Hi, I bought the car as a first time restoring project. Because the handling was so bad, i renewed about all steering and suspension parts. The car is not registered yet, so I can not drive it on public roads. Of course I did a couple of short test drive in my street. Here’s the problem:

When turning, it feels like i’m on a very bumpy road, the car bounces and it feels like it’s pushed forward.
The sharper the turn, the more the problem occurs. When i let the car roll along my driveway (which is al little downhill) and turn the steering wheel, the car stops. This happens both when turning left and right.

When I lift the car with the wheel of the ground and turn the wheels, it seems like there’s nothing much wrong.
When i turn one rear wheel while holding the other rear wheel, there’s a little noise or vibration but nothing much. I still think it has something to do with the rear axle or diff. Are there some logical steps to follow to pinpoint the problem or is a complete overhaul nessecary and will this be costly?

Thanks.

 

it sounds like a spool or locker.

A fluid change of the differential and inspection of the differential carrier would be a next step.

 

sounds to me like you should check your bearings

 

Ok, i had some other problems i had to tackle first but now i'm back on this case.
I removed the diff cover. As far as i can tell all seems ok.

I did notice that i can move the spider gears up down al little on the pinion shaft (about 1.5 mm or 0.06")
I also noticed that with the rear wheels off the ground i can push them in and out about 1 mm or 0.04". I cannot twist the wheels (like pushing one side in and pulling the oppsite side out).
Is this normal? I have drum brakes and a standard open diff 3.48.

 

Is there any weeping at the axle seals? If so, the bearings may be an issue.

JamesC

 

James, thanks for reading.
No strange noises when cornering or when going straight ahead. But i could only testdrive it for a short distance so i didn't went above 40 mph.

 

Your center link is on backwards. Post a pic of it.

BTW - thats a guess, not an absolute

 

could it be a bent frame or a possible front end misalignment?

 

So you guys think the inner rear axles being able to move in and out is normal? Here's a short video.



I don't think it's possible to put the center link on wrong (not even me ). The idler and pitman arms wouldn't fit. I did a search here though and found that the hight of the center links needs to be adjusted correctly. So i fixed that. Could it be so simple? Here's a pic :

I do seem to have a problem with the front stabilizer bar. It is as if it's not long enough. Both links are pointed inwards at the top. I'm not sure this stabilizer bar is the original. Were there different lenghts?


During restoration i saw the car has been involved in an accident on the right front side. Shouldn't any shape of frame with 4 wheels that are aligned correctly be able to turn without stuttering? I tried to measure the frame with this picture but had a hard time doing so. Besides, i think i need an empty carcass to measure correctly.


Hope i didn't write too much stupid things . I'm green at this car thing and my english is not that good.
Thanks for reading and replying.

 

if the car has been in an accident im willing to bet that is is your problem. these cars are uni-body cars, so any slight tweak of the frame will cause misalignment and/or tire damage over time. its sometimes possible to fix a bent frame with a re-alignment, depending on how badly its bent, but not always...

 

Did you find the problem? BTW - You CAN easily put it on backwards. The pitman side will bolt to the idler and vice versa. And the tie rods will bolt on. You can tell as soon as you try to drive it. front wheels don't turn correctly.

Looks like yours is correct.

 

No, diff is ok though.
I tried hard to measure up the frame but i am still puzzled.
The distance from one given center point (middle of the tranny crossmember) to the grease fittings of both lower balljoints is equal (difference less than 1mm).
The distance from the same given center point to simular points on both ends of the front subframe is equal (difference less than 1mm).
These results would suggest that both the frame and the front crossmember are straight.
But the distance between front and rear wheels is not equal (difference = 2 cm or +3/4 inch). It’s even more when i measure in a cross patern.

I did use the search button a lot lately and found that there can be an issue with the frame and the steering box. I don’t see any cracks but maybe the frame is weakend or suffers from fatique.
So i will order a wonderbar and see if it helps.

You may find this hard to believe but alignment shops here are very reluctant when they see such a rare car (yes they are here). So for the time being i made sure that the position of both top strut mounts is exactly the same. Tried to measure things up and did some maths, think i am approx. at camber + 0,25 °, caster +4,5° and tie in 0,05 inch
I will not register the car until next year because then it becomes 25 years and only then is affordable to register (now about 1000 USD annual road taxes and about 400 USD for a license plate and when older than 25 years only about 50 USD for everything). Belgian government thinks a 2.8L is a big engine (a 5.7L would be about 4000 USD annual road taxes when younger than 25 years).
There is a specialist american shop about 100 miles from where i live that i will visite then for correct alignment.

 

Have you taken it to a alinement shop yet?? or did you just replace all your parts and hope they are close??
Trailer it to a shop and have it alined properly ooor you can get it real close at home so you can drive it to the shop. You'll have to search the net for ways to do that.

 

Yeah, i'll take it to a reliable alignment shop first, otherwise i'll never know. Still think my settings are pretty good though. I don't know anybody with a trailer, but i'll use the license plates of my daily car and go for it. Gives me a change to drive it for a while after spending years in my garage with it. Maybe i can bring my wife along in a sexy outfit in case a police officer pulls me over

 

Maybe post pix of said wife in sexy outfit !!
J/K Yes, get it to a shop and you will be amazed in the diff of how it "looks right" and "it is right"..

 

Damn, just gave her a reason to go shopping. Could have just as well paid a couple tickets...

I'll let you know how it went and if it turning goes smoother afterwards.

 

Ok, took it the alignment shop yesterday. What al lot of fun to drive on public roads. Almost everybody turned there head and a few gave me the thumbs up (or was it a middle finger) . And no, no problems with the police or anything, and left the wife at home.
Anyway, the handling has much improved, but the heavy cornering is still not good. The guy from the alignment shop claims its the wheels themselves. Altough they seem in good condition and still have a lot of profile, they are kinda "stoned". By the serial number he could see they were produced in 2000 so they're 12 years old and are probably not flexible enough any more.

 

To what kpa are the tires inflated?

 

30 psi (= 2.1 bar)

 

A wonderbar (from Lon) pretty much solved the problem.

 

awesome.

 

heh, sounds like a blast gotta love how these things turn heads right?


I can kinda feel your pain, mine are also from 2000 and 2002 respectively.. I still don't get to drive the car enough to burn them up just yet
TDS Wonderbar imho is always a great addition tho, almost can't go wrong with that one!

Interesting fact btw. I'm wondering if anyone had a similar story on that.