Odd tracking behaviour (after full alignment...)
Discussion
My son's first car, a Phase 1 1995 Peugeot 106 Ski (Readers Cars thread here) with just 9k miles on, is exhibiting some odd tracking behaviour.
It needed an alignment after we bought it, the steering wheel wasn't quite straight and it was pulling to the left slightly when letting go of the wheel. So it went in today for a full hunter machine setup and the garage, who I do trust, got it pretty much spot on to factory specs. This has cured the wheel being off-centre but it's still pulling to the left when going straight and letting go of the wheel.
It flew through it's MOT last week with no advisories and tonight I've checked tyre pressures (32F, 30R), wheel bearings, and the brakes for binding.
Anything else I should be checking?
It needed an alignment after we bought it, the steering wheel wasn't quite straight and it was pulling to the left slightly when letting go of the wheel. So it went in today for a full hunter machine setup and the garage, who I do trust, got it pretty much spot on to factory specs. This has cured the wheel being off-centre but it's still pulling to the left when going straight and letting go of the wheel.
It flew through it's MOT last week with no advisories and tonight I've checked tyre pressures (32F, 30R), wheel bearings, and the brakes for binding.
Anything else I should be checking?
A good way to check for weak/worn bushes is to attempt to move the parked (handbrake applied) vehicle by gripping the outside of the tyre and rolling it back and forth (not rocking action as if checking TRE), owners of BMW 3 series and Sierras in particular with worn front bushes will have been amazed how far the front wheels could move inside their arches doing this, Cortina owners and rear void bushes? road/tyre friction once moving does the rest.
It can be revealing to follow a vehicle in question in another car and watch from all angles how the car behaves over undulations etc, especially useful for suspension issues.
Continuous white lines offer less grip than the road, especially when wet, so again running one side of the car on the white line can offer some clues whats happening, ie NS wheels on white line vehicle wants to go right might mean toe out, even if its spot on when stationary tyre drag starts compressing weak bushes.
As said don't assume the issue is at the front.
Also check all brakes for dragging, though i think thats already been suggested.
It can be revealing to follow a vehicle in question in another car and watch from all angles how the car behaves over undulations etc, especially useful for suspension issues.
Continuous white lines offer less grip than the road, especially when wet, so again running one side of the car on the white line can offer some clues whats happening, ie NS wheels on white line vehicle wants to go right might mean toe out, even if its spot on when stationary tyre drag starts compressing weak bushes.
As said don't assume the issue is at the front.
Also check all brakes for dragging, though i think thats already been suggested.
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