[bigben]

I have been facing an issue for sometime now.

A bit of history behind my case-

Car- indica Vista
Tyres- Upgraded from 175/65 to 185/65 Michelins
Issue Faced- None

6 months later changed the rims to Zeki alloys.
Problem faced- None

2 months later alignment done from a reputed shop in Gachibowli
Problem faced- Uneven wear on the outer edge of the left front tyre.
Diagnosis- was told to visit the dealer as the camber/ caster was off and this adjustment was only done by them.

Visited the TASS and they fiddled around and made some adjustments.
Issue- still persisted. They also informed me that the suspension had to be changed.
1 month later changed the suspension in the hope that the tyre wear would be arrested.
However I have noticed that the wear has reduced but is still there.

Any idea what could be wrong guys?

The first snap is the tyre which is on the front right now. This was exchanged with the rear right tyre. This is the damage to the tyre now.
The second snap is of the tyre which was on the front earlier before the suspension was changed.

To let you know the steering is absolutely straight with no pull at all.
Something that I face, however,is a weird feeling when turning right.

[yikes6633]

Over the last 4 weeks I am hating to drive my Maruti Alto. The reason being that the car is pulling to the right and there is a distinct wobble felt on the steering. My car has presently done 62000+Kms.

About 6 months ago, when I left my car for service at Pratham Motors, Bangalore, I gave a complaint stating that I can feel some noise being transmitted through the steering wheel. This was actually not a concern, but I did mention it assuming it would be well taken care off and it would be some minor adjustment of the rack and pinion arrangement. That evening when I drove the car, the steering was tightened to an extent that after I turn I literally had to turn back the steering to bring the car in a straight line. I was very upset and went back to Pratham Motors and asked them to fix my steering such that it was free. They said that the steering is completely gone and I need to overhaul the entire steering and suspension of the car. However they claimed that they had temporarily fixed the issue.

After driving a few 100 Kms I noticed the steering had become very loose and it felt like it would all fall apart. I took my car to TVS multibrand service center. They were good in the way they handled the car and fixed the issue. They said that the steering box needed some adjustment and the steering and suspension system was fine.

Now I have driven about 6000kms since then and feel a strong wobble on the steering at all speeds and the car pulls to the right.

I read a lot of articles on our forum in this regards but none really helped. Visited Pratham Motors and they confirmed that the steering needs to be opened up and checked entirely and would cost between 5.5 & 6k. Tried wheel alignment and wheel balancing, got the steering box readjusted at a local mechanic and the local mechanic also said that we will need to strip the entire steering and suspension set up and check each and every component. I was quite concerned and was wondering if I should just sell the car.

Yesterday, I finally took time off and visited a good old mechanic who is presently working in Sagar Automobiles and explained the issue to him. He said that he would do a wheel alignment and then confirm what the issue is and how it would be fixed.

After 90 minutes he told me that the wheel alignment report looks fine. The wheel balancing seems perfect and the steering box is finely adjusted. He said the culprit is surely the tyres. He suggested that I rotate the tyres such that the 2 with the deeper thread are placed in the front and the 2 with a much shallow thread are at the rear. The one which is almost balding be used as a stepney.

So, with some hope I drove to Madhu's Tyre Clinic and rotated the tyres exactly the way I was advised.

The wobble has absolutely disappeared. The steering feels a lot lighter and smoother. The feeling of the drive in the Alto again feels stable and reassuring.

Thank God! the trauma of the last 4 weeks has ended. Wonder how the car seems just fine after a tyre rotation and the advise given by Pratham Motors and local mechanic to strip open the entire steering and suspension and replace the faulty parts has definitely been rubbished.

The only thing that I now need to fix on my Alto is the Clutch as its become really hard, other than this concern the car feels rock solid and I wish it many more years of sincere service to me and my family.

[no_boundaries]

I just got back from this store MAHENDRA CAR CARE CENTRE near Thiruvamiyur. I had gone to this place for a Wheel Rotation, Alignment, Balancing for a 5000kms run Polo GT. They charged me a cool 1,250/- for this Job.

My question, is this job really that expensive here in Chennai or have I been just ripped ? In Blore I have not paid more than 800/- even for my Vento.

They are Michelin dealers listed in their website.

[recshenoy]

Originally Posted by yikes6633

He suggested that I rotate the tyres such that the 2 with the deeper thread are placed in the front and the 2 with a much shallow thread are at the rear. The one which is almost balding be used as a stepney.

So, with some hope I drove to Madhu's Tyre Clinic and rotated the tyres exactly the way I was advised.

The wobble has absolutely disappeared. The steering feels a lot lighter and smoother. The feeling of the drive in the Alto again feels stable and reassuring.

