Last week I had a routine 4-wheel alignment done on the car to the UK specs (-1* negative camber up front)

The car was quite a bit out of spec and felt much better after the work was completed. That weekend I took a long road trip (2000km highway) and found out that the front tyres were seriously wearing on the insides. It looked as if the car had -10* negative camber! Within those 2000km, the entire insides of the tyres were worn smooth out, whereas the rest of the tyre had 7mm of tread remaining (new S-02s).

By the end of the trip I was noticing that the tyres were squealing even on light corners and during braking.

I took the car back to the alignment shop. They found out that the front toe had gone positve by more than +1* in that 2000km! They reset the toe back to 0* and did a spanner check on the suspension parts but could find nothing that was loose. Tie rods were tight.

I drove out on some country roads for an hour and returned back to the shop. Once again, the toe setting had moved itself +0*20', already out of spec!

The mechanic can't seem to find anything wrong or damaged with the suspension that would cause this problem and is quite stumped. -1* camber is within spec and should definitely not be eating away an entire tyre within 2000km of highway driving.

Any ideas what the problem could be? Car is MY '00 with 90.000km, stock suspension.

///Robin

 

We did a bit more testing. Setting toe to 0* and driving on city streets for 20 minutes resulted in no moving toe problems, but a half hour stint on faster country roads with uphill / downhill stretches pushed the toe out beyond spec. Something's definitely wrong here, but what?

Driving the front wheels over sharp speed bumps or other imperfections elicits a noticeable but soft CLICK sound from the front. Driving down such a street at speed results in click click click the whole way.

Depending on the road surface, the steering wheel sometimes has a mind of its own and moves to one side. This has always been the case though, and is isolated to certain roads only. Same thing happened to my previous E36, so I figured this was normal.

Also the steering wheel sits about 5-10* off centre. It's also always been this way, though.

///Robin

 

Hmmm...check the the brackets with which your a-arms attach on the front suspension. There have been a few incidences where the welds have fatigued.

 

A-arm welds eh? I'll take a look.

I find it strange how both wheels both toe out, as if something that can affect both is at fault.

///Robin

 

So the toe is adjusted with the tie rods. Does this mean that your tie rods are slowly running out of threads because you keep adjusting it in the same direction? Or are the threads secretly working their way back out after each drive? A little paint to mark the threads and nuts should tell you if they are moving. If it's the former, you'd think something is getting bent or getting ready to fail on the car.

Chris.

 

Also check the rubber bushings where the lower A-arms mount to the frame. Look for any cracking in the rubber or an off center mounting bolt.

 

Your post is a little confusing - do you mean camber or toe? I'm assuming toe, because -10* camber would be beyond the range attainable with the suspension. In either case, I suspect something is wrong with the suspension mounting points. As others have suggested carefully check the welds around the A-arm brackets. Several board members that autocross and track their cars have had them fail. Otherwise, make sure that the locknuts on the steering rods are being tightened correctly, and that the wheel bearings are not loose.

You can correct an off-center steering wheel when toe is adjusted by loosening one side of the steering rod and tightening the other.

Let us know what the solution is!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TrueDrezzer
Also the steering wheel sits about 5-10* off centre.

 

let us know what happens

 

Good explanation for what the problem could be. I do remember the steering wheel sitting pretty damn straight just after leaving the alignment bench but it reset itself to 10' left after a short drive.

I'm convinced the problem lies somewhere in the lower control arms themselves or their bushings. From what I'm reading, the bushings are designed to flex enough to toe out under braking to improve turn-in. Apparently they're just not resetting themselves back to normal after braking. I don't run R-compounds, but do use a slightly higher friction sport pad which could be putting more stress on the braking and suspension.

///Robin

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kitwetzler