Technical scary road handling

[rooster]

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Have a great weekend!
Rooster great name, my daughter love the band by the same name, saw them in concert, Oxon.

lol!! my name has nothing to do with the band(although one of there songs is gd), ive had my name long before they existed, it was the name of my very first car ( a classic mini )named "the racing rooster" i still own the car today, and am on giving it a full rebuild

 

[George1000]

sorry for the pants pic but you ideally need these measureents from either side

Back rim to tyre = 6.5cm
Front rim to tyre = 9cm
both exactly the same?
It was the top of the rim to tyre that was 1cm out?

 

[George1000]

lol!! my name has nothing to do with the band(although one of there songs is gd), ive had my name long before they existed, it was the name of my very first car ( a classic mini )named "the racing rooster" i still own the car today, and am on giving it a full rebuild

lol, Wey hey my first car was a blue mini, my "blue bomb" took me and my mate everywhere sports bucket seat et all! back in the 80's?? until I ran out of money and had to sell it?

 

[George1000]

Smart looking blue car! your latest??
Sorry have to run, shopping night, hungry teanagers and tesco is calling??
What a fantstic friday night ahead, pleasures of being a mum???
Thanks for all your help, will check later to see if you have any ideas on the measurements? But just booked next Saturday morning with my daughter to go to kwikfit! (busy working 8-6 all week) Bah!!
Drive carefully!

 

[George1000]

thats prity standard......called the cento lean.

drivers side suspension always sag abit more than passengers side

Really? that a relief, but its more when you reverse right turning the wheel almost to lock thats when it all feels weird?

 

[rooster]

based on those measurement it means that the bottom arm, and the frame is not bent! just had a thought, my cinq had a knock on the passengers side, which made the coil spring jump out of its seat and it used to be appauling for handling, could be a thing to check?

the blue 106 rallye has now been sold i now have a 899 cinq i use as a daily!

 

[craigb244]

you say one of the wheels tucks in more then the other? if you turn the steering wheel full lock the other way does the wheel on the other side tuck in just as much?

if not it sounds like there is damage to the steering arm. if its bent the sticky out part it will of effected the ackermann angle. they might of put the tracking right but with the arm been bent or tweeked the ankermann angle will always be wrong as soon as the steering it turned (even a small amount)

http://www.carbibles.com/steering_bible.html

 

[rooster]

craig, i think that is correct, i dont think the clicking has any relevance to reversing while right! i belive the clicking could potentially be a bent draglink hitting something as the wheel is turned to full lock! i dont know if the draglinks are replaceable on seicento's, i doubt that they arent so a new rack could be on the cards!
the ackermann principle only has relation to cornering and to stop the tyres form scrubbing, i dont see how this could cause any clicking!

 

[ycming]

As i said, i am pretty sure it is the steering rack!!!! IT clicks only turning right correct?

even better brooky said it onlys take half an hour to replace!

Get the garage to check to see if there is any damage to the steering rack!

Ming

 

[rooster]

As i said, i am pretty sure it is the steering rack!!!! IT clicks only turning right correct?

if it was the rack then it would click going either way, i think its a bent draglink(track rod) hitting on the body or something!

*these are my opinons and may differ from others

 

[ycming]

lol no, depends where the crack appears.

Ming

 

[ycming]

if it was the rack then it would click going either way, i think its a bent draglink(track rod) hitting on the body or something!

*these are my opinons and may differ from others

Body as in the chassis ? Don't actually know how that can happen.

Ming

 

[randomizered]

I will be passing up form southampton to coventry on sunday mid-day, afternoon, along the a34 if thats anywhere near you?

I can pop along, if you didn't take JR up on his offer, and have a look. I know cento's liek the back of my hand, and there aren't many people who've done as many mods to steering, steering racks and suspension as i have

Give me a PM if you aren't too far out of my way.

Kristian

 

[George1000]

I will be passing up form southampton to coventry on sunday mid-day, afternoon, along the a34 if thats anywhere near you?

I can pop along, if you didn't take JR up on his offer, and have a look. I know cento's liek the back of my hand, and there aren't many people who've done as many mods to steering, steering racks and suspension as i have

Give me a PM if you aren't too far out of my way.

Kristian

I have sent a message, hope Im not too late? I would love you to take a look, JR couldn't make Sunday, can meet just off the A34 Abingdon? look forward to your reply.
Georgina

 

[George1000]

I will be passing up form southampton to coventry on sunday mid-day, afternoon, along the a34 if thats anywhere near you?

I can pop along, if you didn't take JR up on his offer, and have a look. I know cento's liek the back of my hand, and there aren't many people who've done as many mods to steering, steering racks and suspension as i have

Give me a PM if you aren't too far out of my way.