.

Seems like my car too has similar problem. For past 3-4 days my Ford Figo steering wobbles and on a straight road car pulls to left.

Some time back I used to experience very small wobbling from front wheel. Took it to Ford service center and they advised that all 4 tyres are having little asymmetrical wear out patter. They advised that it happens generally due to bad roads and I need to replace the tyres

They raised the car and I could see that when tyres rotate they used to give a bit of dancing pattern i.e. little unevenness along the circumference. Till last week it was all fine and I had forgotten about these pattern. returned home this week and I can literally feel that on a good straight road the steering wobbles by good amount. Brother had driven for around 250 kms last week but on good roads and he doesn't recall encountering any potholes at high speed.

Wondering what could be the possible issue? Bearing problem or tyres have worn out (but within a week!!) or some other issue in Figo?

Figo has run 38,500 kms in last 2.5 years.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by recshenoy

Some time back I used to experience very small wobbling from front wheel. Took it to Ford service center and they advised that all 4 tyres are having little asymmetrical wear out patter. They advised that it happens generally due to bad roads and I need to replace the tyres



Wondering what could be the possible issue? Bearing problem or tyres have worn out (but within a week!!) or some other issue in Figo?



.

Asymmetrical wear is typically a sign of some misalignment. That could happen due to bad roads, potholes and such. But unless you get it fixed, it will keep on happening.

Back in Europe with by and large good roads, I rarely had to get my alignment checked. I used to rake up 130-150.000 km in two / three years without ever having alignment problems, not even a flat tire. Road conditions what they are in India, its something that for most of us is likely to happen/needed on a fairly regular basis. There could be different reason, such as wear and tear, but as soon as you take your car for an alignment, that should become clear as well.

Jeroen

[vibbs]

Team,
Need a help.

I just drove my Punto over a kerb today and this is what has happened.



Is the rim bent?

What should be the next course of action?

I intend to get wheel allignment and balancing today. Will that suffice?

[FarPatel]

Looks like just the plastic decorative cover has got bent. You need to have it removed and the actual rim checked, at a tyre shop to make sure that it's ok. However, since the tyre has not gone flat, and assuming it's tubeless, it looks like the rim should be ok, else it would have lost its air-seal.

[dass]

Originally Posted by vibbs

Is the rim bent?

What should be the next course of action?

I intend to get wheel allignment and balancing today. Will that suffice?

Remove the wheel cap and check if the steel rim inside is bent. From the picture, it is difficult to make out as the angle is not correct. Most probably, your rim is not bent, but the only way to be sure is to take the cap out.

[Leoshashi]

Hello guys,
Got my 800's wheels balanced and aligned as it has developed some bounciness at high speeds. Moreover it was part of a scheduled maintenance since last alignment/balancing was done about 6000 kms earlier.
The only issue was bounciness/wobble at speeds of 80kmph and beyond.
The bounciness has been solved but they have messed up the alignment. Car is pulling to left after that. They showed their helplessness as toe angles were perfectly at 0 degrees.
I showed the car to MASS who said that car was out of alignment and adjusted. Now again during test drive, the car was pulling left.
The SA then checked suspension, swappped tyres and did everything they could, but couldn't solve the issue. They also toom the car to another MASS but they also said the same thing that alignment was perfect.
Lastly they did a manual adjustment using cotton thread and also counting the number of threads on a screw near tyre.
Finally the issue has been resolved to quite an extent, but now the car is pulling very slightly to right.
I am dead sure that this is just an adjustment issue and not any complex issue, as the car was perfectly fine before the 1st alignment.

Guys please advise me what could have gone wrong, and how to correct it.

Regards
Shashi

[saket77]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Guys please advise me what could have gone wrong, and how to correct it.
Regards
Shashi

Shashi, It is only a guess work stating things from here, but I think that the alignment is not properly done. Since the car was previously pulling to left and after some adjustments, its now pulling to the right, I think that it can still be adjusted to keep in middle. Also, please keep in mind that the road gradient is never a perfect plane, mostly sloping towards the left, hence smart tech guys keep the vehicle aligned in way to keep the car countering the natural pull to left by inducing a slight intentional pull to right.

And if the alignment is indeed done perfectly then check the following:

1. Lift each wheel of the car and rotate by hand to see there is no brake drag. Problems in the brakes like the brake pads not retracting fully after brake pressure taken off can lead to brake drag. This can cause pulling problems.

2. Though you have swapped tires but just re-check cold tire air pressures.

3. Slightly damaged/ bent linkage rods and joints.

4. Rare and unlikely but check engine mounts too. However, for the small amount of pull that you are facing, it should not be a cause.

