scary steering issue

[b16hbg]

Hi all, driving my mr2 rev 2 and it seems that at fairly high speeds, talking 55mph+, higher speed left banking it feels like the whole car is snaking left to right. Its strange the steering wheel stays in the position held and doesnt shake or anything, just the rest of the car. I've checked over the suspension, tyres and steering and replaced ns steering rack end joint and nsr lower ball joint but it hasnt made a difference.
Has anyone else had this problem or similar? I'm thinking of having a fulĺ geometry check but still not sure if this will help.

[Baker]

i get the same thing. Its like someone is driving instead of me sometimes!

alignment is a good start which i need to do.
balljoints as you say are an issue sometimes.
have you got adjustable suspension or stock?

[SonicSW20]

Get a full laser alignment done, where abouts are you in the country?

[Raf]

check wish bone bushes; track rod ends etc. there is play there but actually if the steering wheel stays straight its probably wishbone related.

as you've said i doubt 4 wheel alignment will help. do that at the end as you may need to take bits off that require alignment afterwards anyway.

[b16hbg]

I'm in cambridgeshire, a1. There is a place in peterborough called monarch automotive, ive been told they have the most sophisticated fulĺ geometry machine in the country but unsure if it will actually solve the problem. As far as im aware it has standard suspension, the shocks have bilstein stamped on them but I read somewhere that these are standard couldnt on tubbys?
As I said ive checked the suspension and steering and found no play in any of the bushes or joints that I havent already fixed. I might started moving the wheels around to see if this changes anything, one thing I did notice is that the wheels have spacers, they're after market alloys, 16" but wouldnt of thought spacers would make a difference?

[Baker]

Do go for an alignment. It's necessary anyway, will save tyre wear, better the handling, and should cure your problem.

Check this out for more info.
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... ht=weaving

There is an issue called tramlining, which is the wheels dipping in the hollows of the road caused by heavy truck traffic. But again, alignment will help this too.

[T.F.S.]

if its as bad as you say i would be checking things like the front castlenuts and wishbone bolts etc

[Nails]

I had hubcentric spacers on the girlfriends vtr some years back and the car also felt unstable changed the wheel without spacers and felt like it was glued to the road.

I'd also change any bushes that havebt been done, my old exscort waundered all over the road with worn out bushes.

[HighwayStar]

Loads of things it could be... the trick is to diagnose without having to replace everything. Start with basics. Tyre pressures & condition. Then look for leaking shocks, broken springs, movement from ball joints etc etc. If nothing comes to light get it to a specialist to check over. A good alignment is essential to these cars but only worthwhile after everything else has been done otherwise you'll just end up doing it twice.

R

PS. What's the mileage? Worn bushes that have seen too much road could be the issue and pretty impossible to diagnose... until replaced.

[Phill P]

Check for play in the steering column,mine used to have a bit of a mind of its own,replaced column which was knocking and felt much tighter and nicer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnrB6JfTROM

[SonicSW20]

Definitely worth taking it to a proper laser alignment place - even a fraction of a degree misalignment can make a car feel very uneasy.

[mikey2]

i agree with Highway star, check your tyre pressures first, especially your rears, low pressures will cause the side walls to flex, which will give you the feeling of the back end wobbling a little, a lot of cars do it, unless you have low profile tyres.

[g.lewarne]

would deffo check that the steering rack / mounting bolts / mounting bushes are all secure and present and correct as well. just remove the front undertray to see

[Torero]

My first thought would be to check the wheel bearings all round for any play.

[jmachling]

Are you running wider wheels/tyres than stock? Sounds like it's tramlining to me and these will only exacerbate it.

Also, I wouldn't replace anything until you've had the suspension geometry checked. Small errors on the MR2 will make a huge difference.

[ColleyV8]

I had the same problem when I bought mine, checked all the main bits and no problems, went to tighten the subframe bolts where the arms connect and the captive nuts had let go, still felt tight but you couldn't torque the bolts up, changed the subframe and problem went away, common for the captive nuts to fail.