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260Rs Front Pulling Heavily To Left

THRLLR

By THRLLR,
in Four Door Family & Wagoneers

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THRLLR Community Regular

THRLLR

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi All,

I am having some issues with the steering on my car. It only started all of a sudden and before anyone jumps to the conclusion LOL, No i havent hit any gutters, gone kerb surfing or putting the wagon sideways, or had any accidents.

When i first bought the car it drove dead straight about a month ago the car started pulling left. It was pretty bad to start with but now is really bad. I went and had the wheels aligned and the only adjustable thing is the Toe in/Toe out settings and they are perfect now (they were off by quite a bit).

Oddly enough this made no bloody difference to the way the car drives.

I have checked the heights of all 4 coilovers and they are perfectly level. I also measured from centre of wheel cap to wheel arch lip and all is fine. They are Mines/Ohlins coilovers and are set by notches in the strut and can only be adjusted by ripping them out of the car and putting them back in.

The Camber is off by 0.5deg. Left side is -2.0deg and RHS is -1.5deg which would actually push the car to the right. So ive ruled out Camber and Toe. So im left with Caster which is quite off. LHS is -ve and RHS is +ve.

There is no uneven tyre wear and all i can think of is that the Caster is off but since the 260rs doesnt have adjustable Casters and they are really effing strong pieces of metal how can it suddenly be off without any of the earlier mentioned fun and games?

I have inspected the Caster bushes and the ball joints and had my wheel alignment guy look at it and he said that there are no damaged or cracked bushes in my setup.

So my question is this, what could be the cause? and how do i fix it?

Edited by THRLLR
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C34S2STAG Collaborator

C34S2STAG

Posted
Posted

Does it say castor angle on the wheel alignment sheet? Should be able to tell what's wrong there. Is it when you brake or just driving normal? Try driving in the dead centre of a road as roads taper off on the edges

zoomzoom Mentor

zoomzoom

Posted
Posted

Is there some sort of rubber bush (thing-a-ma-jig) on the steering rack (or thereabouts)? I am pretty sure if you tear one of the ears off that bush the car can pull to that side.

If the 260RS is the same as an RS4, then there are 2. One of the bushes will stop lateral movement, it ends up becoming hard and brittle and could have play in it.

THRLLR Community Regular

THRLLR

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

I have alignment sheet for both prior to car going left and afterwards. Unfortunately the first one doesnt tell me what the caster was but i definitely have the figures. ill post them up now.

LHS Caster (Range 4.4 ------3.7------2.9) = 4.0deg (picture shows it is in green area =ok)

RHS Caster (Range 2.9 ------3.7------4.4) = 4.5deg (picture shows it is to the right of green area = not ok)

I have hicas i believe same as r33 gtr, not sure how to tell if its playing up but the rear feels fine when i drive. Ive got consult software and cable. Will connecting to consult port give me Hicas error codes?

Wolverine - i like your suggestion but i have no idea what you are referring to. I know the steering rack but these "rubber bush ears" that you are talking about i have no idea. What do i look for or where on the rack are they?

It happens when im normal driving, and probably under braking too ive never hit the brakes without making sure where the car is headed but im sure its there 100% of the time

Edited by THRLLR
THRLLR Community Regular

THRLLR

Posted
  • Author
Posted

If the 260RS is the same as an RS4, then there are 2. One of the bushes will stop lateral movement, it ends up becoming hard and brittle and could have play in it.

260rs i believe has the same 4wd system as the rs4s and probably all other 4wd c34 stageas. How do i check for play with these bushes? Do i jack up the car and have the wheel in the air or on the ground?(stupid question i know, but when it comes to suspension i have NO idea). if anyone can post a rough picture of where these buggers are located i can get under there and check :-D

pipster11 Grand Master

pipster11

Posted
Posted

did the battery come out?

I've heard that if you disconnect the battery you need the wheels pointing straight ahead when the battery is reconnected

I'm having an issue tracking down the source of movement in my car atm, i'm thinking its ball joints in the front end

34GeeTeeTee Grand Master

34GeeTeeTee

Posted
Posted

did the battery come out?

I've heard that if you disconnect the battery you need the wheels pointing straight ahead when the battery is reconnected

I'm having an issue tracking down the source of movement in my car atm, i'm thinking its ball joints in the front end

I just ordered ball joints and bushes for this reason, when i jacked the car up i found its actually the main swivel knuckle thing! Fark :(

pipster11 Grand Master

pipster11

Posted
Posted

I just ordered ball joints and bushes for this reason, when i jacked the car up i found its actually the main swivel knuckle thing! Fark :(

shit

where did you get the ball joints from? and how much?

zoomzoom Mentor

zoomzoom

Posted
Posted

260rs i believe has the same 4wd system as the rs4s and probably all other 4wd c34 stageas. How do i check for play with these bushes? Do i jack up the car and have the wheel in the air or on the ground?(stupid question i know, but when it comes to suspension i have NO idea). if anyone can post a rough picture of where these buggers are located i can get under there and check :-D

Both of the bushings are visible in this picture, though the passenger side is hard to see because its dark.

They are blue, since they are the superpro polyurethane replacements. The one on the drivers side is the one that will keep the steering rack side to side. Try using a prybar to see if it will move from side to side.

post-46287-0-52845000-1361949121_thumb.jpg

zoomzoom Mentor

zoomzoom

Posted
Posted

shit

where did you get the ball joints from? and how much?

I have replaced all of mine. I used some non-genuine Lii Chau ones off ebay. They seem to do the job fine, and the price is hard to walk past when you consider the price of a genuine item.

However - this particular castor rod arm ball joint requires some metal to be taken off the bottom of the wheel assembly/knuckle. Not much, just a conical bit maybe 5mm high and 2cm in diameter. A large drill bit would work. The top of the ball joint has a different shape to the standard item.

THRLLR - the castor arm ball joints could be another culprit.

zoomzoom Mentor

zoomzoom

Posted
Posted

This maybe wrong but I always thought you were never meant to grease rack bushes?

I can't think of a mechanical reason?

Its probably not the best on rubber, but polyurethane is fine.

Its not really a choice with the 1 piece poly bush. Its a pain to slide it into position as it is, without any grease would be much harder.

pipster11 Grand Master

pipster11

Posted
Posted

I can't think of a mechanical reason?

Its probably not the best on rubber, but polyurethane is fine.

Its not really a choice with the 1 piece poly bush. Its a pain to slide it into position as it is, without any grease would be much harder.

+1737474883837

Drivers side was almost impossible

zoomzoom Mentor

zoomzoom

Posted
Posted

Much sufferance in steering after fitting?

I changed many things on my suspension at the time, so I cant be scientific about what did what. However, the steering is sharper, with slightly more road vibrations transferred to the steering wheel. That would be consistent with firmer steering rack bushes.

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