[pgoyal1996]

Originally Posted by Tgo

Wow!! This looks like a case of shoddy repairs done after the incident you mentioned. Which could have led to further cracking in other members of the chassis.

Do share with us what you plan to do about it and how it is going to be corrected as per Maruti.

IMHO, No. This has only become so catastrophic due to delayed repairs.

He(Father) just went ahead with the utilization of local repair guy, who welded the cracks with filler element - IMHO, This delayed repairs have led to stresses being developed in other members too. There is otherwise no chance of these cracks being developed.

What I plan to do ahead is that, I'll first take the car to my hometown. We have known MASS their (They did - FR windshield, FR Bonnet denting/painting, Heating coil change, Shocker mount metallic part change - all inclusive at 10k, so..) Get him known of the problem and ask for cost, and his will be second opinion since, I already have a cost from Rahul Motors, of 12.5k + 18% GST, so I'll have something to compare to!

[12.5k - Includes Steering rack change @ 4.5k, FR Shocker assembly change @ 5.5k and body shop work of 2.5k]

Shocker change is due to bad shockers since they are not changed since fitment at 0 km and consequently, they are leaking.

Only constraint being the time, since I hardly get a Sunday.

Will keep yourself posted on this issue.

[hserus]

I already discussed this with ruzbeh over a phone call, he says the tilt is observable even on a flat surface like his building parking lot.

The best measurement is going to be when the car is up on a ramp of course.

Originally Posted by veedub89

I don't think it is a defect to be honest.

Do you do a lot of highway runs? Almost all highways are banked to the left slightly so as to allow rain water to drain off to the side of the road.

Under these conditions, even when you are driving straight the car is actually tilting to the left due to the banking of the road.

[veedub89]

Originally Posted by hserus

I already discussed this with ruzbeh over a phone call, he says the tilt is observable even on a flat surface like his building parking lot.

The best measurement is going to be when the car is up on a ramp of course.

Oh okay. But don't you think that if the suspension on the left side has already been affected and sagged to that side then this tilt will be observed even on a flat surface?

My argument is that the tilt has permanently occurred due to the banking.

Now whether this tilt is normal or not, I am not sure.

Is 1cm really such a huge failure? I wonder if other cars face similar wear and tear or sagging.

[Kosfactor]

@OP & Suresh, any chances of getting the correct ride height from Ford ASC? The distance from ground to front lower arm bolt should be available with them.

While the front suspension has more in common with others, the rear end is a watt's link, this can be a place to inspect for all the wear points. If you have done any off-road driving on this, it's worth checking the rear anti roll bar, not the bar itself but the links and mounts.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

@OP & Suresh, any chances of getting the correct ride height from Ford ASC? The distance from ground to front lower arm bolt should be available with them.

While the front suspension has more in common with others, the rear end is a watt's link, this can be a place to inspect for all the wear points. If you have done any off-road driving on this, it's worth checking the rear anti roll bar, not the bar itself but the links and mounts.

Mine is a 58k run ex ford vehicle I just picked up a couple of days back. It needs an AC flap motor replacement + inspecting for some mild / just starting belt noise, so I'm taking it to a Ford ASS on Monday. I'll update once its on a rack and fully inspected (though I did have it on a rack at another Ford ASS before I bought the vehicle and they didn't flag any of this).

[ruzbehxyz]

Update to my first post.

Took my Endeavour to PPS Ford, Pune.
At first sight, I was really impressed with the space, facility and above all the professionalism of the staff.

A detailed discussion was done with the entire team (the team was already briefed by Ford India, Chennai). Upon preliminary investigation, it was concluded that the tilt is there, just by looking with the naked eye. After maintaining equal pressure in all four tyres, measurements were taken all around. It was concluded that the tilt is on the left around 10~12 mm.

It was then decided to do the wheel alignment. The alignment took quite some time. After this, the differential alignment was reset using the Ford software through their laptop. Then the vehicle was placed on flat ground in the workshop and measurements were taken. And boy! The tilt was reduced to about 4 mm. The next step was interchanging the shocks, however it was mutually agreed not to be done, as the tilt angle is within Ford specific tolerance limits which is +- 8 mm. for the Endeavour.

