VXR8 vague straight ahead steering

[SteveMJ]

For a while I have had vague straight ahead steering with a slight pull to the left. It’s been like this for a while. I first noticed it after a steering top bearing replacement at Monkfish. After that bearing replacement the car was so much better and I was far away before noticing the pull.

I have just had the car serviced locally and had another steering joint replaced and its opposite side counterpart too as pre-emptive repair. All the geometry was checked and rechecked again after I queried the continued slight pulling to the left.

A week later I’ve noticed it sometimes pulls to the right too, so this seems to me to be non-central bias (?), hence my reference to vagueness.

I am returning to the local garage this week as I have also noticed some shake at about 60 mph that is presumed to be fixed by rebalancing the front wheels. Tyre pressures checked and rechecked. Currently at 35psi all round.

I’ll be checking steering pump fluid level later today. Over the decades I don’t think I’ve ever changed or topped up steering pump fluid levels on any car of mine, so am not expecting a problem here.

Has anyone else found this sort of problem? I'm hoping to advise the garage to help fix this.

Thanks, Steve

Edited by SteveMJ on Tuesday 8th March 10:26

[chrisgixer]

Omega owning r8 wanabe here, so feel free to ignore. But...

Don't discount the rear. I recently replaced an Lsd that caused all sort of weird and wonderful sensations that, crucially, had to be corrected by the steering, obviously. Where as a front end issue would be noticeable by direct feeling through the steering. Rear bushes similar. Track rod play. Etc...

Although you do sound sure it's a front end issue...? (Gixer goes quiet as unfamiliar with r8 underpinnings)

[mfp4073]

chrisgixer said:

Omega owning r8 wanabe here, so feel free to ignore. But...

Don't discount the rear. I recently replaced an Lsd that caused all sort of weird and wonderful sensations that, crucially, had to be corrected by the steering, obviously. Where as a front end issue would be noticeable by direct feeling through the steering. Rear bushes similar. Track rod play. Etc...

Although you do sound sure it's a front end issue...? (Gixer goes quiet as unfamiliar with r8 underpinnings)

I had a black 3ltr mv6 Omega,and I still miss that car.
And yes, I do have a black Monaro, but if only I could have kept my Omega as well!

[mfp4073]

I would jack the car up and check every part of the front suspension again, including wheels and tyres. I would then replace any suspect part in pairs,ie both left and right.
My Monaro used to pull to the left and also had a vibration through the steering wheel. It took me ages to find that the track rod end was trashed, even though the tracking and tyre wear were fine!

regards John

[snowwolf]

Has it had any mods done to the suspension or standard, how many miles has the car done, what tyres are you running.

[SteveMJ]

chrisgixer said:

Omega owning r8 wanabe here, so feel free to ignore. But...

Don't discount the rear. I recently replaced an Lsd that caused all sort of weird and wonderful sensations that, crucially, had to be corrected by the steering, obviously. Where as a front end issue would be noticeable by direct feeling through the steering. Rear bushes similar. Track rod play. Etc...

Although you do sound sure it's a front end issue...? (Gixer goes quiet as unfamiliar with r8 underpinnings)

The whole front and rear geometry was checked by Monkfish ( as some expense!) first time. Then again recently.

I have spoken to Monkfish who suggested that they have seen problems with tyres and could be improved by swopping left/right. I have not tried this yet.

PS I had Omega 3.2 Elite before the VXR8.

[chrisgixer]

What's odd to me, is the description of a pull that changes sides, as you say. Implies a worn component, assuming that the road crown is not at fault of course. I feel Omegas are overly susceptible to pull away from the road crown, something you always have to steer into to keep straight, be it left or right depending how the road cambers.

Tyres play a big part in straight line stability anyway. Falkens (based on older 412/912 models) being bad for this as they wear ime. And conti sports contact 5 being completely inappropriate for the car in all respects going by driving other forum members cars with handling complaints. Even though the car has been checked for set up, steering box play and component faults. ( these two tyre models seem to work very well on front wheel drive cars though)

Swapping wheels with other members can help diagnose a fault with tyre handling, then see if the fault stays with your car, or transfers with your tyres to the other vehicle. It's a pita to do, granted. But interesting to try other handling charchterstics, even the same tyre model can give handling weirdness if worn oddly.

With omegas the way forward is, check for faults and worn components first . Then set the car up. Then fit new tyres, as the old set up will have worn the tyres accordingly, so they will still continue to affect handling until replaced to a point. If there are no faulty parts, then it could be as simple as that.

I'm not in a position to say how the r8 wears it's tyres or how the handling goes off with wear though, as I haven't owned one of course.

Btw, if your looking to replace tyres, look no further than Mpss for stability...and grip obviously. They are bullit straight. But insure no faulty parts and correct set up first as said, or the fault could rear up again later in the tyres life. So, given yours is set up correctly now, baring a faulty part....nearly there I guess..?

[S800VXR]

As someone has already said, what make of tyre are you running. These are heavy cars and sensitive to tyres I found. Put some MPSS on there if the geo is correct and it should be perfect... Was on my old one. Don't underestimate the difference this can have!

[SteveMJ]

Sorry for the delay in replying - busy at work!!

I have Khumo 39 fitted all round. these are the second set that I've had fitted and not had this problem before.

Steve

[TonyTwoTribes]

maybe tyres?. I have a left rear with a very slow leak that has to be only 3psi out to throw the whole car out at 85mph. Sometimes its the simple things. Even one new batch of a make already used before can differ. Hope it is something simple.

[mik_ok]

I had a 944S2. Bought with very-stiff-sidewall Yokohama AVS fitted. The geo was out when I bought it.

Geo was immediately sorted and some stiffer 968 bushes fitted. Which made it much better, but it still tramlined aggressively.

Drove it for a further 18months before it became time for a front tyre change. I was starting to wonder if the chassis was bent by now.

Absolute. Transformation.

I'd assumed the tyres would correct themselves with the geo fixed. My learning was that they didnt!

[H5V VE]

SteveMJ said:

Sorry for the delay in replying - busy at work!!

I have Khumo 39 fitted all round. these are the second set that I've had fitted and not had this problem before.

Steve

Steve

I have a spare set of just about legal fronts that you can try out if you like? Or if you want to pop over and spend some time swapping wheels, I have a 2 week old pair of Bridgestones on the front that you can try?

Phil

[monkfish1]

mik_ok said:

I'd assumed the tyres would correct themselves with the geo fixed. My learning was that they didnt!

Absolutely this ^^^^^^

[SteveMJ]

Thanks for all this support and advice, it is much appreciated.

Over the weekend I'll try and fit the spare and or swop th efront over Left to Right.

If I have some indication of success, I am thinking about fitting my spare tyre plus a new Bridgestone onto the fronts.

I say try; as I've recently had a knee replacment op so am not as mobile as usual :-)

Thanks again, have good weekends.

I'll let you know the outcome