Advice On Suspension Problems

[bales 1]

Hi,

 

I have recently had a new lower wishbone put on my 205 as it failed its MOT on one of the ball joints, since i have got it back the steering wheel now sits slightly off-centre when going straight. This has happened previously when my rear beam was knackered but it stopped when i had a new rear beam so i dont think that this can be causing it.

 

It is quite weird as the steering is slightly "sticky" when turning left but normal when turning right, it doesnt pull to one side under braking and it tracks straight when not touching the steering wheel. However it doesnt self centre very well when turning left but again is fine when turning right.

 

Its quite frustrating as i have had nearly all new parts in the front suspension, i have new drop links both sides and new track rod ends both sides.

 

I thought initially the new wishbone was putting the tracking out by changing the camber but i didnt think that this was possible to adjust the camber anyway on the 205. Also the lack of self-centering makes me think of the caster but i dont know how a new wishbone would affect this. Again it could be the toe but i dont know whether the 205 has any adjustment for toe and if it does how to do it.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks

 

Alex

[jonD6B 0]

Were the wishbone bolts tightened with the car on the floor? Try having it tracked and see how you get on.

[Pugnut 9 1 Cars]

toe= wheel alignment . as previously said have you had it done ?

 

camber can be changed in many ways on a 205 at a vastly varying expense . The cheapest being fitting 309 bottom arms . If you have fitted one by accident you would easily spot the difference looking onto the front of the car or by placing a spirit level vertically on the tyre/wheel and measuring the gap at the top or bottom(car on a level surface of course)

 

if the bolts for the bushes on the new arm werent tightened with car on the floor theres a 99.999% chance that the bushes will tear and fail (87.6% if it was tightened on the floor).iirc you should feel the car wandering a bit on the road and pulling hard to one side on a fast take off.

 

one other thing i can think of is a seized top mount . but with the car on the floor steering lock to lock you should hear nasty noises . worth getting someone to steer while you look at what the upper spring pan is up to . no use doing it with the car jacked up as there will be no weight on them.

[jackherer 543]

if the bolts for the bushes on the new arm werent tightened with car on the floor theres a 99.999% chance that the bushes will tear and fail (87.6% if it was tightened on the floor)

 

sounds about right lol

[bales 1]

Thanks for your advice, I am getting the tracking done on saturday so hopefully that should sort it out, cheers.

 

Alex

[bales 1]

Hi,

 

Since i last posted about this i have had both the tracking done and i have also just had a new steering rack as there was play on both sides of it. However the steering problems are still there, the steering is very heavy turning left but light when turning right with only a small amount of lock. It is very frustrating as i thought this was due to the rack being worn and the wheels in effect changing toe when under load during cornering.

 

Also which i am sure cant be good is the fact i can go round a left hand corner and just let go of the steering wheel and the wheel just sticks there and the car continues round at the same angle, there is no self-centring action whatever. But strangely it is fine when going right.

 

I am running out of ideas about what it could be, it sounds like the whole suspension geometry is out on one side, what could be causing this? could it be the top mount or the lower wishbone which i had changed, as i said previously most of the other bits are new. I know that the castor affects the self-centring but the top mounts arent adjustable and everything seems fine about that area.

 

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

Alex

[Guest smokinslim]

Have you checked the left side hub to make sure the hole where the wishbone ball joint sits hasn't ovaled? I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned this yet.