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Technical so much to do..........

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Technical so much to do..........

gadge

gadge

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well i finally got my car back from the body shop (a parcel van abused it outside my house) luckily he was delivering to my house so his company covered it and some 3 weeks later i now have a shiny new bumper and wing - as well as a new head light and wheel arch liner which did'nt need replacing but i'm not complaining? so now i can get on with all my jobs, which there are many!! so i've booked it in to have its cambelt done ( at 70,000 miles i thought it wise!). i've also asked them to investigate a problem it has.... it veers off to the left?? i've checked ( and hoped!) it was the tyre pressures - which it was'nt - then had the tracking done but it still does it so now i suspect something eles may be at fault? perhaps rear axle bushes? has anyone eles had problem with the rear end feeling loose? like its pulling to one side?
 
Hi there

Yes i did share a similar experience to yours just near the end of 2010, my steering was being affected by the front wheels not the rear I must point out. Even still there are many things which I have learnt through my experience and the Forum knowledge which you can check out on your car.
With my JTD the problem was a serious wobbly steering wheel, this was all down to 2 big lumps(occurred from wheel spinning so much with out traction over the snowy December) on my front tyres and a buckled front alloy.

In your case do check the wheel bearings located in your wheel hub, any cracks will indicate that your steering will be affected by this, wobbles, bumpy ride and so on.

Do check your left and right side tyres for any uneven wear and that is boldness in the outer & inner side of the tyres or the whole tyre itself, compare both sides to see if they have any uneven wear, this will indicate like mine that you may have a broken coil spring in your suspension.

You mentioned that you have had your tracking done, if from the above suggestions it all checks out OK, have your wheels rebalanced, it is not expensive and may cure your problem.

Hope this helps (y)
 
thanks mate,any advice on this is good advice!(y) the forum has been a great help, the only reason i say the rear bushes maybe at fault is because many on here have said that there a bit of a common problem, and when i got the tracking done and it was the same, i started thinking outside the box as it were, and thought what if it was the rear subframe/axle was is out, and is trying to steer the rear end as the car moves? just like its "crabbing"? the tyres were new in december so the wear is'nt really showing yet, i guess i'll find out soon just hope its something simple not like a bent axle or chassis!:eek:
 
gadgemyster said:
thanks mate,any advice on this is good advice!(y) the forum has been a great help, the only reason i say the rear bushes maybe at fault is because many on here have said that there a bit of a common problem, and when i got the tracking done and it was the same, i started thinking outside the box as it were, and thought what if it was the rear subframe/axle was is out, and is trying to steer the rear end as the car moves? just like its "crabbing"? the tyres were new in december so the wear is'nt really showing yet, i guess i'll find out soon just hope its something simple not like a bent axle or chassis!:eek:
Click to expand...

From your description it does point towards maybe an axle issue or a suspension related problem like the rear bushes or coils. From the rear of the car on a flat surface, do your rear wheel arches measure the same gap between the tyre and the arch? Does one side sit lower than the other?

By all means if you can do it, jack your car up, take the rear wheels off and check your axle shaft and housing for any cracks or broken components.

Keeps us posted on the outcome
 
The same happened to me, I only noticed the unbalanced gap in my rear wheel arches when I was standing at a distance, when i got closer and had a proper look underneath the arches, the uneven gap became more visible, it is not a dramatic gap and it is why it went unnoticed for a such time.

To top it off, I checked out my front wheel arches and you can guess the outcome, another broken coil spring (n)
 
well i had i good look around the back, i could'nt see any obvious height issues but i did notice the the camber points in at the top a little, but that might be the lowered nature of the schumacher version. the rear axle did'nt seem bent though which is a positive sign....oh and whislts poking around the rear wheel, i noticed the last owner fitted "red stuff" pads!! how good is that!:D i thought it was good on the brakes!!
 
Nice (y)

gadgemyster said:
i noticed the last owner fitted "red stuff" pads!! how good is that!:D i thought it was good on the brakes!!
Click to expand...

I am after some EBC merchandise too :yuck:

gadgemyster said:
well i had i good look around the back, i could'nt see any obvious height issues but i did notice the the camber points in at the top a little, but that might be the lowered nature of the schumacher version. the rear axle did'nt seem bent though which is a positive sign....oh and whislts poking around the rear wheel, i noticed the last owner fitted "red stuff" pads!! how good is that!:D i thought it was good on the brakes!!
Click to expand...

Did you take any of the rear wheels off and check the wheel bearings or any other visible parts of the axle to see if they were secure or broke?

You said that your camber is pointing in slightly at the top, there should not be any visible tilt of the camber of the wheel, how much camber angle are you describing? Was this both the rear wheels or just one of them?

Heres a pic to enlighten the comms
 

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Soz pressed enter before finishing the typo lol

Its just that gadgemyster has been describing a problem which seems to be axle or wheel bearing related and that is why I asked about the camber tilt.
 
Yellow Peril said:
Not sure how easy it would be to measure, but what I meant is that if you put a spirit level vertically against the wheel, the top of the wheel would be slightly further into the wheel arch than the bottom.
Click to expand...

I do apologize

I never realized that there was a slight camber tilt on the rear wheels of the shuey, I have never noticed any distinctive camber tilt on my JTD tho, U know what there probably is but I just have never noticed.

I am interested to know what the outcome of gadgemyster problem is, I hope the camber tilt he described was just as it should be.

I am sure there was somebody on here recently who described the same symptoms of a rear end having a mind of its own... never found out the answer :confused:
 
Yellow Peril said:
Not sure how easy it would be to measure, but what I meant is that if you put a spirit level vertically against the wheel, the top of the wheel would be slightly further into the wheel arch than the bottom.
Click to expand...

spot on, just as peril says, the "top" just tilts in slightly, and i'm sure that because of the ebach springs fitted, i hav'nt taken the wheels off yet to see about the bearings, i have to say i doubt there the cause because a bearing that has collapsed to the point where its steering the rear would probably make a right racket? in some ways though i wish it was, they would be alot easier to fix!:D next friday, i'll definatly have an anwser (hopfully:() , i can't keep driving around like some big red shiny crab!
 
gadgemyster said:
spot on, just as peril says, the "top" just tilts in slightly, and i'm sure that because of the ebach springs fitted, i hav'nt taken the wheels off yet to see about the bearings, i have to say i doubt there the cause because a bearing that has collapsed to the point where its steering the rear would probably make a right racket? in some ways though i wish it was, they would be alot easier to fix!:D next friday, i'll definatly have an anwser (hopfully:() , i can't keep driving around like some big red shiny crab!
Click to expand...

Have you considered 4-wheel laser alignment? It could be the front tracking is out. Bear in mind the rear tracking isn't adjustable, but 4-wheel alignment should align the front wheels, taking the rear alignment into account...

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/261897-rear-beam-axle-alignment.html
 
gadgemyster said:
fridays the big day mate, research fiat just rang me up and said "we can't get your cam belt kit untill monday???" i booked it in 2 weeks ago!! so there gonna fit a Delphi one instead which suits me fine (y) - i'm keeping my fingers crossed about the steering? i'm convinced its the rear axle bushes!!
Click to expand...

Thats great (y)

Keep us updated on the outcomes and good luck :yuck:
 
well finally took the car in, research fiat did a wonderful job fitting the cam belt kit (£385 including vat!) which considering my a quote from the same place for a 2.0 marea was £750 :eek: i was very pleasantly suppised! and as for the steering problem?...wait for it?.......... dunno! because they ran out of time to put it on thier 4 wheel lazer thingy! lol so it'll have to go in again next week sometime.:eek:
 
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