Omega Owners Forum

Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: METAL MICKEY on 06 October 2010, 21:47:16

Title: Tramlining Omega
Post by: METAL MICKEY on 06 October 2010, 21:47:16
Hi there,hope somebody can please help 2L GLS tramlining and when turning left steering turns very sharp, spun the car last March on ice only traveling 5-10 m.p.h up hill on to grass verge ended up facing way I had come, checked at time nothing found, been on SORN till two weeks ago,had new discs,pads,handbrake shoes, new tyres,brake pipes,new rear shocks, new M.o.T,tracking checked ,all under side checked out at local A.T.S depot nothing found this week, car has done 150,000 miles could the problem be front shocks they appear to be alright but drivers side seems to dip on braking, dont want to part with her that's why money spent,enjoyed driving her over last 8 Years, so if somebody can help will be gratefull thanks
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: PhilRich on 06 October 2010, 21:58:42
Look in the Maintenance Section for guides on checking/working on suspension components. Try swapping tyres from front to back, and make sure tyre pressures are correct. :y
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: feeutfo on 06 October 2010, 22:22:28
Have a look here

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1283124735
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: Omega 37 on 06 October 2010, 23:07:20
After wishbones, droplinks, idler, alignment by wim my car started to tramline & wander again!!
That's it i'm gonna sell it I thought.
Turns out it was just tyre pressure. It had dropped to 27 from 31.
Having the right tyre pressure on these cars is vital  :)
Sounds like you have more problems than just that though  :-/
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: feeutfo on 06 October 2010, 23:17:28
Falken tyres aren't great in that size either, what make tyres fitted?
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: alank46 on 07 October 2010, 09:05:18
Hi
I note that you have had new tyres fitted.  My tramlining started after new tyres on the front, but it took me a long while to put 2 and 2 together.  I renewed wishbones and set all the suspension angles correctly and changed the steering box with only very minor improvement.  Finally I put the old rear tyres on the front and it was an instant complete cure. Don't use Hancook K105 on the front.  They were wearing evenly on the front, there was nothing wrong with the suspension settings and they provided good service on the rear.

If your car is pulling to one side as well then you probably also have a problem with the suspension settings.  Straight forward tracking is not enough for these cars, they need a full suspension set up.  Most garages/tyre places CANNOT do this even though many claim they can.  See Wheels in Motion website for suitable places.

Alan

Quote
Hi there,hope somebody can please help 2L GLS tramlining and when turning left steering turns very sharp, spun the car last March on ice only traveling 5-10 m.p.h up hill on to grass verge ended up facing way I had come, checked at time nothing found, been on SORN till two weeks ago,had new discs,pads,handbrake shoes, new tyres,brake pipes,new rear shocks, new M.o.T,tracking checked ,all under side checked out at local A.T.S depot nothing found this week, car has done 150,000 miles could the problem be front shocks they appear to be alright but drivers side seems to dip on braking, dont want to part with her that's why money spent,enjoyed driving her over last 8 Years, so if somebody can help will be gratefull thanks
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: Proz on 07 October 2010, 10:06:50
Mine stopped tramlining instantly when i changed my two front tyres .... they were Federals 225/55/16's .
I have heard similar woe's with Federal tyres  :y
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: Brikhead on 07 October 2010, 10:58:21
Quote
...drivers side seems to dip on braking...

I know you said that you have had the underside checked out (A.T.S.!? ::)) but sometimes broken springs can be hard to spot.

Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: METAL MICKEY on 07 October 2010, 12:04:17
Many thanks for all replies ,have moved tyres all around and all were rebalanced they are all budget tyres which I used before problem started,wishbones,drop-links replaced over last three years,having front shocks replaced tomorrow will inform forum when job done as to wether this solves the problem we will have to wait and see! regarding maintenance section is there any chance that rear sub frame bushes could cause this problem? could anyone tell me what symtoms worn bushes cause, many thanks to all again
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: Kneepad on 07 October 2010, 12:58:23
Quote
Many thanks for all replies ,have moved tyres all around and all were rebalanced they are all budget tyres which I used before problem started,wishbones,drop-links replaced over last three years,having front shocks replaced tomorrow will inform forum when job done as to wether this solves the problem we will have to wait and see! regarding maintenance section is there any chance that rear sub frame bushes could cause this problem? could anyone tell me what symtoms worn bushes cause, many thanks to all again

Yes, soft or worn bushes will allow excessive sidewards movement at the rear end.   :y
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: METAL MICKEY on 08 October 2010, 18:40:27
Hi to all who responded to my plea for help with tramlining 2L,
problem sorted today,was booked in at A.T.S for front shocks but after reading changing rear donut bushes in forum maintenance decided to get them to change those instead problem gone, half an hour for them to do the job £125 including V.A.T £44 each for bushes.Can recomend A.T.S in sunny Lowestoft for those who may live close by!  [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=dankk2.gif]
Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: feeutfo on 08 October 2010, 23:03:28
Just a note, generally, new tyres will improve the tram-lining. So the tendency is to believe that the old tyres give poor handling in that regard, when quite possibly it was the cars set up that caused uneven ware across the tread causing a "geared" condition or cone shaped profile. Role a cone across a desk and obviously it will turn, add two opposing cones to an axle and the effect is random at best. Excessive camber causes inside edge tyre ware, and the handling degrades as the miles roll by.

Fitting new tyres eliminates the geared affect of the previous ware and we think it's the new tyres sorting the problem and so on and so on....until the car is set up correctly of course.

But then there are the inherently unstable tyres to add in to the mix of course, but identifying these  through the potential "fog" of omega tram lining can be a long and expensive process with many parts changed to no avail.   >:(

Tyres to avoid are falkens, ESP 912. 452 as well although not as bad. Less of an issue in higher profiles on smaller wheels. But better avoided for sure.
And Pirreli p zero, going by other members experience here. Pirelli generally not great on the omega perhaps?


Title: Re: Tramlining Omega
Post by: vexorg on 10 October 2010, 10:17:37
Have you had all the alignment checked, camber, toe, etc?

Are the wheel standard offset?