Do let us know if that solves that problem.

Regards,
Saket

[ghodlur]

Just for my information, how does one adjust the camber and caster values if they are out of the limit range? Does the suspension have to be lowered to do any adjustments? I am having an issue with my Punto where the front caster readings are out of their specified range. Would merely adjusting the toe readings suffice for the wheel alignment?

Another basic question - Does the wheel have be balanced before the alignment?

[humyum]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Just for my information, how does one adjust the camber and caster values if they are out of the limit range? Does the suspension have to be lowered to do any adjustments? I am having an issue with my Punto where the front caster readings are out of their specified range. Would merely adjusting the toe readings suffice for the wheel alignment?

Another basic question - Does the wheel have be balanced before the alignment?

Generally

Caster out = Lower arm bent

Camber out = Strut bent

And no, you can't adjust caster and camber, its only replace these components that will sort this out.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by humyum

Caster out = Lower arm bent

Camber out = Strut bent

And no, you can't adjust caster and camber, its only replace these components that will sort this out.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately this information didnt come out from Fiat workshop, they still stick to their decision that if any further pulling is observed, then they would plan the next course of action. According to them adjusting toe readings suffices to resolve the vehicle pulling.

Will contact FASS now.

[abhijeetK]

Many vehicles with macpherson struts do not have camber and caster adjustments. Others have a cam bolt at lower end of struts to adjust camber. Turning cam bolt moves the top of the wheel in or out.
On some macpherson-strut suspensions, caster and camber are adjusted at upper strut mount. Moving the strut towards front or rear changes caster. Moving the strut in or out changes camber.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by saket77

Shashi, It is only a guess work stating things from here, but I think that the alignment is not properly done. Since the car was previously pulling to left and after some adjustments, its now pulling to the right, I think that it can still be adjusted to keep in middle. Also, please keep in mind that the road gradient is never a perfect plane, mostly sloping towards the left, hence smart tech guys keep the vehicle aligned in way to keep the car countering the natural pull to left by inducing a slight intentional pull to right.

And if the alignment is indeed done perfectly then check the following:

1. Lift each wheel of the car and rotate by hand to see there is no brake drag. Problems in the brakes like the brake pads not retracting fully after brake pressure taken off can lead to brake drag. This can cause pulling problems.

SA checked for these. Although he didn't tell me, but I saw him raising my car and rotating front wheels only after repeated alignment failures.


2. Though you have swapped tires but just re-check cold tire air pressures.

SA checked for air pressure also, found them to be exactly 28 PSI.


3. Slightly damaged/ bent linkage rods and joints.

Took my car to Premsons' Workshop since they have chassis measurement and straightening machines. They checked and were of opinion that car's suspension and lower rods etc are absolutely fine.


4. Rare and unlikely but check engine mounts too. However, for the small amount of pull that you are facing, it should not be a cause.


Engine Mount is new, changed about 1 month back, no issues due to that IMO.

Do let us know if that solves that problem.

Regards,
Saket

Please find my answers above in bold.
I can't understand one thing, why does measurement varies from one shop to other?? For example If I do alignment at Shop A, and have seen them to perfectly adjust toe angles, if I go at shop B at that very instant, their machine will show different readings.
This happens with every tyre shop/ ASS at Ranchi. Unfortunately I have wasted my scholarship many a times just to check this fact.
Tired of this thing, I decided to do alignment myself, at home. Studied two of my dad's automobile engg books for getting a clear picture of Toe, caster and camber angles. Last night, I researched comprehensively on youtube and found this very interesting and enlightening video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6EllJTMrZs

This morning, after about 6 hours of accurate measurements and toil( never concentrated this hard in my Measurement Lab at Engg. ), I have managed to finally get a perfect alignment. After aligning both tires to zero degrees, I pulled them in by say a very small fraction of a degree as illustrated in video. Took car for a long drive on city roads and highways. Surprisingly it has solved every single issue.
1. No pulling, even on banked roads. Car travels arrow straight if steering is left for a while( under controlled conditions).
2. I was fearing that very slight toeing in might induce wheel wobble. But that's not the case. Car is absolutely stable and vibration free at highways. Tested on Ranchi-Hazaribagh Expressway.
3. According to SA, only thing they are not sure of is uneven tyre wear. But he couldn't find any symptoms for the same. He said that after driving my car extensively for about 20kms and doing all sorts of tests, the setting, though manual, is perfect. So this is probably the only thing I have to look out for.

The issue is resolved as of now. Incase I find any further issue, I will request you(BHPian Saket77) for lending my car some hours on sunday. By the way, which place do you recommend for alignment??

Regards,
Shashi