Car feels unstable!

[Struggler]

Upon acceleration, car is fine,
When letting off and coasting, the car seems to feel unstable, like it wants to jump into the nearest ditch, pulling all over the road in different directions.

When hard braking it is even worse, have to really be on the ball if you break hard as it can pull violently and unpredictably in either direction.

Since purchasing the car in september shes had:
New drop links
New wishbone bushes (powerflex)
New ball joints
New shocks all Round
New springs
New top mounts.

The only thing still to do is the rod ends and trackings. Im hoping this will solve the issue, but im started to worry that the problem is to do with the steering rack, or a breaking imbalance.

could anyone give me some advice on this, as i really want to get it sorted!

 

[jack_kemp]

I had this same problem, but for me it was shocks.... I'm guessing it's not that.

 

[scotty2hotty81]

have you had the geometery checked? does it drive straight?

 

[kaz2664]

Wheel bearings maybe ?

 

[ScarySquirrel]

I had a similar thing, which seems to have been almost completely rectified by fitting coilovers, which leads me to believe my shocks were screwed!

 

[Rich_172]

could be geometry out, badly worn tyres can cause tramlining aswell

 

[Struggler]

tyres are band new as well,
and its hand all the wheel bearings with any movement replaced also,

how does geometry differ from tracking??
as i was going to have the tracking done when i get new rodends,
should i have the geometry checked instead? or aswell??

 

[mr.valver]

I had same sort of thing on my cup, swapped tyres from 205 back to 195 and it fixed it. I had it under acceleration also though.

 

[Wests Renault]

i had a fucked ball joint which caused the car to swerve uncontrolably

 

[Adz172]

Ive got this problem with mine and been told it could be the track rods.

 

[scotty2hotty81]

tyres are band new as well,
and its hand all the wheel bearings with any movement replaced also,

how does geometry differ from tracking??
as i was going to have the tracking done when i get new rodends,
should i have the geometry checked instead? or aswell??

Geometry is front and rear track, toe in, toe out and kpi basically checking that all you wheels are where they should be, but saying that there is not a huge amount off adjustment, needs to be checked though as if it's out something might be bent!

 

[bigbruno71]

tyres are band new as well,
and its hand all the wheel bearings with any movement replaced also,

how does geometry differ from tracking??
as i was going to have the tracking done when i get new rodends,
should i have the geometry checked instead? or aswell??

make sure they set it with laser line that way thier setting it to all 4 wheels, not just the fronts are evenly appart, they should set the front wheels to zero take the reading off the rear wheels add together and devide by 2 and set the rear wheels to that figure, that way a 4 wheels are pointing in the same direction and will elimiate tracking which is when the car pulls to the left or the right, i've had this problem with a Saab 9-3, my last Vauxhall Vectra and Cavalier.

 

[bigbruno71]

also make sure the components that have been fitted are the correct ones for the car, if you use the wrong parts the settings can be out, i put a ball joint on my cup had to use a reno part cos the motor factors didn't list the right parts.

 

[Iceberg_172]

Hard to say if it is them but if you have replaced everything else then just replace the track rod ends. could also be a brake caliper binding on just that little bit on one side enough to slow that wheel down?

bruno, how do you set the rear wheels on the laser allignment? i got my car laser alligned and the guy said you cant set the rears as there is no tie rods etc just an axle, you can only set the fronts to zero like you said.

edited, meant to say track rod ends

 

[SimonR.]

Sounds simple but are your tyres inflated correctly?

It could also be the calipers sticking so have a look at them

 

[Stuiemc]

Might sound abit obv but you sure all your wheels are tight? Or your steering knuckle joint could be worn?

 

[ejk]

Very interesting. My car has exactly the same problem! Sometimes braking is actually quite scary. I am running on winter tyres now, that did not change the effect. Just last week, the car was aligned. It did decrease the sensitivity to ditches slightly but during braking, the effect is still the same.

Can I ask what type of RS you have? Mine is a 172 RS Ragnotti, which means it has the cup suspension. I would expect it to be more stable than the standard RS because of the increased caster. Unfortunately it is extremely unstable, as you describe.

I have also run out of suspension components to replace. I am seriously considering adjustable coilovers. That would also lower the front, which is quite high now (looks typical for a Ragnotti though).

I hope you will be able to solve it. I shall keep you posted on my progress.

Cheers,
Erik

Upon acceleration, car is fine,
When letting off and coasting, the car seems to feel unstable, like it wants to jump into the nearest ditch, pulling all over the road in different directions.

When hard braking it is even worse, have to really be on the ball if you break hard as it can pull violently and unpredictably in either direction.

Since purchasing the car in september shes had:
New drop links
New wishbone bushes (powerflex)
New ball joints
New shocks all Round
New springs
New top mounts.

The only thing still to do is the rod ends and trackings. Im hoping this will solve the issue, but im started to worry that the problem is to do with the steering rack, or a breaking imbalance.

could anyone give me some advice on this, as i really want to get it sorted!

 

[ejk]

Any news on this issue?

cheers,
Erik