While the alignment was being done, we also compared one new Endeavour and two old ones present in the workshop. The new one had no difference and the old ones around 3 mm. This is pretty much negligible.

All along these years, I religiously did wheel alignment after every 10,000 kms., however the alignment was only for front wheels. PPS is equipped with the latest 'Hunter' alignment machine which aligns all four wheels, and all four wheels were pretty out. Since the 3.2 Endeavour is a full time four wheel drive, I am sure alignment of all four wheels is required. Now I need to hunt for a 'Hunter' near my place

PPS Ford did not charge me for the alignment and did it on good will. I also got my vehicle scanned for errors and got my software updates done. There was a FCIM update pending and this was done at PPS. During my last service in June, this was not done. What I need is excellent service for my vehicle and this is exactly what happened at PPS Ford. Thanks to Ford India for their prompt assistance as well.

I can now conclude that the Ford Endeavour has no manufacturing defects, and the Endeavour is going to be my travel companion for many more years to come.

[hserus]

Great. Moral of the story - Always seek out a place with Hunter equipment (especially their latest Roadforce) for your alignment and balancing needs.

BHPian Nikhil B is a Hunter distributor across at least South India, he has several detailed threads on this.

[Living2Drive]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

After one year of ownership, I realised that the Ford Endeavour tilts / sags to the left and this is an engineering defect according to me.

Either your shocker mount would have worn out or the coil spring would have weakened. remove both springs and measure the free length, should be identical. else replace the spring. This can also happen if your stabilizer bar is bent.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

It was then decided to do the wheel alignment. The alignment took quite some time. After this, the differential alignment was reset using the Ford software through their laptop. Then the vehicle was placed on flat ground in the workshop and measurements were taken. And boy! The tilt was reduced to about 4 mm.

What am I missing here? How did wheel alignment reduce the sag by ~8 mm?

Was it the camber settings?

Do you happen to have the readout from the initial check & the alignment values after adjustment?

Also, what is "differential alignment"?

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by Living2Drive

Either your shocker mount would have worn out or the coil spring would have weakened. remove both springs and measure the free length, should be identical. else replace the spring. This can also happen if your stabilizer bar is bent.

Please see post no.21 about the details.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Do you happen to have the readout from the initial check & the alignment values after adjustment?

Attached is the wheel alignment report.

Also, what is "differential alignment"?

Not sure if the differential alignment works. They connected their laptop to the OBD2 port and reset the differential alignment through the Ford software. This was as per one of the senior persons there. I witnessed it.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Attached is the wheel alignment report.

Hmm... so only the Toe was adjusted, and that too:
a) By a small-ish amount
b) Almost equally on both sides of the vehicle

I'm quite perplexed as to how this has solved the problem.

Maybe someone can enlighten me...


If i had to throw out an alternate theory as a guess, I'd say that at some point the car was jacked up, and a broken or ill-seated bushing, spring or shock absorber got a chance to 'reset' itself somehow... maybe temporarily.

Either way -- as long as the problem is gone & you're happy, it's a win.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Either way -- as long as the problem is gone & you're happy, it's a win.

Yes. That was my conclusion. As long as my problem is solved, I'm happy. Even half a degree correction on the toe is a significant amount when converted horizontally in mm. Don't want to get into those calculations.

The tolerance limits of +- 8 mm. for the Endeavour still remains a fact.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

If i had to throw out an alternate theory as a guess, I'd say that at some point the car was jacked up, and a broken or ill-seated bushing, spring or shock absorber got a chance to 'reset' itself somehow... maybe temporarily.

Brings to mind an issue I'd faced with another car.

A year or two ago I'd picked up a Corolla for a buddy of mine, the car ran fine until she went on the lift for an underbody coat after which she never really ran fine.

I know the workshop where the work was done and was present there during the coating so I can assure you that nothing else was done, just the mere act of unloading the suspension and reloading it messed with the stance of the car.

Hence for me your theory sounds to be a valid one.

Regards,
A.P.

[Guna]

It would have been good to swap the tires (left and right) too as the 'tilt' would have caused some uneven wear.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by Guna

It would have been good to swap the tires (left and right) too as the 'tilt' would have caused some uneven wear.

Thanks. Changed my tyres to Apollo Apterra AT2 on the same day in stock size 265/60R18.