"Steer Ahead"
ChrisCoaster
degrees.
The printout also lists all the other usual specs - including Thrust
Angle, and Total Toe(front & rear) that have been around since square
wheels went out of style.
What does "Steer Ahead" signify?
-ChrisCoaster
ChrisCoaster
Is it just me, or do I ask the weirdest questions on rec.autos.tech??
Come on, somebody must know what it is!
-CC
spamT...@yahoo.com
The Hunter web site mentions it, but does not define it.
Dave
Ulf
It's the relationship between the steering wheel and the wheels, ie. 0
deg's is when the steering wheel is centered the wheels point straight
ahead.
>
>
> Dave
Ulf
ChrisCoaster
> spamTHIS...@yahoo.com wrote:
Thanks Ulf!
Actually, to keep my car pointing straight ahead, I need to "force"
the steering wheel to the right about the 1 o'clock position. This is
after two 4-wh alignments from what I consider the best wheel
alignment facility in Fairfield County.
If I let go, or just hold the steeringwheel loosely, so that it
returns(settles as a function of SAI) to high noon, the car will soon
cross the double yellow or drift into the interstate lane to my left.
I find this very dangerous although no one else(the shop, my wife,
etc.) who drove the car seemed to notice it.
BTW 2005 Malibu Epsilon-based, 3.5L V6. All alignment specs are well
within-close to the middle - of the ranges specified by GM, although
one spec(apparently not adjustable) caster - is 4/10th deg less
positive on the left than on the right. L Caster = 2.9deg, R Caster =
3.2deg. The thrust angle is positive +0.01deg(virtually straight),
and I think the steer ahead is positive +0.05(whatever that means
since this is the first time I've ever heard of it.)
The shop is reluctant to check for bent parts or to mess with the toe
because no one in the shop who drive the car feels this pull to the
left.
What else??
-ChrisCoaster
Steve W.
Find a better shop. If this shop won't check for bent parts then they
have a problem. Take someone from the shop out on the road with you and
demonstrate the problem.
--
Steve W.
Near Cooperstown, New York
Life is not like a box of chocolates
it's more like a jar of jalapenos-
what you do today could burn your ass tomorrow!
Don
Mike Romain
normally worn out or on it's way to worn out. When a ball joint goes
bad, the steering can pull just like you feel. My car is going into the
shop for that exact thing today.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build
Photos: http://mikeromainjeeptrips.shutterfly.com
ChrisCoaster
>
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>
> - Show quoted text -
Already rotated.
-CC
ChrisCoaster
> When a non adjustable part like a ball joint goes 'out of spec', it is
> normally worn out or on it's way to worn out. When a ball joint goes
> bad, the steering can pull just like you feel. My car is going into the
> shop for that exact thing today.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build
> Photos:http://mikeromainjeeptrips.shutterfly.com
>
> > -ChrisCoaster- Hide quoted text -
>
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Plobrem is Mike, the car has just under 25,000mi. I couldn't imagine
it being anything worn. Some roads around here resemble Swiss cheese,
but I'm not consistently on them.
-Chris
Steve W.
I have seen a bunch of under 25K ball joints worn out. The S-Blazers eat
them in that mileage with regularity. I would check them. I would also
go to a second shop and have them check it over. Nothing says you didn't
get the Friday car that they forgot to grease parts on prior to assembly.
Steve
Continued "pulling" to one side or the other is usually a sign of a bad
tire on a vehicle with a non-zero scrub radius. Depending on whether the
scrub radius is positive or negative, the tire with the high rolling
resistance can be on the side pulled toward, or the side pulled away
from. Most cars have a positive scrub radius so they'll pull toward the
tire with the high rolling resistance, but the usual test is to swap the
front tires side-to-side and see if the pull disappears or switches
sides, then replace the tires as a pair if it does.
ChrisCoaster
>
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I did a front to rear tire rotation as a side swap cannot be performed
with the directional Yokohama AVIDS on the car.
I hate to keep giving you guys excuses as to why I "can't" do this or
can't do that. I did, however, decide to overinflate the left tires
by 1lb psi. My cold pressures currently are 32 in the lefts, 31 on
the rights. The door placard says 30lbs all around. The car still
drifts left.
I guess it's time to get the opinion of a "second doctor" in town.
-CC
Tegger
news:daae11c3-a644-4b19...@q39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:
> I did a front to rear tire rotation as a side swap cannot be performed
> with the directional Yokohama AVIDS on the car.
Sure it can.
You just sholdn't leave it like that permanently. There's absolutely
nothing wrong with temporarily running directionals the wrong way on a dry
surface.
By failing to swap side-to-side you may be ignoring the most obvious
culprit. Remember the "monkey license" scene from one of the Pink Panther
movies?
--
Tegger
Mike Romain
If a tires causes a pull to the left in the front and gets moved to the
back the pull should be to the right or gone shouldn't it?
spamT...@yahoo.com
It can make a diff on some vehicles, so I'll ask- how much do you
weigh?
More, or less than the guys who don't feel it pull?
If you ride with someone on the right, does it still pull?
