Steve Shuttleworth

I noticed over the weekend that my car tends to pull left under acceleration
and veer to the right when I take my foot off the throttle. There is no
movement of the steering wheel and the effect is very slight. The car
doesn't change direction when braking. I have come to the conclusion that
the rear axle must be moving around more than it should.

Having jacked the car up this evening, there's nothing obvious wrong with
the bushes for the trailing arms, torque bars or panhard rod, but they do
all look like they have been there for a long time.

Has anyone out there suffered from this problem and, if so, how did you fix
it?

Many Thanks

Steve

Peter K L Milnes

Renew all suspension bushings (front and rear) with Polyurethane bushings.
If you are in UK (which I suspect by your addy) visit the following URL.
http://www.racecar.co.uk/superflex/index.html this is the contact point for
Superflex Polyurethane bushings.

All the best, Peter.

700/900/90 Register Keeper,
Volvo Owners Club (UK).

"Steve Shuttleworth" <steve.shuttleworth@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:05vJe.25013$Fx3.2698@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net...
>I noticed over the weekend that my car tends to pull left under
>acceleration and veer to the right when I take my foot off the throttle.
>There is no movement of the steering wheel and the effect is very slight.
>The car doesn't change direction when braking. I have come to the
>conclusion that the rear axle must be moving around more than it should.
>
> Having jacked the car up this evening, there's nothing obvious wrong with
> the bushes for the trailing arms, torque bars or panhard rod, but they do
> all look like they have been there for a long time.
>
> Has anyone out there suffered from this problem and, if so, how did you
> fix it?
>
> Many Thanks
>
> Steve
>

Steve Shuttleworth

It dawned on me yesterday that the symptoms of this problem only began after
I bought a new tyre (following a puncture). When I measured the diameter of
the new tyre and compared it to the tyre on the other side, the new one was
6mm bigger (just from normal tread wear). Summising that if the car is
fitted with a limited slip differential, under power the offside wheel would
travel around 20mm further than the nearside, and under deceleration, the
diferential would free up and remove the one sided drive effect.

So I swapped the front wheels for the back ones (fronts fitted as a pair and
of equal diameter) and, hey presto, the problem has gone away. I would
never have believed that such a small difference in tyre diameter would
cause such a significant effect on the steering. Also, it turns out that I
have a limited slip differential, which is nice!

No need to change the bushes after all!

Steve


"Steve Shuttleworth" <steve.shuttleworth@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:05vJe.25013$Fx3.2698@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net...
>I noticed over the weekend that my car tends to pull left under
>acceleration and veer to the right when I take my foot off the throttle.
>There is no movement of the steering wheel and the effect is very slight.
>The car doesn't change direction when braking. I have come to the
>conclusion that the rear axle must be moving around more than it should.
>
> Having jacked the car up this evening, there's nothing obvious wrong with
> the bushes for the trailing arms, torque bars or panhard rod, but they do
> all look like they have been there for a long time.
>
> Has anyone out there suffered from this problem and, if so, how did you
> fix it?
>
> Many Thanks
>
> Steve
>

James Sweet

"Steve Shuttleworth" <steve.shuttleworth@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:%fvKe.2625$9b6.1007@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> It dawned on me yesterday that the symptoms of this problem only began
after
> I bought a new tyre (following a puncture). When I measured the diameter
of
> the new tyre and compared it to the tyre on the other side, the new one
was
> 6mm bigger (just from normal tread wear). Summising that if the car is
> fitted with a limited slip differential, under power the offside wheel
would
> travel around 20mm further than the nearside, and under deceleration, the
> diferential would free up and remove the one sided drive effect.
>
> So I swapped the front wheels for the back ones (fronts fitted as a pair
and
> of equal diameter) and, hey presto, the problem has gone away. I would
> never have believed that such a small difference in tyre diameter would
> cause such a significant effect on the steering. Also, it turns out that
I
> have a limited slip differential, which is nice!
>
> No need to change the bushes after all!
>
>

Your bushings are still probably shot, with good bushings you shouldn't get
a significant effect from such a slight tire mismatch.

John Robertson

Always make sure the tyres across front or back are equal with the same
tread pattern and same pressure .Its wise to have the same pattern all round
but if that's not possible the same pattern should be on the front wheels
and same on the back wheels ,never mix tyres on the same axle.On new radials
low pressure is not easy to pick but come a long hot run and any tyre thats
been abused will blow out .



James Sweet" <jamessweet@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:EOAKe.7843$0d.3282@trnddc06...
>
> "Steve Shuttleworth" <steve.shuttleworth@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:%fvKe.2625$9b6.1007@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
>> It dawned on me yesterday that the symptoms of this problem only began
> after
>> I bought a new tyre (following a puncture). When I measured the diameter
> of
>> the new tyre and compared it to the tyre on the other side, the new one
> was
>> 6mm bigger (just from normal tread wear). Summising that if the car is
>> fitted with a limited slip differential, under power the offside wheel
> would
>> travel around 20mm further than the nearside, and under deceleration, the
>> diferential would free up and remove the one sided drive effect.
>>
>> So I swapped the front wheels for the back ones (fronts fitted as a pair
> and
>> of equal diameter) and, hey presto, the problem has gone away. I would
>> never have believed that such a small difference in tyre diameter would
>> cause such a significant effect on the steering. Also, it turns out that
> I
>> have a limited slip differential, which is nice!
>>
>> No need to change the bushes after all!
>>
>>
>
> Your bushings are still probably shot, with good bushings you shouldn't
> get
> a significant effect from such a slight tire mismatch.
>
>