Tracking Advice Please

[mattmalden 0]

Hi,

 

I've just changed the NSF lower arm (ball joint was shot on the old one) and the car handles worse than before.

 

Do I need to have the tracking adjusted having fitted a new wishbone? I guessed the 'all in one' design meant no tracking required, but I now hope I'm wrong or else something else is seriously wrong.

 

Thanks,

matt

[Anthony 1,002]

Ideally it should be tracked again afterwards as like anything, there are tolerances involved on wishbones and it doesn't take much to throw the tracking out.

 

However, if it was tracked correctly before (ie not tracked to compensate for the knackered wishbone!) then it shouldn't be wildly out and should still be driveable in my opinion.

 

Sure you don't have multiple issues, like perhaps the bushes on the other wishbone are also knackered, or - given you mention the balljoint being duff - that the balljoint hole on the hub has ovalled?

[mattmalden 0]

Ideally it should be tracked again afterwards as like anything, there are tolerances involved on wishbones and it doesn't take much to throw the tracking out.

 

However, if it was tracked correctly before (ie not tracked to compensate for the knackered wishbone!) then it shouldn't be wildly out and should still be driveable in my opinion.

 

Sure you don't have multiple issues, like perhaps the bushes on the other wishbone are also knackered, or - given you mention the balljoint being duff - that the balljoint hole on the hub has ovalled?

 

I felt the lower balljoint hole because I was unable to look as the driveshaft was in the way. The hole felt tappered (larger towards the bottom) but not oval. I suspect now it could be oval as I think the OSF is all good - no trouble in L/H bends at speed.

I took the hub off another car just in case so I guess I'll be fitting that this weekend. Trouble is one caliper bolt thread is completly gone so I'll need to helicoil it first.

 

Typical, clutch gone, alternator gone, disks and pads and now this all in one month! I'm very near giving up and taking to the scrappy - if it wasn't for all the expense to date and they way it goes when all is well.

 

Cheers for the advice though - I'll take that as a - No the tracking shouldn't be too far out. (Steering wheels at 45 degrees since swapping the wishbone!!!!)

[boombang 2]

Clutch, alternator, brakes, wishbones and even tracking are all seriously cheap & easy to DIY when compared with other cars.

 

Plenty of people on here who'll help out too.

[Russell_ds80 3]

steering wheel shouldnt be out by 45 degrees just from fitting bottom arm.!

[welshpug 1,655]

steering wheel shouldnt be out by 45 degrees just from fitting bottom arm.!

 

 

depends how shot the bushes and balljoint were.

[Russell_ds80 3]

the front bush on mine was completely fu**ed but steering wheel was in the same place when i replaced. suppose would be best to get tracking done.

[jimistdt 1]

As said, either the hub is ovalled, or the car has been tracked with a defective wishbone, or there is another underlying issue. I cant think what else it could be at the moment, unless the pinch bolts not been tightened. I left one of mine out once, didn't realise for about 20 miles of 'testing', then all of a sudden my steering cocked at an angle and upon inspection there was about 10mm of the pin in the hub. Lesson learned, always put back what you've taken off.

[mattmalden 0]

As said, either the hub is ovalled, or the car has been tracked with a defective wishbone, or there is another underlying issue. I cant think what else it could be at the moment, unless the pinch bolts not been tightened. I left one of mine out once, didn't realise for about 20 miles of 'testing', then all of a sudden my steering cocked at an angle and upon inspection there was about 10mm of the pin in the hub. Lesson learned, always put back what you've taken off.

 

The car was last tracked around a year ago - I expect all was well at that time. The severe angle of the steering wheel can't be a good sign - I'm sure everything went back together properly (after all its only 3 bolts!?) but I'll go and double check. Why didn;t Peugeot just thread the ball joint pin for a nut? I'm not keen on this pinch bolt setup - perhaps some muck is holding the clamp open - I thought I cleaned it but I was working in a muddy field being bombarded by hail!

 

Tightening up the ball joint pinch bolt with the car on the ground is a tad tricky - especially with the Eibach7001 springs. Is it possible that I could put the front on stands and then use a bottle jack to seat the ball joint pin? In that way I can have a good look and go round with a bar to make double sure everything is good?

 

With luck the mystery of the wonky wheel will be resolved this weekend!

 

Cheers,

Matt

[welshpug 1,655]

if the clamp bolt went in then the balljoint pin is seated correctly, the bolt will not go in if its not, and there's no need to tighten that bolt with it on the ground, however it is for the inner bolts.

 

easy enough to do, park it on a high kerb or some ramps or even blocks of wood or a brick or two.

 

I would go and get it tracked, there's obviously something quite different now, be it the difference in severe wear to the bushes and Balljoint or maybe someone had fitted 309 wishbones previously, or you have unknowingly fitted a 309 wishbone!

 

Ask the people you get to do the tracking to have a look for any damaged components, it doesn't take two minutes on a ramp with a jack and a bar.

[mattmalden 0]

if the clamp bolt went in then the balljoint pin is seated correctly, the bolt will not go in if its not, and there's no need to tighten that bolt with it on the ground, however it is for the inner bolts.

 

easy enough to do, park it on a high kerb or some ramps or even blocks of wood or a brick or two.

 

I would go and get it tracked, there's obviously something quite different now, be it the difference in severe wear to the bushes and Balljoint or maybe someone had fitted 309 wishbones previously, or you have unknowingly fitted a 309 wishbone!

 

Ask the people you get to do the tracking to have a look for any damaged components, it doesn't take two minutes on a ramp with a jack and a bar.

 

I was thinking the same about a 309 wishbone, i'll take a rule out to check.

 

Didn't know the inner fixings had to be tightened with the car sat. I did those while she was on stands - wouldn't have thought it would make that much difference but I'll give it a go. To be honest the 'new' bone had worse looking bushes than the outgoing item. However as the balljoint was so much tioghter and not split I image these are newer!?

[welshpug 1,655]

the reason you should tighten the inner bolts at its usual resting position is to remove any preload from them, meaning they'll last a lot longer.

[mattmalden 0]

the reason you should tighten the inner bolts at its usual resting position is to remove any preload from them, meaning they'll last a lot longer.

 

So I've got twisted bushes at the moment.

 

Better fix that - see if it helps the steering wheel angle....

[welshpug 1,655]

indeed, I doubt very much it'll affect the steering by that much if at all.

[mattmalden 0]

Right, just mesured from the centre of the ball joint to the inner front pivot centre of both wishbones. Both are 310mm, it was a bit awkward bu I think my measuremnt is within +/-5mm. So mine are 305-315mm including measuring error.

 

Does anyone know what this measures on a 309 wishbone? Starting to wonder if the one I removed was from a 309 - although laid out together yesterday they looked similar, but i didn't examine that closely - just held them together and thought 'that looks about right'.

 

If I were using a 309 wishbone either before or now wouldn't the driveshaft be out and oil all over the place?

[welshpug 1,655]

no, its only 10mm difference

[qwerty 9]

here's a pic of wishbone i just removed from my 309 gti

 

apologies for the sort ruler, measure 320mm approx

 

[mattmalden 0]

There we go then - its as Welshpug said, 205 = 310 and 309 = 320. Looks like yours are definately off a 309.