aclwalker 3 Posted June 3, 2008 When dismantling everything for my crack pipe replacement, I noticed a strange gouge on the inside edge of my driver's side tyre. On closer inspection, there is evidence that it's rubbing off the back of the wheel well. The wheel well appears to be properly attached, the car is totally standard with the original Speedlines and I can't actually see how it touches even when I put it on full lock myself. Any suggestions? The only things I can think off are that the tracking looks slightly out (toeing out, which would make it nearer to the bodywork at the back where it is rubbing) or that my dodgy CV joint was causing it to rub some time back before I fixed it. I'm not so sure of the last point as I'm sure I would have noticed this at the time as I always check the tyres after removing the wheels. I just wonder if I've not quite lined up the ball joint properly when reassembling the car after the CV joint repair. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted June 3, 2008 Can you get some pictures? Might be worth double checking everything that's been off at some point .. and also make sure it's not just that the tyre was damaged at some other time, perhaps while it wasn't even on the car. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aclwalker 3 Posted June 4, 2008 Can you get some pictures? Might be worth double checking everything that's been off at some point .. and also make sure it's not just that the tyre was damaged at some other time, perhaps while it wasn't even on the car. I'll try to take some pictures when I go back over to my parents after shaking off this bug (and allowing the dealer time to source my bolts. This wear has probably occurred since I refurbed the driveshaft on that side. I replaced the ball joint too and it's maybe moved a bit. I reckon the tracking is off a bit too though as it doesn't look right even by eye. On my old Golf I was able to realign it myself by eye such that the garage didn't need to do any adjustment, so if it looks off to me then it probably is. However, the ball joint replacement looks to have made it worse, as the tie rods were untouched, not even loosened. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aclwalker 3 Posted June 5, 2008 OK, here's a couple of photos, but they're not great. See the gouge on the right hand side of the tyre? The rusted bit to the left of the brake hose is where I suspect it's rubbing. I did notice that on full lock, it appeared to be very close indeed to the anti-roll bar, but I'm not sure if that's just cos I've currently got the car jacked up for my crack pipe repair. What's the chances of my steering rack not being centred? Maybe somebody has removed both tie-rods at some point and got the steering out of the centre such that full lock to the right is much greater than full lock to the left? How can you centre the steering rack if you suspect that the tie-rods have been adjusted to compensate for poor centreing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paul20v 0 Posted June 5, 2008 that looks to me like the trackings out , and the rusty bit looks like the flexi hose dohnuts have been rubbing the inner wing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tekara 0 Posted June 6, 2008 I got the same problem with running on standard wheels, and have had the tracking done too many times to mention. I can usually hear a little rubbing at low speeds when turning at full lock. The only possible cause I have been able to think of is misaligned track arms, if memory serves one of the arms is meant to be set to an exact length, with adjustments made only to the other side. Having had the tracking done so many times, in so many places there Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete_griff 0 Posted June 7, 2008 i'm certainly no expert, but other than the tracking, you might want to check out what sort of condition your wishbone bushes are in... your wishbones and all the stuff down there look pretty old and rusty - if the bushes are old and fooked, then they could potentially be allowing the wheel the movement it needs to rub... when i recently renewed all my bushes etc, i noticed tiny rub marks similar to that on the insides of my arches, but thankfully with no noticable wear on my tyres. it maybe that just on full lock (when parking etc) that the added pressure of the car not "floating" along as it does when going at speed (if that makes sense), means that the wheel is getting pushed back just far enough to rub. (nice tyres by the way! - hope they don't wear out on you too fast....) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aclwalker 3 Posted June 9, 2008 I got the same problem with running on standard wheels, and have had the tracking done too many times to mention. I can usually hear a little rubbing at low speeds when turning at full lock. The only possible cause I have been able to think of is misaligned track arms, if memory serves one of the arms is meant to be set to an exact length, with adjustments made only to the other side. Having had the tracking done so many times, in so many places there Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aclwalker 3 Posted June 9, 2008 i'm certainly no expert, but other than the tracking, you might want to check out what sort of condition your wishbone bushes are in... your wishbones and all the stuff down there look pretty old and rusty - if the bushes are old and fooked, then they could potentially be allowing the wheel the movement it needs to rub... when i recently renewed all my bushes etc, i noticed tiny rub marks similar to that on the insides of my arches, but thankfully with no noticable wear on my tyres. it maybe that just on full lock (when parking etc) that the added pressure of the car not "floating" along as it does when going at speed (if that makes sense), means that the wheel is getting pushed back just far enough to rub. (nice tyres by the way! - hope they don't wear out on you too fast....) Yeah, the wishbones are old but I'm pretty sure the bushes were all replaced (I got a whole load of stuff done not long after I got the car. Wish I'd done it myself, because I was not impressed with the results. Guy missed a totally shot shock absorber.). The tyres are the Toyo Proxes T1-S, which are no longer available and have been replaced by the T1-R. I'm pleased with the tyres and have had them for probably 25,000 miles or so now (nearly 6 years), but they are nearing the end of their life. Poor tracking and various suspension problems have probably shortened their life, but I don't think that mileage is too bad on them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted June 10, 2008 25k miles on a set of T1-S is pretty amazing.. they're quite a soft tyre. They lasted me 8k miles ... you just don't drive right.. ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete_griff 0 Posted June 10, 2008 25k miles on a set of T1-S is pretty amazing.. they're quite a soft tyre. They lasted me 8k miles ... you just don't drive right.. ;) :lol: haha - that's exactly what i was thinking. i used to go through t1-s's like you wouldn't believe! i had a set of t1-r's that i thought would last longer on a 306 s16 i used to own. i did "encourage"the 306 around the bends and the tyres were illegal within about 3 months! (i do lots of long journies mind you). my friend has got some proxies 4's on his motor and they seem to be lasting much better than the t1-s or t1-r 's so far. personally i'm a big fan of eagle f1's, but i'll save any further discussion for the tyres thread and stop hijacking this one! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
was8v 0 Posted June 10, 2008 When you have both adjustable then it's possible to have an idiot adjust them such that the steering is no longer centred and will steer more in one direction than the other. I had this issue. I took my car to a local HiQ (Lancaster) as recommended by my mechanic as the only laser alignment machine in the area. I asked before they started for a print out of before and after alignment values. I went to collect it and it looked ok but then said they couldn't do a print out?! Charged me £50. Got out of the car park and it felt quite different, bit odd. it wasn't until i went to park my car that that I noticed the wheel moved 3 turns to the right and 1 turn to the left!!!! What the hell? Couldn't park! Tyre also rubbed the chassis as in the pic above. I assumed they mustn't have centred the rack before alignment and also moved the steering wheel so took it back the next day. I go to collect the car at 5.30 - the guy says oh, the rack boot was wound up round the track rod stopping it moving but all OK now. I was like what the hell get it up in the air and let me have a look at my boot - but they were closing and wouldnt get it up in the air for me. I drive off and its exactly the same. Take it back next day and insist someone else looks at it. When I pick it up all its OK with the lock and I didnt have time to make them get it up in the air. All has been fine for a few months, drove and braked straight and looked OK. I look under the car (doing another job) recently and can see the boot is split. AAAAARGH !!!!!!!!!! So now I have to mess up the aligment to fit a new boot. Moral of the story be careful where you take it for alignment. I'll be going to a place that does a lot of motorsport prep next time and paying £100 as at least they might know wheat they are doing! Don't trust a tyre fitting place to do your alignment! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Critical_Mass 10 Posted June 10, 2008 Moral of the story be careful where you take it for alignment. I'll be going to a place that does a lot of motorsport prep next time and paying £100 as at least they might know wheat they are doing! Don't trust a tyre fitting place to do your alignment! I couldnt agree more! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aclwalker 3 Posted June 10, 2008 Moral of the story be careful where you take it for alignment. I'll be going to a place that does a lot of motorsport prep next time and paying £100 as at least they might know wheat they are doing! Don't trust a tyre fitting place to do your alignment! I couldnt agree more! Indeed. I've actually done alignment myself by eye before and then watched them do it properly in the alignment place and seen that I've got it just about spot on. The thing that concerns me though is that if your camber settings are off, then how does this affect the toeing in/out? Presumably you have to get camber right first, THEN do alignment. Also, I've often wondered about this scenario. You know how if you replace a ball joint they always say to mark the position of the old one, well, what if you have no confidence that the old one is properly positioned, or if you're replacing everything and don't have previous marks to align to? What is the procedure then? The way I see it, camber can be adjusted in two ways: (1) by the camber adjustment bolts on the strut and (2) by positioning of the balljoint. How do you go about positioning ball joints, camber bolts and track rod ends if you have no confidence that any of it is in the correct position in the first place? Thankfully the caster setting is not adjustable (so I believe) but I guess wear on bushes could mess about with this. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted June 10, 2008 Presumably you have to get camber right first, THEN do alignment. The way I see it, camber can be adjusted in two ways: (1) by the camber adjustment bolts on the strut and (2) by positioning of the balljoint. Castor is the hardest to adjust (and measure), and though they claim it's not adjustable, the way they measure it will show different values if you set different camber angles using the BJ and strut. Effectively you can move the hub in and out slightly, whilst keeping the camber EXACTLY THE SAME by moving the BJ and the strut the same amounts, but it will change the castor angle (as measure on these machines). But in practice, you should get the camber done first then do the toe. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