I've had to tailor an alignment once or twice in my life (dawn of
computerized alignments)
Dave
ChrisCoaster
>
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___________________
weight was pulling the car to the left. Now that was in a 2003 Impala
at that time, and I weighed in at an unimaginable 175lbs.
Therefore, two conditions had BETTER exist before I even THINK of
buying this "driver's weight" jive: FIRST - The driver had better
weigh minimum 250lbs, and SECOND, the car had better be a YARIS, a
YUGO, or a SMART 4 TWO!!
Let's keep flying pigs and the boogeyman out of this thread, please!
-CC
spamT...@yahoo.com
Well, I didn't want to out and ask if you weigh 250lbs, I was trying
to be polite!
If the normal loading of the car results in a significantly different
ride-height or attitude (L/Rt or F/Rr) than when the car is aligned,
on some cars that'll make a fair bit of difference, and on some cars
not, so no jive, flying pigs, or boogeymen here, just good science and
having been there, done that.
A 175lbs driver in an impala, yes, the ride-height difference effect
on the alignment will be negligible.
Dave
ChrisCoaster
compared to his mount is akin to the proverbial fly on a cow's butt,
that's all. So I just figured that except in extreme cases, the
driver's weight(or position - for those of you who drive on the LH
side of the road) didn't matter at all.
Thanks,
-CC
Tegger
news:478f7131$0$5413$9a6e...@unlimited.newshosting.com:
> Tegger wrote:
>>
>> You just sholdn't leave it like that permanently. There's absolutely
>> nothing wrong with temporarily running directionals the wrong way on
>> a dry surface.
>>
>> By failing to swap side-to-side you may be ignoring the most obvious
>> culprit. Remember the "monkey license" scene from one of the Pink
>> Panther movies?
>>
>>
>>
>
> If a tires causes a pull to the left in the front and gets moved to
> the back the pull should be to the right or gone shouldn't it?
In my experience, a pull from a tire when it's on the front will go away
entirely or be greatly lessened when the same tire is moved to the rear on
the same side; I have not seen the pull change sides. If the tire is moved
to the other side of the front, the pull will be in the reverse direction.
Of course, it is critical to consider road crowning, which I find is a
confounding factor in these cases. It helps considerably during
investigation to have ready access to the other side of the road (easier in
rural areas) or a divided highway which has a crown that goes in both
directions.
--
Tegger
ChrisCoaster
> Mike Romain <roma...@sympatico.ca> wrote innews:478f7131$0$5413$9a6e...@unlimited.newshosting.com:
I have considered crowning, Teg-, and the issue is here in lower CT
the roads have almost no visible crown, unless you squat like a
catcher at the edge of the sidewalk and look across the street in
question. Now South Jersey, where I vacation often, is another tale.
In Wildwood and Avalon, the vehicles opposite myself almost appear to
be leaning away from me!
In that case, my Malibu more than adequately tracks straight and true,
with almost no input needed to the steeringwheel.
One early Wildwood morning(everyone still sleeping off their
hangovers) I headed out and deliberately drive left of the double
yellow. I'm telling you: I had that steering wheel cranked over to
3'oclock to keep the car from climbing the sidewalk on the lefthand
side of the street I was on! If I let it go for even a split second,
that car threatened to make a grand entrance into the Carousel Motel
or whatever it was.
Point is - that car has crown compensation(or OVERcompensation) BUILT
IN. No ordinary alignment adjustments will overcome that much
compensation built-in.
If need be, I'll keep 2 extra lbs. pressure in the lefts, until I
manage to get the bearings, etc. looked at.
-CC
Patok
From my perception, the weight of a driver
> compared to his mount is akin to the proverbial fly on a cow's butt,
> that's all. So I just figured that except in extreme cases, the
> driver's weight(or position - for those of you who drive on the LH
> side of the road) didn't matter at all.
>
demonstrate to a mechanic that the right balljoint had gone bad, the
steering wheel did /not/ turn when braking. Really embarrassed, I left,
only to have the steering pull on braking on my way home. His weight in
the passenger seat had prevented the loose balljoint from playing during
the test.
Comboverfish
Our infrastructure has moved past the days of "Two-Lane Blacktop" ie
the majority of roads having a center crown. Ideally with modern
roads, the car should be set with even readings on both sides, or near
that, *and* drive straight on relatively flat surfaces, or there is
another culprit at play. I'm not saying that a cross camber or cross
caster adjustment within reason can't be made to correct a slight
drift -- just that a significant pull has a cause and should have a
remedy. It may be beyond an average tech w/ basic alignment machine
to spot if it is an advanced wheel geometry or frame issue. It may
even be a bent component that doesn't affect geometry, such as a sway
bar, which could be loading the suspension unevenly. It could be two
bad tires both on the left side, so that your rotation showed no
improvement.
> If need be, I'll keep 2 extra lbs. pressure in the lefts, until I
> manage to get the bearings, etc. looked at.
I saw the comment about adding 1 psi earlier, and couldn't help but
giggle. If you are compensating for a pull, a 1 or 2 psi differential
will likely have no noticeable effect.
Toyota MDT in MO