Kristian

Great looking car by the way, my daughters is yellow and the sporting model and is refered to as her bumble bee? buzzzzzing!

 

[randomizered]

To summarize what I said earlier,

Get the tyres done, the profile you want is either 165/55/13 or 175/50/13. The latter probably having a wider choice and a bit cheaper.

If you go for 175/50/13 though, keep them both on the front, don't mix them up on the same axel with the 165/55/13's you already on the rear.

Get the tracking and setup inspected again after they have been fitted as well.

You can use kwikfit, but there are probably other decent independant tyre specialist if you look in yellow pages.


That kind of wear will certainly be why it was so scary to drive. Whats caused the wear could either just be worn tyres fitted, or some setup problem. Getting the tracking checked will highlight any issues.

Keep an eye on the tyre wear. The tyre place should have a tread depth gauge you could have for free or a few £. Ask them to show you how to work it (its dead easy), and just keep an eye on the wear.

If you have changed them already, i hope it feels a lot better. New tyres normally take a few miles to achieve full grip as well after they bed in, but you should notice an instant improvement.

If you still have probs, just post back up.

Cheers,

Kristian

 

[George1000]

To summarize what I said earlier,

Get the tyres done, the profile you want is either 165/55/13 or 175/50/13. The latter probably having a wider choice and a bit cheaper.

If you go for 175/50/13 though, keep them both on the front, don't mix them up on the same axel with the 165/55/13's you already on the rear.

Get the tracking and setup inspected again after they have been fitted as well.

You can use kwikfit, but there are probably other decent independant tyre specialist if you look in yellow pages.


That kind of wear will certainly be why it was so scary to drive. Whats caused the wear could either just be worn tyres fitted, or some setup problem. Getting the tracking checked will highlight any issues.

Keep an eye on the tyre wear. The tyre place should have a tread depth gauge you could have for free or a few £. Ask them to show you how to work it (its dead easy), and just keep an eye on the wear.

If you have changed them already, i hope it feels a lot better. New tyres normally take a few miles to achieve full grip as well after they bed in, but you should notice an instant improvement.

If you still have probs, just post back up.

Cheers,

Kristian

Hey Kristian,
Cannot thank you enough for your invaluable advise, pretty scary news, thank goodness for honest genuine people!

We headed straight for a national tyre garage and had both front tyres replaced, check the tracking and let us know if they was anything else that may need attention.
It seems the tracking was way out with both wheels pointing inwards (cause for the low tread)?
The difference in driving was amazing.

A valuable lesson learnt believe me! Its good to know exactly what to look for, what to keep an eye on and where not to go for future works?? I dont believe the tracking was done correctly just one month ago? Bad garage? saw women coming? Will definately ask around for reccomendations from now on!

Again many, MANY thanks for your advice! :worship:
And just to say thank you to everyone for your input and advice, I will definately be back!

You definately deserve that drink! Safe driving!
Regards, Georgina

 

[randomizered]

Glad it handles better now

Did they agree the tyres were both well past the best?

Toe in (both wheels pointing in) will definatley cause the wear that could be seen. Effectively the car is always cornering and scrubbing the outer edge of the tyre.

I also doubt the tracking was done correctly last time. Probably not because your a woman, some places are just no good, whereas other are ok. I have been stung in the past as well, hence why i try and do all my work myself. I hate garages lol.

Keep an eye on the tyres every week, just make sure they are ok, and hopefully you will be good for a few years to come

Cheers,

Kristian

 

[George1000]

Yes, the garage said the wear was very bad, proberbly due to the tracking being so fare out(toed), they didnt believe it had been done only a month ago?

Mechanics classes springs to mind, mmmmmmmmmm I will give it some thought!

We will keep an eye on all tyres now, safety first!!!!
Thanks again,
Georgina

 

[arseofbox]

Yes, the garage said the wear was very bad, proberbly due to the tracking being so fare out(toed), they didnt believe it had been done only a month ago?

If you used a big chain type place theres all possibility it could have been a 'seeded' measurement - a bent straight edge if you will.

Theres a number of things that will cause tracking to alter slightly, leading to a noticible drift (1-2 degrees) over time, but Ive found that thats normally a year or so assuming an average usage, no major impacts etc. But one major impact can knock it out enough in one go that it needs re-setting.

For example, I took the Stilo for tyres approximately 2 months after I bought it - it was tracked after I test drove it as I found it was pulling heavily to the left. When the tyre place decided to 'check the tracking for free' and found a 2 degree error I knew they were lying, as that's a noticible deviation and the car was tracking fine when driving! Its a ploy to get more business.