Hi,
A couple of weeks ago I had my two front tyres changed on my Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec at my local Rapid Fit. After I noticed that the car veers to the left when the steering wheel is centred. I returned the following week and the guy suggested the tracking be checked. It was way off apparently. At the same time I had the front pads changed.
Dove the car out gained some speed, now it veers to the right when wheel is centred. I retuned to the Rapid Fit centre yesterday where they swapped front wheels with back wheel and did the tracking again. Still veers to the left.
I had a motorway journey after and could move across the whole carriageway by holding the wheel centred.
Anyone got any ideas. I am at a loss. It?s so annoying as before my car was perfect where steering handling was concerned.
Cheers
Andrew B
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Did the steering wheel give sign`s of shaking at any given speed/brake pedal pumping after the tyre`s/pads were changed?
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Tyre pressures unequal left to right will cause that.you mentioned having wheels changed front to rear were they altered front o/s to rear off side.Same on nearside.And why did you have the pads changed? usually the wheels are changed diagonaly ie front offside to rear near side.near side front to offside rear.if the tyres were uneven in inflation that will cause it.as a matter of interest did you have to put pressure on the steering wheel to keep it straight?let me know
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FB - not sure about the first steering change, but the second one sounds to me like what often happens after a tracking adjustment. To keep steering centred it would normally be necessary to adjust track-rods on both sides, whcih clearly takes longer (and is more fiddly) so garages can't afford to do it, and adjust one side only.
And don't take it for granted that your tracking is correct even now. Only tyre wear will ultimately prove that - centred steering doesn't prove it either.
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I think Andrew has had the same thought as me - just wondering if we're chasing a red herring here.
Focusbloke, you mention in one of your mails "holding" the steering centred. Do you mean centring the wheel? Perhaps your steering wheel was perfectly centred on a straight ahead course before and no longer is, and that is the problem rather than road-wheel alignment?
The "test" on the road is to put the car on a straight course, regardless of the position of the steering wheel,(beware camber)and release your grip - the car should not veer markedly.
If its just the position of the steering wheel that's annoying you it can be adjusted as Andrew says, but may not be perfect.
Please ignore if I've got the wrong end of the stick.
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Actually sound`s more like a tyre problem.Ie tyre not perfect it happen`s.If the tyre tread is not in line all around tyre. And it is not normally possible to see without looking at it on a machine at high speed which won`t be allowed now due to health and safety.best to try and get the tyre`s replaced again.not saying this is the case but it give`s that impression.Let me know
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Had exactly the same problem with a previous Fiesta, funnily enough Rapid Fit didn't mess the tracking up, I left that to another chain. However, Rapid Fit fixed it for free.
They simply adjusted the track rod ends to the correct position so that the wheels were aligned with each other, and also pointed straight ahead when the steering did.
Unfortunately it is no longer possible to adjust the steering wheel itself on cars like the Focus, they don't use the fine splines to mount it anymore, but a much less adjustable form, a hexagon I think.
Anyway, you wouldn't want to fix this by adjusting the steering wheel, that is only masking what was actually a lazy effort to fix the tracking in the first place. Go back and complain!
Blue
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