Steering problems

[stockies]

Hi guys im new, love your site has already helped me sooo much. I have a question for you guys and girls.
My VN seems to "wander" on the road while driving. Meaning it kind of jerks to one side, most of the time its to the left. It does this with the 17" VZ SS alloys on it, but not when the stock 14" wheels are on it.

What is causing this problem???, already had a wheel alignment done, but i think they stuffed it up. The car is not lowered, and had a new steering rack put in recently.

Thanks guys, hope you can help me.

[Emackulation]

If it wandered and pulled like that after you got it back from a wheel alignment then I would go back to them as say "WTF". They should be able to spot a issue with the steering if it extends past a shotty wheel alignment.

[r_i_d_a_h]

hows the PSI of your tyres?

[RockyVX]

are the 17" tyres directional, and if so, are the fitted in the right direction? If they are, and one side is going backwards, then you might have this sort of crap going on

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

When you go to a larger diameter rim, the way the alignment is done is different. The specs are for stock tyres and stock rims with a plus or minus variance. The variance is to compensate for different rim size. When fitting larger diameter rims the toe needs to be more positive. Different machines set up in different ways, but the actual toe setting, 3mm from memory on a VN, needs to more like 5mm. It won't fix it 100% because the car wasn't designed to have 17" VZ rims on it. The offset is different too. A good wheel aligner will be able to set the car up so it drives pretty good on those rims.

[stockies]

Thanks guys, was back at the place that did my alignment this afternoon. They only told me that after a week and a half, anything could have happened. ie: hit a gutter or changed the tires. I don't want to bag the crap out of this place but, with everything they told was like: "we can fix it. For a price." After a long argument they had a look at the car, and then told me that the ?bushes? are stuffed. They then went on to quote me to fix everyone of them under the car. But shouldn't they have noticed something like this when they the alignment in the first place?

[r_i_d_a_h]

did you go in the shop and asked them to do the allignment? or did you tell them you had a 'problem' with your steering?..'cause some places are real smart arses and if you tell them you want a certain job done that's what job they'll do and nothing else in that matter.

[stockies]

I went into the shop and told them that the wheel alignment they did was not correct. They asked why i thought it was incorrect and i described the problem, it was after that they became defensive and told me i had done something to wreck the alignment.

When i first had it done i called up and ask to book in a VN V6 for a front wheel end alignment. Should never have had it done as they told me they could also do an alignment on the rear end. Im not that stupid i know my car is a live axel so nothing can be aligned.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

The only way they can link the rear to an alignment is doing a compensated wheel alignment, where they align the front wheels to the driveline of the car, this compensates for the diff being slightly out of square with the rest of the car. It sounds as though they wouldn't have known how to do that anyway. Fixing all the bushes will help a bit but it won't fix the problem if it is set up incorrectly, a few people have had this same problem and taking to a decent wheel aligner fixed it.

[stockies]

Thanks for all your help guys, cars going to a different place today to be aligned. Will let you guys know how that goes.

[Emackulation]

Best thing you can do is make sure its right once you get it done, then if your not happy (within the same day) come back and complain.

[fnlow1]

Your VZ wheels may not be balanced correctly ie a wheel weight has fallen off.

[stockies]

Hey guys booked my car in at peddlers for friday afternoon. Cant do it sooner as i have work. They are going to realiagn and balance my wheels.

Thanks for all your help guys.

[aussieghostrider]

I have same problem you do ..Pedders will say u need all new suspension etc ... I got quoted $2500 for new suspension and new tower bearing plates ..

I just had the bearing plates and new suspension... $1000 by a mechanic I take my car to all the time ... he laughed when I showed him pedders $14 safety check ... no use replacing things that are still ok.

If you have big rims that can cause steering to wonder on uneven roads...

uneven tyre pressure or uneven worn tires can do this.

lower control arm bushes can wear and cause this also .. so can worn radius arm bushes, also a bent tie rod or loose steering rack can cause you grief.

these cars are 17 years old so eventually you will have to get everything replaced ...

its a fact of life ...