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[Eliteman Steve]

Hi there , not posted for a long time , had some carefree motoring

Unfortunately the car is now riding badly , at slow speeds it feels like I'm driving on cobblestones  :Dand it pulls to the left (which it has always done to a much lesser degree) . The steering wheel shakes as though the wheels are out of balance though the weights are still in place .

All of this smooths out at motorway speeds , but doesn't disappear completely.

Haven't had time to take a proper look yet but I've got a bit of time off now so would like to get it sorted . What are your suggestions as to the most likely causes?

Any help , much appreciated BTW it's a '98 2.5 Elite.

[tunnie]

is your self leveling suspension working?

[feeutfo]

bit more info needed i think.
is it road speed related or engine speed related? Is the engine smooth at tick over at a stand still for instance.  What speed does the shaking start?

[Cybertrucker]

Could be a tyre going out of shape - have a look at http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1236120095/ to see if your symptoms are similar.

HTH

[Eliteman Steve]

Thanks for the link Cybertrucker , I'll give it a go with the spare wheel tomorrow .

Chrisgixer , it is road speed related , as speed increases the shaking decreases , but not like your normal wheel wobble , it starts at such a low speed , like 5mph. Engine runs fine , needs an oil change but I'll do that tomorrow while investigating the car. and self levelling is OK.

Thanks for the advice guys

[Cybertrucker]

If it's happening at 5mph it does sound suspiciously like a tyre going out of round!  Does the steering wheel seem to pull to one side slightly and then return to the centre?

[damon80]

Could be worth checking none of your wheelstuds have worked loose...

[Eliteman Steve]

No , all the wheel studs are OK , I thought of that as well

The steering pulls to the left , so I'll check the front left wheel first I think

[feeutfo]

5mph? If thats a tire issue it sounds serious to show up at that slow a speed. Check all tires before driving imho. Check inside edges and side walls as well. Any wheel issues should be obvious on a balancer. 5 stud most accurate as opposed to a cone balancer if you can find one localy.

[p j morgan]

have you jacked the nearside front wheel up and tried your wheel bearing and your track rod end steve?

[Turk]

Some of the symptoms sounds like my bottom ball joint issue on my l/h wishbone.
Jack the front up and at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions give it a good shake as you would for a steering idler check. If you have slight movement and hear a clonking sound then it may be the cause.
Does the steering feel slightly heavy and reluctant to turn on roundabouts and acute(ish) left handers and wants to turn back to straight ahead quicker than normal and in a straight line it feels ok, but a bit vague ?

Also, just as a matter of interest, if it pulls quite violently to the left but only under hard, sharp braking then it's the l/h wishbone front bushes. They splay out with the weight transfered to the front under braking and the l/h wheel turns out slightly. Same for the right if that's the one that's gone.  
This only works if one side only is totally sh*gged tho, as I found when I bought my facelift 2.5td...l/h was totally shot.
Quite an eye opener when some divvy slammed on in front of me on the down hill entering the Tyne Tunnel.  

[Eliteman Steve]

Firstly let me just say another BIG THANK YOU! to all that have replied.

Got the tools out today to do the oil change , I always find it much easier to remove the near-side front wheel to do this . So jacked up the front took the studs off and put my hands around the wheel to take it off....shock beyond words as my fingers are pricked by the steel wires poking out of the tyre Checked the other side and it was the same!

What's happened is the last MOT (six months ago),the front wishbones were changed and the PR1CK that did it didn't check the tracking or tell me it still needed doing This is the same PR!CK that lost one of my wheel studs and neglected to tell me as well (not the first thing you check)

So quick oil change and down to get two new tyres , turns out the mechanic concerned has already been fired , the garage I use has always been good in the past , so I'm not surprised he's gone!

The scariest thing is I only use the car on the M-way at high speed , if both of those front tyres had blown I wouldn't be writing this now [smiley=engel017.gif] I'd be pushing up the daisies

Anyway car booked in for tracking tomorrow and the good news is the steering and ride quality are back to normal

[Cybertrucker]

OUCH!!!    That could have been very nasty!  Apart from the risk to life and limb it was a major threat to your licence and bank account - tyres in that condition would get you a massive fine and huge numbers of points if Plod had spotted them.

It's surprising how fast tyres will wear if the tracking is badly out.  My Dad had the track rod ends done on an Alpine years ago, and two new front tyres were fitted at the same time.  The garage forgot to do the tracking, and the new tyres were illegal in less than a thousand miles.  He took it somewhere else to get the tracking done, and when he asked if it had been far out the guy said "We normally say it's miles out if it's more than about four degrees off.  I don't actually know how far out yours were because they weren't even on the scale".

Your problem did have the sound of tyres about it, but I never suspected they'd be that bad!  Glad you've found the problem, anyway.  

While we're on the subject, a question for the more knowledgeable types on here.  My bottom arms/wishbones are being replaced in the next few days to keep the MOT man happy - will I need to get the tracking done or will the new ones be exactly the same as the old ones so the tracking won't have moved?  If I do need it done, does it have to be the full monty (camber etc) or will a simple toe-in/out check be enough?

[Eliteman Steve]

Well from my experience I would say YES! Though I don't know if you'll need to get the whole caboodle done.