This problem appeared when I swapped tyres around. Over uneven road surfaces the car will track to one side or the other as if it has a mind of its own.
My front tyres are quite old (perhaps original, 1997) Michelins which have some surface cracking on the sidewalls. They have plenty of tread left. They were on the rear wheels. Can old tyres really give such a problem? I suppose the tryes could be hiding some internal damage as they were fitted when I bought the car.
I have had a poke around at the suspension components and nothing seems obviously worn. The rear subframe mounts are also intact!
Before I buy some new tyres, does anyone have any suggestions?
Simon Canfer
ZX wandering over uneven surfaces
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Simon Canfer
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oilyspanner
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Simon
I have the same car and bought it a few week ago. One of the problems was it pulled to the right and when driving straight the steering wheel was about 20 degrees left. I took it to two different places to have the tracking checked and they both said that the steering was perfect and to just take the steering wheel off and put it back on straight! (usual answer from quickfit)
I swapped the wheels from back to front and side to side and now all is as it should be. Drives straight, doesn't pull and the wheel is level. If this doesnt work, try driving on an uncambered road and gently apply the brakes. If the car drives straight under braking then you have a binding brake somewhere. It'll probably be your tyres though.
Hope this helps
Dan
I have the same car and bought it a few week ago. One of the problems was it pulled to the right and when driving straight the steering wheel was about 20 degrees left. I took it to two different places to have the tracking checked and they both said that the steering was perfect and to just take the steering wheel off and put it back on straight! (usual answer from quickfit)
I swapped the wheels from back to front and side to side and now all is as it should be. Drives straight, doesn't pull and the wheel is level. If this doesnt work, try driving on an uncambered road and gently apply the brakes. If the car drives straight under braking then you have a binding brake somewhere. It'll probably be your tyres though.
Hope this helps
Dan
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Simon Canfer
- Posts: 114
- Joined: 02 Mar 2001, 17:41
- Location: United Kingdom
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by oilyspanner</i>
put them on the rear again?
Stewart
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The reasons I moved them from the back to the front were that, they looked pretty old and needed wearing out; and I had recently had a puncture that resulted in a new tyre on the front. This meant I had one new and one quite old tyre on the front; probably not a good idea. Soi I swapped fronts with rears.
Simon
put them on the rear again?
Stewart
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The reasons I moved them from the back to the front were that, they looked pretty old and needed wearing out; and I had recently had a puncture that resulted in a new tyre on the front. This meant I had one new and one quite old tyre on the front; probably not a good idea. Soi I swapped fronts with rears.
Simon
Hi Tony -
As always with tyres - you must have exactly equal tyres on the same axle. Not only type/size/thread pattern - but also wear on threads.
This is of course the perfect situation.
- in real world with daily economy being the main factor - you often have to compromise though.
What you "risc" is that in an extreme traffic situation - the best front tyre will have the best grip during an emergency braking - thus forcing the braking car to steer where you can't control it.
The perfect situation - for safety reasons - is always replacing BOTH tyres on one axle - like you do shockers, springs, brakes etc. for exactly the same reason.
As always with tyres - you must have exactly equal tyres on the same axle. Not only type/size/thread pattern - but also wear on threads.
This is of course the perfect situation.
- in real world with daily economy being the main factor - you often have to compromise though.
What you "risc" is that in an extreme traffic situation - the best front tyre will have the best grip during an emergency braking - thus forcing the braking car to steer where you can't control it.
The perfect situation - for safety reasons - is always replacing BOTH tyres on one axle - like you do shockers, springs, brakes etc. for exactly the same reason.