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[Darth Loo-knee]

I have been having the steering wheel feeling like it is pulling left then right quickly when driving expecially when braking..
I jacked up the car and holding the wheels at 3 and 9 o'clock gave them a wiggle and the passenger side track rod end seemed like it needed renewing, so I put a new on and went to have it tracked up yesterday.
After I had it tracked I didn't get the left then right wobble on the steering wheel but the steering wheel wasn't central it was a little righthand down, so I have taken it back this morning.
When the the bloke had all the tracking machines on the wheels he told me that it had gone out again, so he made the steering wheel central then adjusted the tracking to the right settings again.
I have just driven home the steering wheel is central but I have the left and right quick pulling sensation again...  When I pulled up to reverse up the drive (I have to put vertually full lock on before reversing up the drive) I got a funny noise from the tyre asthough it is grinding against the road if that makes any sense again!!!
I have read in the Maintance section that you get "Tram Lining" when the Steering Idler Arms are worn but what is the best way to check them?
I had my car on axle stands yesterday with Mrs. Loo-knee moving the steering wheel but couldn't see any play, but, was I testing it wrong?
Or is it something else??

Any help gratefully recieved Guys

[Marks DTM Calib]

Grinding on full lock sudgests you have fitted the track rod the wrong way round or a track rod end for the wrong side....it will foul on the inside of the wheel if you have (you will see a witness mark)

As for steering idler, if you wiggle the passenger wheel with it jacked up you will see if its got play in it as it moves verticaly.

[Darth Loo-knee]

Grinding on full lock sudgests you have fitted the track rod the wrong way round or a track rod end for the wrong side....it will foul on the inside of the wheel if you have (you will see a witness mark)

As for steering idler, if you wiggle the passenger wheel with it jacked up you will see if its got play in it as it moves verticaly.

The track rod end I have fitted was exactly the same shape as the one I took off, but I will have a look to see if there is a mark..

So just jack up the passenger side then Mark and wiggle the wheel? sure i never saw any movement yesterday but will go and check again now..
Cheers

[Marks DTM Calib]

Yup.....

[Marks DTM Calib]

I assume the ball joint at the hub end is correctly fitted i.e......ball joint below the knuckle with nut on top...?

[Marks DTM Calib]

will go and check again now..
Cheers

Not done it yet  

[Darth Loo-knee]

Had a look the tyre has no marks on it or the track rod end, still couldn't make the Idler Arm move so I went over my mates who has his own garage and does my MOT's and run it on his pit. He had me waggling the steering wheel and found that the Wishbone bush had gone, i went and looked whilst he waggled the steering wheel to see, and you can see the nearside wishbone moving forwards and backwards from the inner bush above the bolt and nut that stick down.......
So do I need to get a Vauxhal wishbone or are the ones from a local parts shop ok

[Marks DTM Calib]

Non gen ones seem ok....replace in pair though.

[Darth Loo-knee]

I assume the ball joint at the hub end is correctly fitted i.e......ball joint below the knuckle with nut on top...?

Yes the ball joint is at the bottom and the nut is at the top, I did check that it was the right shape before putting it on.

[Marks DTM Calib]

The arm wont rub on the tyre....it rubs on the alloy.

[Marks DTM Calib]

I assume the ball joint at the hub end is correctly fitted i.e......ball joint below the knuckle with nut on top...?

Yes the ball joint is at the bottom and the nut is at the top, I did check that it was the right shape before putting it on.

So the dog leg part is pointing to the front of the car?

Sorry to keep harping on but, if you fit an R part (they have an L or an R cast into them to identify which side it is for) on the NS then it fits and looks the same at a glance but, fouls the wheel.

[Darth Loo-knee]

The arm wont rub on the tyre....it rubs on the alloy.

Well can't see any marks on the arm :-?

Don't you get your bits off ebay mark? can't remember the seller that used though!

[Darth Loo-knee]

What about these Mark?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VAUXHALL-OMEGA-FRONT-2-SUSPENSION-WISHBONE-ARMS-LH-RH_W0QQitemZ280183156285QQihZ018QQcategoryZ10404QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Darth Loo-knee]

I assume the ball joint at the hub end is correctly fitted i.e......ball joint below the knuckle with nut on top...?

Yes the ball joint is at the bottom and the nut is at the top, I did check that it was the right shape before putting it on.

So the dog leg part is pointing to the front of the car?

Sorry to keep harping on but, if you fit an R part (they have an L or an R cast into them to identify which side it is for) on the NS then it fits and looks the same at a glance but, fouls the wheel.

Don't think your harping on I appreciate your help
been out again to check, from the ball joint that is at the bottom and nut at the top, the shape of the track rod end goes towards the front of the car then comes back to the threaded bit... Hope thats right :-? the other side is the same the bend goes towards the front of the car..

[Turk]

If the wishbone front bushes have gone that will allow the wheel to toe out, especially when braking, as the pressure on the bush is increased. When I bought my current 2.5td, the first time I braked reasonably hard the car pulled violently to the left.
On checking I found the left hand wishbone was kn@ckered and was allowing it to move from "spot on" tracking to toeing out by an inch !!  I can only assume it's spent a lot of it's life going around roundabouts.  I changed both sides and that solved the problem.

Mind you, mine pulls to the left now, and it's not due to road camber 'cos it cancels out and runs true when I drive along a section of road that slopes gently to the right.

I'm gonna check my idler arm next. I think I'm correct in jacking up the left wheel and looking at the idler arm whilst someone wiggles the left wheel, not the steering wheel, as that will move both wheels and not give an accurate assesment of the idler arm condition.