VY steering

[Zeussy]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if any of you fellow commodore enthusiasts had come accross some dodgey steering in a late model commodore?? its kind-of hard to explain but lets have a go..

Your pulling into a turn on the ol' pacific highway at about 80km/hr to the right, turn the steering wheel past 1 o'clock (hold the wheel steady) and it feels like you just yank on the steering wheel - front end rips accross the road about 6 inches, or more.. but the steering wheel hasnt moved?? and does the opposite veer accross the road when you straighten it?

I have been chasing this for a while, mainly looking for worn / damaged parts under there, but to no avail.. all i could come up with is the wheel bearing had a poof-tynth amout of play in it, (less than 1mm up and down) and after talking with the fella from pedders, him agreeing that would most likely be the cause, and an inspection at a decent tyre / suspension mob - that couldn't find anything at all wrong with it..

I'm thinking it could end up costing an arm and probly a leg too.. I have replaced the drivers side wheel bearing - brand new from holden.. gotta love trade price!! done the sway bar link pins while i was there.. but noo good still does it.

This poor car has copped a bit of a beating, being lowered - probly too much, big wheels - 20's, and been up a gutter ooopss.. so im sure its something ive done to it, but what??!!

SOooo that leaves me to where I am now -- what else is there.. spoke to a holden parts man! he said it could be the
radius rod bushes - fluid filled bushes, but im not too sure they look alright,
then a mate said the tie rod ends, / rack ends / balljoints (what ever) in his VR were doing the same thing..
hopefully not steering rack.. about the most expensive thing under there!

SOO does any one know what floggs out on these gurls??

Im going to get a 28 point safety check from pedders when they can fit it in soon!

Hopefully im not the only one that this has happened too..
Cheers guys in advance..



Josh..

[Zeussy]

Ok,

Its booked into Pedders on monday arvo... hopefully they can find something?

Fingers crossed that it isn't anything too major.. but i'm thinking it has to be, because of the movement/feeling of the steering..

hmmm...

[cewing]

my steering wheel in my car shakes, i feel very single bit of tarmac on the road. getting new tires on the front and a pedde4rs shock check

[Zeussy]

Do you mean shakes, like all the time? or just around corners??

If its all the time, it could be buckled rim,
if it comes and goes, like at different speeds and dissappears at just over 100km/hr, it could be wheel balance,
If its when you go on the brakes, it could be warped brake rotors/disc's,

And with the feeling every bit of tarmac.. do you have low profile tyres? bigger than standard wheels??
Are you running a resonably high pressure in them?? could be that, or if they're too flat,could be hitting on the ground! lol,

And theres a good chance your shockies might be on the way out, maybe,..

Hope some of that helps bud.. most of thats just my opinion, and might not be 100% accurate,
Goodluck with pedders!! I havnt been to them yet, thought id give them a go..

hope you sort it out - its a b**** when your cars not going the way it should heyy,

[dtm11]

MATE I HAVE A VYiI CALAIS, LOWERED WITH BILSTIEN SUSPENSION, AND THAT THING UR FEELING IS JUST A TYPICAL HOLDEN FAULT. MY VX AND VY DOES IT, IT IS JUST HOW THE STERRING RACK IS SET AND HOW THEY OPERATE

Hey guys,

Just wondering if any of you fellow commodore enthusiasts had come accross some dodgey steering in a late model commodore?? its kind-of hard to explain but lets have a go..

Your pulling into a turn on the ol' pacific highway at about 80km/hr to the right, turn the steering wheel past 1 o'clock (hold the wheel steady) and it feels like you just yank on the steering wheel - front end rips accross the road about 6 inches, or more.. but the steering wheel hasnt moved?? and does the opposite veer accross the road when you straighten it?

I have been chasing this for a while, mainly looking for worn / damaged parts under there, but to no avail.. all i could come up with is the wheel bearing had a poof-tynth amout of play in it, (less than 1mm up and down) and after talking with the fella from pedders, him agreeing that would most likely be the cause, and an inspection at a decent tyre / suspension mob - that couldn't find anything at all wrong with it..

I'm thinking it could end up costing an arm and probly a leg too.. I have replaced the drivers side wheel bearing - brand new from holden.. gotta love trade price!! done the sway bar link pins while i was there.. but noo good still does it.

This poor car has copped a bit of a beating, being lowered - probly too much, big wheels - 20's, and been up a gutter ooopss.. so im sure its something ive done to it, but what??!!

