The why won't our MK1's go in a straight line thread. (Tramlining issues.)

[weegaz22]

***EDIT, post's moved from Adam's "loose nuts" as it's a separate issue. We're talking tramlining here and what we can do about it... Owen.***

sorry i couldnt talk for long last night david, was in work and waiting to get a job signed off so we could leave, the konis were only 1 away from lowest setting on the back and fronts were on lowest so not much adjustment i could do cept back the rears onto lowest.

if anything id say its that the TRD settings are just too aggresive for our crappy roads, absolutley nothing wrong with the car when its going round a corner but it when driving in a straight line its pulling and wiggling the car due to surface imperfections, best way i can describe it is its like being hit by a strong on/off cross wind, certainly keeps you awake! lol

[lodgeman]

are the wheels 17" as they do tend to tramline a bit!

[weegaz22]

are the wheels 17" as they do tend to tramline a bit!

aye lodge they are 17", could also be a little excess play in the rack but havent had a chance to check it, too busy fannying around putting 3" zorst on and finishing off the head light surrounds....priorities you know!lol

[Marksman]

Sorry for the tread hijack Adam but I'm interested in this tramlining issue too. Lyn's car has just had pollybushes, fensport springs and MK3 staggered wheels with some rear wheels with a very odd tread and a re-alignment. Her car also exhibits this "unexpected crosswind" feeling on anything other than a perfectly smooth road, however as we've changed so many things at once guessing at the problem seemed pointless. First up will be a check of every bolt as we've got a knocking noise at slow speeds. If there's nothing there then we'll swap to non staggered wheels and see if that helps. If no joy at that point then maybe we'll have to admit that a stiffer lower suspension set-up is just less tolerant of poor road surfaces and either look at softer springs or different geometry.

Anyone care to jump in with some advice or an opinion or two?

Ta,

Owen.

[weegaz22]

what alignment settings did you have setup on lyn's car owen?

knocking from the front? back?

i know the wheels on mines arent staggered but they are 17"

[weegaz22]

anyone else experience this?

if so could you list your mods?

like wheels/tyre combo, poly bushes, spirings dampers etc,

might be able to narrow it down

[Marksman]

Howdy, I'll ask Lyn to dig out the print-out and post that up as future info for TB was one reason that we insisted on one.

The knocking if I thought from the rear of the car. Sounds exactly like a work out arb link arm, the kind of clunk you get as a wheel trickles over a pot hole or down a bumpy road. The only problem is he rear arb is in our spare bedroom so it can't be that.

Paff has 17's on his car and is very happy with them despite being told repeatedly that they shouldn't work on a MK1 :D It certainly feels fine on smooth roads but I've not talked to him about grooved motorways and the like.

Cheers,

Owen.

[jasper]

I'm running 225 18"s on the SLK and experience it a little, especially on the inside lane of the motorways. just the wider tyres gripping the tracks in my case.

Sam had a similar issue a while ago, I think it was a wheel bearing in his case.

[weegaz22]

The knocking if I thought from the rear of the car. Sounds exactly like a work out arb link arm, the kind of clunk you get as a wheel trickles over a pot hole or down a bumpy road. The only problem is he rear arb is in our spare bedroom so it can't be that.


lowered springs loose in the cups when shocks are extending?

[adamh]

i get no tramlining with 245's rear / 215 front. koni's, and standard toe in on the rear/front. camber 1 on front 1.5 on rear, standard castor. rev 3 Arb ..20mm (v stiff !) poly-bushed. and the full prothane bushed suspension etc. i found... when softer it was more prone to diving around on gear change although.. when planting it did go straight. i found.. the TRD settings were too extreme for the car with wider than standard rear wheels it didnt need the extra help only made it worse. best setting for me was standard toe in front and rear, camber as above, and suspension wound upto 1 or 1.5 turns. it plants straight and does not tramline, i got a strut brace over the front but that sholdnt really count for that much.

[millentubby]

I used to get the 'random crosswind' effect and I'm only running 195/50/15's.

Found that it was due to an imbalance in Tyre-Pressures.

Now I'm getting it again...checked tyre pressues and noticed two things; 10psi lower than normal in the rear left, and a nail. Great.

[Marksman]

Bugger, that ain't very nice! Repairable I hope?

Owen.

[weegaz22]

adam, did you notice much difference in corner grip when you had it put back to original settings?

[rattymr2]

Adam's car doesnt tramline on the motorway grooves cos his wheels actually bridge the grooves rather than drop in them.

