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[Webby the Bear]

If the pull is only during braking then perhaps a calliper is hanging up?

[terry paget]

If the pull is only during braking then perhaps a calliper is hanging up?

.Thanks, but it's not only during braking.

[Doctor Gollum]

For once and for all, get it set up properly.

[terry paget]

For once and for all, get it set up properly.

Thanks for excellent advice, Doc. It's just that  having changed steering components on so many other Omegas, and aligned things by my rough and ready method with complete success, it's hard to imagine why this particular car should respond in this ungrateful way. It's further puzzling because this car was professionally set up when owned by member ajsphead by an outfit in Netham Road, Bristol, who found little wrong with it, yet ajsphead found it much improved.Their print out follows.

[terry paget]

I'll try again. It's a pdf.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ckaifczbhoogzkq/fcm.pdf?dl=1

[Webby the Bear]

Terry, I'm no geometry expert. So I can only tell you what I've seen....

I adjusted front camber on my omega a year and half ago. I adjusted front toe and it was spot on as per WIM settings. It drove beautifully.

A few weeks back I adjusted front toe on my omega following tre replacement. I noticed the camber had moved but was still green. Suspension wear I assume.

Had it back on a week later as my steering wheel was slightly off and it annoyed me. Camber was well out.

I'm just waiting for my rear track rods and then I'll do the lot in one go.

My point being that these angles must change constantly. As with my steering wheel it's not unfeasable that it needs doing again.

Only my opinion of course 👍👍👍

[terry paget]

The angles will change as you bounce along, but they should return to original settings when car is returned to set up position. One should set camber first, then front toe-in. The fineness and ease of toe-in adjustment, compared with the crudeness and difficulty of camber adjustment, suggests that toe-in is the most critical; it's all my tyre shops do.
My rough and ready method of wheel alignment does set the steering wheel central with wheels pointing straight ahead, and is done with front suspension loaded and wheels off the ground. I suppose I should seat 2 average persons in the front seats when setting things up, but I don't bother.

Doc Gollum told me some while ago that Wheels in Motion, Chesham, set wheel alignment with the suspension hanging down unloaded, using special settings. This could work, but does not sound ideal.

[Nick W]

Interesting that you think camber adjustment is crude and difficult! It's considerably easier to adjust it accurately(to within a couple of minutes) using ghetto equipment, unlike the toe which needs each side to be referenced to both the centre line of the car and the rear axle line to actually be worth adjusting. Unfortunately, many people don't do this; that the traditional Dunlop tracking gauges don't allow for it is a good example.


The current crop of alignment machines real benefit is speed; the real time display of what changes when adjusters are turned is what you're paying for. While it is possible to do a complete alignment using minimal equipment, it is so time consuming and fiddly that getting it close(about 15minutes work) and paying £50 to have it completed accurately is a no brainer.

[Doctor Gollum]

The other critical item, which is the foundation of the entire set up, is that the pitman arm, and therefore steering box, is dead straight before anything else is done. The arm centreline needs to be exactly parallel to the chassis rail.

It is assumed that this is the case when the steering wheel is level and the front wheels pointing roughly ahead. The reality can be very different.

Equally,  the idler arm should be of identical length to the pitman arm... again, this is assumed, but you should measure them both centre to centre to be sure.

I still maintain that a decent set up can make a worn out dog drive noticeably better... fitting new components together with a decent set up makes this improvement even more marked.

If it's worth doing...

[terry paget]

The other critical item, which is the foundation of the entire set up, is that the pitman arm, and therefore steering box, is dead straight before anything else is done. The arm centreline needs to be exactly parallel to the chassis rail.

It is assumed that this is the case when the steering wheel is level and the front wheels pointing roughly ahead. The reality can be very different.

Equally,  the idler arm should be of identical length to the pitman arm... again, this is assumed, but you should measure them both centre to centre to be sure.

I still maintain that a decent set up can make a worn out dog drive noticeably better... fitting new components together with a decent set up makes this improvement even more marked.

If it's worth doing...

Fasciniating. I am sure when the car left the factory, with a master spline on steering box output shaft, pitman arm was set parallel to centre line, steering wheel was put on straight, and track rods were adjusted to align wheels parallel to centre line - perfect steering. But what if a tyre shop adjusts toe-in after a track rod change, using only one TR adjuster, customer complains steering wheel is now not central, so tyre shop removes steering wheel and puts it back central. Now on straight ahead pitman arm is not straight. Furthermore (I imagine), the variomatic steering centres on straight pitman arm, which is now not wheels straight ahead. Do I have a car like that?
I presume pitman arm and idler arm the same length - they are mass produced.

[Doctor Gollum]

Last point first...

Omega A arms fit, but are different lengths depending on power steering or not. 110 mm vs 112 mm rings a bell.

Ignore the servotronic steering... it simply controls a valve making the steering heavier above a certain speed by controlling the fluid pressure through the box... effectively it turns the power steering off at speed. This is why the four cylinder cars feel a touch heavier around town... servotronic compensates for the extra weight of the six cylinder cars (petrol and diesel).

It did. Your tyre shop trackrod end analogy is a pretty straightforward example of what could happen. By virtue of how they work, even a brand new worm drive has some slop as you reverse direction... on the Omega this is demonstrated by the dead spot straight ahead. Skew the dead spot a quarter turn one way, and the behaviour of the steering box, its feel and perceived direction versus input, becomes markedly different as the geometry is completely off from where it should be.

[terry paget]

Last point first...

Omega A arms fit, but are different lengths depending on power steering or not. 110 mm vs 112 mm rings a bell.

Ignore the servotronic steering... it simply controls a valve making the steering heavier above a certain speed by controlling the fluid pressure through the box... effectively it turns the power steering off at speed. This is why the four cylinder cars feel a touch heavier around town... servotronic compensates for the extra weight of the six cylinder cars (petrol and diesel).

It did. Your tyre shop trackrod end analogy is a pretty straightforward example of what could happen. By virtue of how they work, even a brand new worm drive has some slop as you reverse direction... on the Omega this is demonstrated by the dead spot straight ahead. Skew the dead spot a quarter turn one way, and the behaviour of the steering box, its feel and perceived direction versus input, becomes markedly different as the geometry is completely off from where it should be.

Thank you. This might solve my problem. I must do some tests. Will report back with photographs.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

If my memory is correct............Omega doesn't have a splined steering column, so you cant just remove the steering whel and put it back on the next spline to centre it. 

[Doctor Gollum]

If my memory is correct............Omega doesn't have a splined steering column, so you cant just remove the steering whel and put it back on the next spline to centre it. 

It does and you can

[Mr Gav]

If you want to adjust the steering box and take out any slack there is a method in the Haynes manual for the Carltons and Senators, if you want I can scan them in and e-mail the pdf to you so you can have a look, they are basically the same recirculating ball type steering box.

As others have said though I would start with the front suspension top mounts, poly bushing the front bush on the wishbones and a full geometry alignment.

I found my MV6 to wander quite a bit until I poly bushed the front bush in the wishbones.