Tracking

5th March 2013, 19:21

My steering doesn't pull to one side but my steering wheel is about an 1/8th turn to the left when going straight. Been told it might be tracking. Been quoted £30. Is this a reasonable price?

Also been told it could be other things. What could these be, how much is it likely to cost and how easy to replace?

5th March 2013, 19:29

Thats a reasonable price for tracking.

5th March 2013, 19:49

It could simply be your tyres.

I can jiggle my wheel left and right with my rallye steels on and still go straight.

with my ouragan alloys, it's positive.

Likely you've got worn track rod ends.

5th March 2013, 20:33

That's good. It's mate's rates at a professional well known garage so happy with that then!

5th March 2013, 20:37

get tracking done for £20 whats the garage called?

5th March 2013, 21:10

That would be telling haha. But one of the top chains. Is it worth ringing around to see if I can get it cheaper?

5th March 2013, 21:17

If thecar drives straight and you get even wear on the tyres then just take the steering wheel off and put it back on where it needs to be.

5th March 2013, 21:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by mof

If thecar drives straight and you get even wear on the tyres then just take the steering wheel off and put it back on where it needs to be.

No... bad idea never do this, it messes up the airbag ring and can brake the connector sometimes causing the bag to go off in your face....

5th March 2013, 21:27

ring around, £20 is basic price, even quick fot was going to do it for £20 but they dident have a tool to undoo a bolt

5th March 2013, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by AaronSAXOVTR

No... bad idea never do this, it messes up the airbag ring and can brake the connector sometimes causing the bag to go off in your face....

ow you have airbag still! yer dont do that then.lol

6th March 2013, 07:15

There's no point in ringing around, you'll be lucky to get under £30 anywhere else! Although some places only charge if they have to adjust it, eg my place doesn't charge to check, just to adjust so make sure you confirm this. Also, make life easier for them and spray up your track rod ends before you go as it'll make them easier to undo so less time to adjust

6th March 2013, 07:42

Yeah my mate said it is likely to be tracking but could have had the steering wheel fannyed around with or bent components. Cheers for the help guys, starting to like this place!

6th March 2013, 08:10

Moving the wheel and airbag isn't hard.

Disconnect the battery for 10 minutes first, then it's "safe" to pull off the connector.

6th March 2013, 13:42

The price is usually 20-22 quid from places like ATS.

6th March 2013, 14:31

yeah the airbag cant go off when the power has been disconnected and the caps discharged.
Saying that I left my battery connected and attacked the standard wheel with a grinder as I thought it'd be interesting, was wearing googles though mind. Air bag didnt go off

6th March 2013, 14:51

Interesting thread from 205 drivers:

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index...owtopic=112468

Here's the content if you cant view. Makes good reading and is probably the same as your issue.

eeyore, on Apr 24 2008, 09:06 PM, said:

There should be an equal number of threads showing providing both trackrod ends are the same type. if one is further in than the other it moves the rack out of center, this creates the effect of different length steering arms which also creates bump steer in different directions on each side. you need to make sure the rack is properly centered before setting the tracking and then make sure the front wheels are facing the same way as the rears. Most of the competition cars that i set up arrive with rack out of center and once put right people are surprised at how much better it drives. Its quite an easy problem to sort out and it surprises me that so many people ignore it.

Tom Fenton, on Apr 25 2008, 09:50 AM, said:

Absolutely agree with this.
On other stuff I work on there is a plug in the rack which can be removed, and then a dowel dropped in which locates into a drilling, and centralises the rack accurately. I don't know of this feature on a 205 rack so the only way to do it that I am aware of is to measure the turns of the wheel and do it that way.

If fitting a pair of new track rod ends this is how I do it.

Screw both in an equal amount that you think will be somewhere near, then ignoring steering wheel position turn the rack so the wheels are straight and check the tracking, ignore the steering wheel position. Then adjust both track rods an equal amount, either shorten (more toe out) or lengthen (more toe in) BOTH to achieve whatever overall toe you desire. Once you've done this and locked the track rods off, then you can centre the steering wheel up by removing the nut and indexing it round on the splines.

If you are adjusting an existing pair then really the easiest thing is to remove them completely, give them a dose of grease to make them easy to adjust now and in future, and then do as above.

And this echo's my point as i got my tracking done 3 times by a garage in leeds as it never felt right! and as i ercall all he did was to set the steering wheel straight with a bar and hook then adjust the tracking - completely ignoring the central rack position.

jackherer, on Apr 25 2008, 11:47 AM, said:

There is definitely no slot for a pin on a 205 unfortunately. I figured all this out for myself a while ago after several tyre fitters failed to get my pug right. I ended up blagging a couple of hours on my local garages ramp with their laser aligner and it took me ages to accurately centralise it. The people at the garage thought I was insane because they would have just set the toe to the book figure and put the steering wheel on 'straight'

Once I had got it right I found it cured some nasty bumpsteer as Eeyore describes but it also makes the steering weight load up evenly in both directions, previously it would feel light if you turned left but heavier if you turned right due to the messed up ackermann effect.

6th March 2013, 15:11

£25 is what i've paid before at one garage.

6th March 2013, 23:34

What that guy said about the garage locking the wheel straight and just adjusting the track rods is the way any and every garage will adjust tracking. Yes, we could spend 3+ hours doing what he suggested but most customers just want their car back so we bang it on the ramp, lock the wheel, set the laser gauges up and just the track rods. Takes 15 minutes and if its done right, will last k's of miles