15s dont tramline too much if the set up is right but i need to set mine up properly.

[millentubby]

Bugger, that ain't very nice! Repairable I hope?

Owen.

Fingers crossed. Will hopefully get Ian-GTS (blue mk2, ran a 10.79 @ Santa Poo this weekend) to repair it for me this week.

Although I checked the pressure last night and it hadn't dropped in the last 2 days. Strange that as I actually saw it bubbling away when it was raining the other day. Still....gotta repair it.

[Jaemus]

i have a little mk2 experience i can share, mine used to tramline very badly with various combinations of wheels / tyres from 14" to 18", none of that made any difference,

what i found when doing the V6 swap was i had a camber adjusting bolt in one side of the rear end only, and despite several wheel alignments my camber was different on one side to the other. this when corrected has made the problem go away and not come back.

[Jim-SR]

alignment is probably the primary cause of "tramlining" on AW11's. just setting the toes, camber and castor equal from side to side tends to solve most issues. after that its a combination of the actual alignment settings (e.g. set them as standard and youll probably be fine, set them elsewhere to improve one aspect of handling and youll trade-off somewhere else), tyre construction (and also wheel size is a factor of this), and wear and tear in the steering and suspension components (top mounts, bushes, ball joints, bearings, steering rack, etc)

17" wheels are likely to cause issues, even more so with low profile tyres. if youre running 15's and getting tramlining then the most likely issue is probably offset. if youre running a significant distance from standard offset (ET39) then your scrub radius is going to have changed which can cause tramlining type symptoms

after that id be looking at wear and tear on components for sources of problems. any AW11 that hasnt had new ball joints, bushes and bearings at some point in 20+ years of motoring is going to have some play somewhere

[nik]

also check the tightness of your hub nuts..eh paul..!?

[David Sleith]

I would rekon its the wheels gary. Try some 16 inch ones first before adjusting the settings.

[weegaz22]

I would rekon its the wheels gary. Try some 16 inch ones first before adjusting the settings.

could be david, need to see if anyone has a set i could try to rule it out...

[Paff]

Yep as Owen said in a previous post, I'm running 17's and the only real prob is heavier steering when driving, don't really notice any more tramlining than on any other wheels I've used.

TBH they work really well for my style of driving. Ok so they shouldn't work according to loads of people but I'm faster and more comfotable on them myself so all those that dis them keep doing it, won't bother me, they work for me and thats all that matters (no disrespect for anyone here, its usually other clubs that say bad things). If someone can prove my driving works better on other wheels I'm happy to accept their opinion but for now the 17's stay :)

Wheel and tyre choice is personal so you need to try a few to decide what works for you.

Oh for those that care about details, mine are 205/40/17's all round. If anyone is down this way hey are welcome to come try them out.

[weegaz22]

Yep as Owen said in a previous post, I'm running 17's and the only real prob is heavier steering when driving, don't really notice any more tramlining than on any other wheels I've used.

TBH they work really well for my style of driving. Ok so they shouldn't work according to loads of people but I'm faster and more comfotable on them myself so all those that dis them keep doing it, won't bother me, they work for me and thats all that matters (no disrespect for anyone here, its usually other clubs that say bad things). If someone can prove my driving works better on other wheels I'm happy to accept their opinion but for now the 17's stay :)

Wheel and tyre choice is personal so you need to try a few to decide what works for you.

Oh for those that care about details, mine are 205/40/17's all round. If anyone is down this way hey are welcome to come try them out.

heavy steering doesnt bother me paff, its just the fact the cars a bit too skittish, what offset are you running on them?

[Paff]

now ya got me, tbh I can't remember, think it was 38, actually am almost positive on that, been a while since I've checked, will prob be getting a new tyre on Sat tho so can prob check then if you havn't already decided by then

[adamh]

adam, did you notice much difference in corner grip when you had it put back to original settings?
just a smidge less traction on corners, but.. i have extended track anyway so it go's round on rails both settings.
another thing i noticed is with the rear toe in 3 with the trd, everytime a rear wheel hit a bump it would steer in very quick.. once i took the settings back to standard it eliminated that on the bumpy road.. mind we are talking flat track settings here and the roads in brighton and surrounding country are very far from flat, it may work better to have it set like that for a track day.

[adamh]

Adam's car doesnt tramline on the motorway grooves cos his wheels actually bridge the grooves rather than drop in them.



word lol