loose steering feel & tramlining

[Gundun]

Hello to the Forum

Today I took Audrey out of the barn, as I wanted to give it a day to get used to drive again, this weekend she'll be off to Champagne with us.

It might be that I am used to the go-kart steering rack of Giulia but I have the feeling there's a lot of tramlining and some slack in the steering rack when on center position.

Audrey is currently 70k km, (43500 miles) and I wonder what it could be that I already need to replace...what do the experts say?

 

[Devon Z]

I have 18's on mine and the front end feel is greatly effected by tyre pressures, I've found 32psi is about right for me but anything lower and the tramlineing gets worse.

 

[andyglym]

Same with me, 18's with 32 front and 34 rear. My tramlining has all but disappeared since I've sussed out the tyre pressure, new tyres, shocks, balanced and tracked.

 

[Eddie Zedder]

A number of options here, all of which can affect your Zeds ability to drive in a straight line, I know because I have done them all to eliminate tramlining from mine!

I would start with the cheapest options first, as mentioned above, try different tyre pressures to see if this improves the effect.

If you have the same size wheels but different tyres front and back try swapping them over.

One a lot of people seem to overlook - Have your wheel alignment checked.

Mechanically wise, check condition of the lollipop bushes, if shot replace with the solid type M bushes or Powerflex.

Check wheel bearings, control arm ball joints, track rods for play replace as required.

Strut top mounts. They may look ok, but looks are deceptive!

Shocks and springs.

Tyres, from what I gather some makes/tread patterns are more susceptible to tramlining than others. But assuming you had the same tyres prior to the start of your tramlining issues, I would think that it may be more of a mechanical issue.

Hope this helps.

 

[DavidM]

Great advice @Eddie Zedder!

 

[Redline]

Not just the tyre pressures and tread pattern but also the depth of tread can make a difference.
I guess too that a car left for some time is going to cause deformation in bushes that wouldn't happen if the car is in constant use and bushes constantly flexed in all directions especially on older worn parts. The nett effect is a big enough change in geometry to induce different behaviour.
It's all a dark art!

 

[Brian4]

Hi @Gundun roll bar drop links all front control arm bushes made a great difference to ours

 

[Eddie Zedder]

Hi @Gundun roll bar drop links all front control arm bushes made a great difference to ours

HeHe, I forgot about the drop links, good job you are on the ball Brian.

 

[Antm72]

Lots of good advise and things to go through it may be just tyre pressure .
The car has low mileage but the rubber has aged the same. The lollipops seem to cause alot of these type of problems not an expensive fix though.
Hope you find the answer

 

[Dino D]

How old are the tyres? Can make a big difference.
And yes a driving a modern car for too long makes a Z feel quite strange for a while!

 

[Gundun]

Hey everybody, first and foremost thanks for all precious suggestions!

The front tyres are not-so-new but in good state, when I bought it last year I replaced the rear tyres since they were shot. I checked the pressure and brought it top 2.2 bar like suggested and it improved quite a bit. I still feel the steering rack rather heavy if compared with my daily but it might be just the way they are. Had a nice long weekend driving around and eventually got used to it, but next time it will go on the bridge I'll check the lollipops and rubber bushings, possibly replace them all with powerflex for my own peace of mind.