PH2 172 ''lack of feel and it wanders, very light'' Advice please....

[lambrosj]

Hi Chaps,

Just a quick note, I recently purchased a 172 with a genuine 50k on it and has stndard shocks with apex springs. On my 230mile trip home after purchasing, I found the car to be 'Skittish' but mainly the lack of feel trhough the front end and the cars tendancy to wonder in various directions pending on road surface especially high speed bumps or ridges in road this was slightly worrying at 90mph as the car would take a bit of work to stay in lane.:nono:

Now the tracking is spot on and tyres are good tread but budget (changing asap) car drives spot on in a straight line and tracking is perfect only thing that shudders the car and causes it to vere out of line and feel very light on front end is bumps in road especially cats eyes (maintenance on road caused me to drive other these) Im putting this down to knackered shocks being orignial and 50k, can anyone shed some light....?

I was thinking:

* PolyBush Front End (dont know how easy this would be, advise please)
* Replace all 4 shocks with uprated or standard items as am happy with ride and damp/rebound rate

At the moment gona be throwing a bit of money at car but dont wanna go crazy so anyone got any advicE?

Thanks!!!

 

[Djw John]

I would bet the rear shocks are shot mate

 

[Dunn]

Rear shocks
Tracking
Track rod ends

That would be my route

 

[lambrosj]

Cheers guys....

Will wait for other opinons also then will start the old process of elimination...

Track rod ends ill do the car is perfectly trakced at moment but obviosly track rod ends will set it out and need redoing.

SO rear shocks - found some apex shocks on ebay and fron and rear and decent prices, should i steer clear or they worth it? im happy with standard setup so might just go that route anyone got any suggestions on good shocks to use and which not to....?

 

[Cookson]

How do you know the tracking is perfect? Had it alligned already?

Shocks will be goosed, hence the skittish feeling

 

[Dunn]

undo the rear shock (bolt on bottom, and bolt in the boot)

only do one at a time, then compress the shock once off

if there is no resistance then its fucked, and if it has recently leaked there will be oil on the outside of your shocks so check them for this

 

[Budgie]

Might be a silly question, but what are the tyre pressures like!?

Always start with the stupid bits first, imo.

 

[lambrosj]

Thanks for great feedback guys,

I havent had i up in the air properly yet but will be doing that soon (this week somepoint) alignment is spot on only based on how the car behaved when hands where off wheel LoL!!! Bear in mind ive only owned the car since sunday, so still getting to grips with teething issues.

Its had a full service history prodomenantly from an indie which was very meticulous with car (so i was told)

Either way I am going to attend the Nurburgring in October and need these bits tidied so I will be defo replacing shocks and tempted to go with standard replacements as dont feel the need for uprated items (springs do fine for now) what I do need advise on is the Polybush route as I will be buying a Front Bush Set off the bay soon, is this a simple job or ive heard whispers of seem welding etc, im comfortable using a press just not welding LoL!!

So first point of call is...

* Inspect rear shocks (check for leaks and undo and check for damp rate/resistance
* inspect fronts

New track rods and front bushes including top mounts will be done simultaneously...

 

[lambrosj]

Regarding Tyre Pressures...

Ill be checkingonce I get in from work,

Anyone know the standard pressures?

 

[TimR26]

Probably the shocks as said or ball joints.

Standard pressure is 33 front 31 rear.

 

[lambrosj]

Thanks again,

Will correct pressures tonight and inspect shocks and all other main suspension components on weekend....

Anyone have any info on POLYBUSHING front end, Worth it or Not? How involving is it?

 

[TimR26]

Don't think it's worth it as I've heard it can be bit of a nightmare job. My philosophy is if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Rob669]

Clios will tend to 'track' a bit and follow the road in ways you don't want. Should be 32 front and 28 rear lbs last time I looked on dialogys. Could also be wishbone bushes on opp end of the ball joint as they tend to last for 50k.

Don't discount unusual road surfaces though as the cause - I drive along the M4 every day and think my cars gone badly wrong. Once I leave and get onto another road it feels alright (M4 = badly worn surface with a hotch potch of different tarmac and lots of lorry tyre ruts).

 

[ForceIndia]

Check the tyre pressures, check the dampers. And Apex springs are f**king awful, really, really, really poor. Worse setup by a country mile that I've driven.

 

[Gray]

tyres pressures..

Sack off the Apex springs, YUCK!!!

check shock absorbers (may well be dead with running the Apex springs?!)

track rod ends

tracking

 

[Mister_G]

As everyones said really..

I had exactly the same problems. I ended up having to replace;

• Checked the tyre pressures, passenger side was 30, drivers side was... 65 psi! lmao

• Rear Axle Bushes (Starting to wonder if this was really needed but it got the car tracked correctly! It was way out before)

• Rear Shocks

• Rear Springs (one had snapped!)

Don't trust garages to check your shocks and springs btw! I went to 6 local garages (hence why I got the bushes changed) and they all said there was nothing wrong! When I decided to change the shocks and springs anyway I was appalled that none of them had picked up on the fact that I was missing about 4 inches of the spring on the drivers side, and that the drivers side rear shock was like a bike pump!

After doing this the back end was 100 times better, but the front was still a little "loose".

It had budget tyres on, and after changing these to a half decent brand the problem disapeared.

As said above though, it really plays up on crap road surfaces! It's just how they are I think.

 

[lambrosj]

CHEERS guys very useful info! and I had a feeling the APEX springs where SHITE!!!

Well bought the car as is so will be doing the work over weekend, any suggestions?

 

[497adam]

What are the correct tyre pressures for non cup 172's ?

 

[lambrosj]

Hey Guys,

Quick UPDATE!

Took a mate out in my 172 last night (skilled mechanic with motorsport experience) and showed him how the car behaved over slight bumps in road, right next to my house there is a roundbout with a slight bump/hole in surface so this tends to highlight the fault immensly, while going about 15-25mph round it I hit the bump and my 172 completely loses traction from the rear end as if going into a 'drift' momentarily, then grabs traction again.

Mate thought it was more sinister than just rear shocks, so was wondering your opinions on this also could it be rear axle bushes and if so whats ivolved...

Cheers guys, any help much appreciated!

 

[Clio_in_Motion_2008]

loss of rear end = dead shocks

 

[Rob669]

I've an idea the axle bushes are pricey (just the labour). If no one else replies I'll look on dialogys this evening (probably need mine replacing too).

 

[lambrosj]

Thanks guys,

Really hoping its just the rear shocks as this car is really turning into a money pit....but hey 52k and monaco blue, guess its worth it!

 

[Djw John]

Just change the rear shocks as a starting point and you'll notice a difference.

 

[Rob669]

Axle rubber bush is about £60 each side plus VAT and I believe 2.5 hours labour

 

[ashley_t]

Sounds just like mine.... anything over 50 feels dangerous

Mine has koni adjustables, were wound right up hard when i got it. Used to hit a bump and go airbourne :S Im thinking about sacking them off in favour of a set of genuine dampers and springs.

In regard to setting up the adjustables... how does front/rear balance effect things? Do i set all the dampers the same... or softer front harder rear ect??? Theres no "clicks" just able to wind them about 3 turns from soft to hard?

 

[ashley_t]

Sounds just like mine.... anything over 50 feels dangerous

Mine has koni adjustables, were wound right up hard when i got it. Used to hit a bump and go airbourne :S Im thinking about sacking them off in favour of a set of genuine dampers and springs.

In regard to setting up the adjustables... how does front/rear balance effect things? Do i set all the dampers the same... or softer front harder rear ect??? Theres no "clicks" just able to wind them about 3 turns from soft to hard?

Anybody??