I can get a new or reconditioned Power Steering Rack ?

Cheers!

G1EN

Having exactly the same problem with mine too.

I have standard rims on and normal tread tyres (not V).

Coming home from FITP last year, it was raining alot and the was aqua planning, or felt like it was uncrontolably. car felt as if it was going to just spin out... had to crawl at 30 mph ish to stop it...

bunjeeman

Oh NO! I thought I was the only one with the horrible problem..... no solution yet???

Mike=Rainbird

When you say the geometry has been checked, what are the settings?

bunjeeman

Off the top of my head:

Front -
Camber: -2 degrees
Toe: In 2mm

Rear -
Camber: 1.5 degrees
Toe: out 1mm

Cannot dial out the rear toe out on the standard beam.

Mike Rainbird

iTrader: (3)

You can improve the rear geometry with the shims I do (however, I am waiting for the next batch to come in) .

What tyres and how much tread is on them?