Birchall
Dick Chown Award 2016
I like solving mysteries but at the moment this one has me stumped.
I swapped wheels for a different set a few weeks ago and as you should with an A2 I had the tracking sorted (by computer)
I drove off and there was a small but annoying problem.
With the car driving straight ahead, the steering wheel was slightly off centre. So I took it back and asked them to check it out again.
They were locking up as I drove off but the problem remained.
I was 100% convinced that it was just that they had adjusted the tracking without locking the steering wheel in the straight ahead position.
But they were sure that they did and so offered me a full refund and a free tracking next time, because they were sure it was OK.
So I took it to another tyre company and asked them to set up the tracking again, I told them what had happened.
He said that he had sorted it but when I drove off it was still the same.
If I was on a straight road I could lighten my grip on the steering wheel and the car would drive perfectly straight ahead but with the steering wheel still off centre.
SO three computerised trackings and all failed to correct this!!!
But that is not the strangest bit of the story.
I had my refurbed 18" alloys fitted and when I drove off the steering wheel was perfectly straight!!!!!!!!!!! I watched them fit the wheels and so I know they didn't retrack it.
SO I am now stumped as to why changing wheels would have caused the problem in the first place and then resolved it after the next change.
There is NO WAY that the wheels are toi blame, there is no possible fault on a wheel that could do this.
The tracking was correct (after three tests) and was not adjusted when it "fixed itself" !!!
The suspension cannot be causing it, the car has always driven in a straight line without wandering, the ONLY fault was the direction of the steering wheel!!!
I can only guess that during the fitting of the wheels something was disturbed (apart from me) perhaps the subframe (front or rear) was shifted in some way, but it would take some force to do that and it would not be likely to be the force used to swap wheels?
I suppose that it being jacked up MIGHT have disturbed something but the chances of jacking it up again fixing the problem is beyond reason !!
I have run out of ideas as to the cause of the error then the fixing of that error.
It is NOT the wheels (Impossible)
It can't be the tracking (3 showed it was ok and it fixed itself without tracking being carried out)
Similarly the suspension would not have developed a fault and the corrected itself (and the fact that it drives perfectly straight also backs this up)
Ideas anyone? A "Sherlock Holmes of the year award to anyone that can come up with a totally logical reason.
Steve B
I swapped wheels for a different set a few weeks ago and as you should with an A2 I had the tracking sorted (by computer)
I drove off and there was a small but annoying problem.
With the car driving straight ahead, the steering wheel was slightly off centre. So I took it back and asked them to check it out again.
They were locking up as I drove off but the problem remained.
I was 100% convinced that it was just that they had adjusted the tracking without locking the steering wheel in the straight ahead position.
But they were sure that they did and so offered me a full refund and a free tracking next time, because they were sure it was OK.
So I took it to another tyre company and asked them to set up the tracking again, I told them what had happened.
He said that he had sorted it but when I drove off it was still the same.
If I was on a straight road I could lighten my grip on the steering wheel and the car would drive perfectly straight ahead but with the steering wheel still off centre.
SO three computerised trackings and all failed to correct this!!!
But that is not the strangest bit of the story.
I had my refurbed 18" alloys fitted and when I drove off the steering wheel was perfectly straight!!!!!!!!!!! I watched them fit the wheels and so I know they didn't retrack it.
SO I am now stumped as to why changing wheels would have caused the problem in the first place and then resolved it after the next change.
There is NO WAY that the wheels are toi blame, there is no possible fault on a wheel that could do this.
The tracking was correct (after three tests) and was not adjusted when it "fixed itself" !!!
The suspension cannot be causing it, the car has always driven in a straight line without wandering, the ONLY fault was the direction of the steering wheel!!!
I can only guess that during the fitting of the wheels something was disturbed (apart from me) perhaps the subframe (front or rear) was shifted in some way, but it would take some force to do that and it would not be likely to be the force used to swap wheels?
I suppose that it being jacked up MIGHT have disturbed something but the chances of jacking it up again fixing the problem is beyond reason !!
I have run out of ideas as to the cause of the error then the fixing of that error.
It is NOT the wheels (Impossible)
It can't be the tracking (3 showed it was ok and it fixed itself without tracking being carried out)
Similarly the suspension would not have developed a fault and the corrected itself (and the fact that it drives perfectly straight also backs this up)
Ideas anyone? A "Sherlock Holmes of the year award to anyone that can come up with a totally logical reason.
Steve B