SOooo that leaves me to where I am now -- what else is there.. spoke to a holden parts man! he said it could be the
radius rod bushes - fluid filled bushes, but im not too sure they look alright,
then a mate said the tie rod ends, / rack ends / balljoints (what ever) in his VR were doing the same thing..
hopefully not steering rack.. about the most expensive thing under there!

SOO does any one know what floggs out on these gurls??

Im going to get a 28 point safety check from pedders when they can fit it in soon!

Hopefully im not the only one that this has happened too..
Cheers guys in advance..



Josh..

[Zeussy]

Well...

I got the commo looked at today, by Pedders.. and they found what I was talking about - test drive, and 28 point check.. and have come to the conclusion that it is the:

lower control arm bushes (inner) - whats giving me that awkward 'pulling' through cornering.. more like a huge 'yank' on the wheel!!

and a couple of other things they found are:

Rear shockies = Gooooone!!/leaking..
Engine mount - left = engine rising up about 3inches under load.. :my:
And the link pins = resonably common fault..


So for those 4 things they're hoping to sting me for over $900....
Quite possibly a resonable price for all that labour / parts / and wheel alignment,

But being a mechanic, I dont like paying retail!! so will probly do the job myself - sourcing parts from either Holden (I get a really good price through them) or Ebay..

At a quick glance I can get all those parts I need, plus a whole kit for the control arms, (not just the inner bushes..) both engine mounts and a tranny mount, (not just the left hand one..) and front shockies aswell, (not just the rears..) all up for around $500, but possibly cheaper once I find out what Holden want for various parts...

All I can say about Pedders is:

Its the best $14 I've ever spent.. lmao,

I almost feel bad for not getting them to do it, but then i think about the money im saving so.. pfft!!!!!

And the little rascals put a sticker on my back windscreen! kinda cool looking, so it can stay for a bit!

[Zeussy]

Replaced the lower control arm bushes, inner and outer, on the front.. that was the problem for sure.. didnt do it after installing them, the inner passenger side one - the inner steel bit was cracked badly!!

Did the engine mounts - f**k was that a prick to do.. they said only the passenger one, the drivers side one was badly cracked too.. got a kit off ebay, did all three, the two engine mounts and the transmission mount.. beeeyyoooodiful.. people say the drivers side is easy, and the passenger side is the hard one.. pffft!! unbolt the A/C compressor, move it to the front easy as.. drivers side I ended up taking the manifold off (NO GASKET??? WTF???) to get to the knock sensor cover and bracket bolts.. ouch..

Got all new shocks coming on monday, and got the link pins waiting to go in when I do the shocks.. monroe --- I just wish I had seen them on here, from GSL? for a good price before I ordered them, dang..

Too easy!! yeeew!!

[cewing]

My whole front assembly (shocks, all that stuff up there) is all stufffed according to pedders. A mechanic also showed me my engine mounts were sagged out, im gettin those replace for like $400
He thought my car had fe2 suspension, i was like WTF, no way! haha
my springs has dropped like 2 inches since the car was new(4-5 years) and thats given the failing shocks less roomto work in.

[Zeussy]

Haha, damm.. that sucks hard hey,

For a car like yours, or mine, you would expect them to last a bit hey, not be totally flogged out in 5 years, my car has had a bit of a hard time, but nothing real crazy,

Just leave the springs, and get some lowered shocks and run them, tell everyone its FE2!! lmao..
nah just Joking, haha,, so are you looking at lowering it, or just stock again??

[cewing]

Dont joke, its what i plan on doing! i'll leave the springs, just get some heavy duty shocks, that work well with the saggin springs.
Free Fe2-holden never saw that coming!

[Zeussy]

Haha.. Thats F**king gold man..

Yeah I can't see why that wouldn't work hey, should be sweet!!

Holden didnt do their research aye.. giving away free FE2 haha the gooses..

[anonymousmoose]

I gotta admin the steering is the only letdown with my WK. I had the problem ever since I bought the car (pre-owned with 55,000km). Its not bugging me as much as it did and 3 balances later it did improve yet its still not great.

I spoke to a lot of people with commodores and heaps have issues with the steering. I know one of the WA parliment members who just got given a VE Berlina brand new a few months back (being a politician sounds great, free fuel, car, insurance etc... anyways) he says he also has a steering shake on the freeway.

I spoke to the most reputable suspension/steering companies in WA and they all tell me its a 'Holden thing'.

My VX (well it wont be mind for long as I just closed a deal to sell it) also did the same thing.