littleyellowbat

My car seems to have developed a bad case of tramlining. It will weave where it wants to on the road - without steering input - causing the driver to compensate by correcting every 10 to 15 seconds.

I replaced the steering damper a few months ago thinking that was the cause. It did not correct the problem. I replaced both control arms less than a year ago and I do not believe I had this problem after I replaced them.

I am in the midst of changing my front struts now and thought I would also change the strut bearings - thinking they could be faulty but I am not sure it would fix the problem and do not want to attempt to change them if it is unlikely they are my issue.

There are no "clunks" in the suspension or steering. Steering ball joints seem tight.

Any ideas or other things to check would be greatly appreciated.

UrS4boy

Worn steering rack, not enough pre-load in the steering rack, Tie rods, tie rod ends, air pressure in your tires,tire design (rounded or square edges), alignment (too much toe out), etc. are all potential causes. I think strut bearings are much less likely to be the cause(s).

littleyellowbat

Thanks Dave.

I finished with the new strut insert install and will have the car aligned. It could be that the car just had an alignment issue. The summer tires did have some poor wear - I just put the snows on for the alignment tomorrow.

What does the steering preload adjustment nut do? Will this change the firmness of the steering feel? I'll have to play with that nut to see what effect it has.

Thanks for the tips.

Will

UrS4boy

Where were the tires worn, inside or outside edges?

The steering preload takes up some of the slack feel in the steering. However, if you over tighten it, the steering will not self-center after completing a turn, i.e. the added preload friction wants to keep the steering in the same position until you move the wheel manually. That is too much preload. Back it off a bit and retry.

littleyellowbat

Drivers front was worn significantly on the inner edge.

I think I'll tighten the preload a little. Steering feels a little lighter than I like so I'll try to get it firmer without losing the self centering.

littleyellowbat

After putting on the snows and driving the car to the alignment shop I noticed that the car did not seem to dart on the road...

Getting it back this afternoon. We'll see.

GoHeels

If you wear-out an edge of a tire enough, the layers will start to separate and the car will drive weird.

frenchstallion

I'm having the same issue so to make sure I'm changing the fallowing:

1) all subframe bushings
2) control arms bushings
3) sway bar bushings in the control arms.

then an allinment and if that don't cure it I'll be stumped.

UrS4boy

Forget just doing the control arm bushings. Replace both the control arms (TRW ones come with the required bushings) *AND* the most important bit, the ball joint at the end that fits into the wheel bearing housing at the end of the strut.

Make sure you get new Items 10, 14 and 15 as well as 11 on pg 2/2:

http://12v.org/urs/FrontSuspensionTorqueValues.PDF