Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Drive train, fuel, suspension, steering & brakes => Topic started by: Bob G ✝︎ on June 02, 2012, 00:16:46
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I just got my ride height fixed and new front and rear bushing put inn the suspension. On the freeway at 60 MPH it feels like it is floating and the car wants to drift to order lanes. This safety factor annoys me and troubles me. I was told it could be as simple as an alignment problem. I also put new Bilstein shock in at the same time I did the suspension work .
Can anyone give me so feed back as to what might be causing this. I also what to know what to look for to know if the king pins are bad. I want to say thank you to all the people who have given me advice and who's friendship I have made over the year I was able to attend Pagoda Fest.
Sincerely
Bob Geco
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Hi Bob,
Take her to your favorite alignment shop (with a Hunter GSP 9700 machine). I had the same issue - especially after new shocks, new pucks and bushings and a newly installed 3.27 rear end. Ingrid was "wandering", but no more.
Cheers, Hank
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Fairly simple to check king pin play. Most shops will place something under the lower control arm and compress the spring a bit. This will take the tension off the upper control arm and if there's anything loose, it will really show up.
As a more basic test, I push on the top of the tire and pull on the bottom in a rocking motion ( car is on hoist ) to see if I can feel any play. Any play at all will show up as king pin wear, loose wheel bearings or pivot wear. To isolate this a bit further, I grease the front king pins and try the same test again while watching for movement. If the play goes away it's likely to be king pin wear. If it doesn't go away, it's more likely to be loose wheel bearings. You pretty much need to compress the springs to check for upper or lower pivot wear.
Tie rod wear can be easily checked by pulling on the back of the tire and pulling on the front in the same rocking motion as checking for king pin wear. In this case you are appying load in a different direction and any play will show up as excss movement at the tie rod ends.
You need to check both sides of the car and pay extra attention to the front right looking for idler arm bushing wear. This will present as up and down movement of the idler arm as you push/ pull on the wheel. Idler arm bushing wear will result in a lot of bump steer as you enter a long sweeping curve such as an entrance ramp. All of the load will be on the left front while play in the idler arm will steer the right front tire all over the place. If you find that you're constantly correcting during these conditions you should have your front end checked for wear. Of course, other components will make your car feel loose because of the constant loading and unloading of the steering gear while a front end in god condition will alwas feel secure.
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Yes, sounds like you need a good alignment Bob. Have them check the caster and camber also.