wheel checks

S

steve owens

New Member
Just noticed the front wheels on my p6 tend to splay out at the bottom i assume this is the norm [camber and toe in].However the offside wheel splays out 10mm more at the bottom.why?could the suspension upright be damaged to cause this.Any ideas greatly appreciated.
regards steve
 
Best get the car on level ground and check the [/B]angle from virtical. You do not mention where you are measuring the 10mm from, but it may not be constant both sides. Also had the springs settled after fitting ? (I'm assuming things here, apologies).
 
hi,
talking about wheels, i have just found a supplier near me, ( they do tyres for cars from the early 1900's onwards ) and keep in stock 165 and 185 x 14" tyres which are the correct tyre. prices are £115.00 for dunlop sport and £138.00 for michelin MXV tyres. pretty expensive but if originality is what you are after then here they are.

ianp6man
 
You are describing negative camber which the car is definitely not meant to have. Having said that, a little bit is a very good idea!

First check then is to figure out why you've got the negative camber. Most likely cause is accident / corrosion / distortion damage to the base unit. Not easy to spot either. Another possible is someone having fitted V8 suspension components to a 4 cylinder or vice versa. Either way the best policy would seem to be to get loan of a simlar spec car and get the measuring stick out. (I'm assuming from what you say that all suspension rubbers have been changed)

Once you've discovered the cause, next thing to do is to get the camber equal on each side. I wouldn't be too fussy about getting the wheels vertical; like I say a bit of negative should sharpen the turn in and give you better grip when heeled over - very desirable.

Equalising the camber is almost certain to involve either component changes or some energetic exercise with a lump hammer or jack! Leaving them unequal is not an option; it will give you peculiar bump steer effects in a straight line and probably some odd tyre wear, apart from giving you different handling one side to the other.

All sounds a bit dramatic, but I hope that helps.

PS: when you find what caused the negative, let us all know, I for one would like to do the same to mine!

Chris York
 
Hopefully i will get out this week and check out another 2000 to see if there are any differences will report back later
cheers steve
 
Hi Steve

From what you have said, are you saying V8's have more negative camber than 2000's ?. I only ask because Ron has enough negative camber to see with the eye, but he drives well so I never though about it (apart from being surprised that a car like the P6 would have so much).
 
You might like to check the condition of the camber control link bush mounting, that's the bottom link that heads back to the chassis sort of under the firewall near the transmission tunnel.

The right hand one on my 'S' just let go, fortunately at very low speed, resulting in what could only be described as excesive camber. Surprising because it had passed a WOF and had a wheel alignment which was virtually unchanged from the readings taken 6 months ago. It did explain what the slight untraceable clicking noise that had appeared was though... :(

My man in the know says although it's unusual for them to let go, he has seen them bent and about to fail. Apparently they are only held on by a few spot welds so he gussets them on racers.
 
update have checked everything out, each side is identical in measurements the wheels are central in the wheel arch only thing i have found is that the steering rod is almost touching the inner wing where it joins the top swivel pillar.i think that the bottom link assembly is too long.are these longer on v8 models.i am still looking for someone local who has a 2000 to check the lenghts.will get back later.
 
just taken the links off and not one part number corresponds with the parts book. numbers are
bottom link struts
-4000144RHU
54000145LHV
bottom link assembly
R548045s 04--173
L54-046-3-X
can anyone id these the dashes are where i cannot read the numbers.The question is can i use any of them.
Answers eagerly awaited as i want to get back on the road.cheers
 
have now put everything back together.it all looks ok now?maybe something was the wrong way round i dont no but i did not fully tighten it all till i did a few laps on the ind est where i work.but will now have the tracking checked again just to be sure.
 
Just got back to sorting the suspension [work comitments] and took the car out for a blast up the m62 called in at viking resto in morley.Richard kindly put it up on the ramps he said it could be the springs which are wrong.
Got home stripped one side of the suspension off and i have rear springs on the front.How this happened is anyones guess i suppose 4 years on and off and various donor cars things got a bit mixed up.Going down to ians today to pick up a set of springs will let you all know how things work out.
ps,so if you want to lower the front and get negative camber you know what to do.
cheers steve.
 
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