612 handling over bumps / drain covers in road

I had this as well. Play in the rear tie rods can cause this and it's not uncommon with the 612. Have them checked out (also front ball joints and track rod ends) and replace with HE parts if there is play.


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Probably is tie-rods, but if you are not already on them, it is worth switching to MPSS tyres for the 612. I noticed a significant improvement in cornering and grip on poorer road surfaces with these + challenge wheels. Also experimenting with tyre pressures within the acceptable limits can make a difference to the problems you described.

 

Even with new tie rods and MPSS I still find the car has a peculiar loose around the hips feel to it. My theory is that it's a shortcoming, relative to more modern machinary, in the rear suspension geometry although it does stabilise with speed. I haven't driven enough 612's to know if it's the same with all cars.

 

I also noticed the same ride characteristics as described in my 2005 612. But I love it so much, I just wisp away such issues. But if tie rods help, I might look into it. Appreciate the thread

 

Align front and rear suspension first, then diagnose further if the problem persists. Ferraris are very sensitive to alignment and wear tires rapidly if out of alignment. Make sure whoever does it has a selection of shims to adjust camber.

Ball joints are a known problem for early 612s (and 360s and F430s) and updated ones are available from Ferrari and Hill Engineering makes excellent ones.

 

Hi. Would be v interested to read about your findings. I've been living with my 612 for over 15 months. Love it even more than the first day. Runs perfectly, no issues so far, but did get that shimmy in the rear over bumps. Just thought that was because it is a large car/chassis.

 

Toe, both front and rear, is just as important in an alignment. Either being off significantly can lead to stability issues. Too little toe and directional stability goes to pot, although turn-in will be instantaneous, mainly because she does not like going in a straight line.

 

If you want to properly check tie rods you need to have them disconnected from the hub otherwise you will not feel anything. It is fairly easy and you do not need to have them completely out, here how I did it
1) Jack up the car safely and take the wheel off
2) Disconnect the tie rod from hub by taking the big 10 Hex bolt out that you see from the top, watch out for the little round centering cylinder, it should stay in
4) Check for play, it can come either end
5) Screw the bolt back at 65 NM with some thread lock, I use loctite blue

While the tie rod is disconnect you can feel if there is play in the ball joints that are holding the hub from up and down, not a perfect method though but if there are really shot you will feel it

My car has 10 K miles and I had one tie rod with very minor play

 

Had the same problem with my 2009 612 OTO purchased with only 1,800 miles.

 

I will be changing all mine shortly, over the winter.. complete suspension rebuild... using Hill Engineering parts.... I ordered both upper and lower removal tools for balljoints, but does anyone know if they reverse to press back in? I didn't see a Hill Tool to press these new joints back in??? anyone know? for us DIY folks....

 

It could be the design uses toe-in as standard; if so, when one wheel briefly loses traction due to a bump, the other will steer the car sideways.
Alignment specs usually are a tradeoff between handling, tyre wear, and grip. The manufacturer has chosen a certain balance, it is not uncommon owners prefer a different balance; this has happened to me multiple times.
It is also common for some cars to require regular realignment. Especially so after new components were fitted, a re-alignment after a few months is often needed.
Last, factory documentation contains misprints more often than you'd think.

What are the alignment specs for the 612?

 

Interesting feedback and thanks for this thread. I have learned to live with the back end shimmy. I recently had wheels balanced and aligned. I still feel the shimmy, but perhaps it's less so. The main reason for the balance/alignment fix was vibration at speeds above 110 kpmh. That is fixed. Smooth.

 

Hi, I had the good fortune to test drive quite a few 612s (mostly OTOs) when I as looking for my 612 and they all had this trait. The car I eventually purchased was one of the best handling and best condition cars I drove (its a late HGTC) but it also has a touch of this too.

I have been discussion with another member here the possibility of it also being related to the active suspension. Is it possible that a rapid series of bumps tricks the suspension into firming up, making the situation worse?

The other related trait I noticed was a tendency for the rear to 'bob' or 'dip' on one side when changing gear, especially if going round a gentle curve. Again this was more pronounced in certain cars. This is perhaps diff related.

I'm too new into the ownership of my car to have a firm view yet but whatever the cause its seems to be quite common.

 

A big help on the big V12s, from the 456 all the way through the 599, is to fit Michelin Pilot Super Sports instead of the Pirellis fitted to most of them. The MPSS tires reduce noise, improve ride (Pirellis get hard fast), and offer improved cornering and braking. Has made quite a difference in most of the big V12s, including mine. The MPSS has won most of the comparison tests I have seen. They are cheaper than the Pirellis, too.

 

Wish I had known this last month before I just put 4 new Pirellis on the car. I have MPSS on on two of my other cars and really like them. But the 612 came with Pirellis which had gotten old but not worn out so I though I would keep the same as factory - oh well.

 

What Taz says. Getting rid of the Pirellis was the best thing that ever happened to my 612. Apart from the noise and ride, the horrible understeer just disappeared with the MPSS. All my cars run MPSS now except the GTO which is on Toyo Proxes due to lack of fitment availability.

 

My 575 will be up for new rear tyres soon. It has P Zeros all round. Fronts are newish. Do I swap out the rears for MPSS so running different brands on different axles? Dump the nearly new front P Zeros - seems wasteful?

I guess this is why you end up running tyres you don't want - it came with P Zeros, it still has P Zeros, and I have never liked them on my other cars as much as MPSS which have just seemed better and with more feel.

 

I made the mistake of replacing the P Zeros on my 612 with new P Zeros. The old P Zeros were not worn out just old - 8 years. That also seemed wasteful but performance tires that old are no longer performance tires from what I have heard from various sources. I have used Pirelli tires on lighter weight Porsches and have thought they were quite good. However on heaver cars including Pcars I have thought the MPSS were better and longer lasting tires than Pirellis from my experience with these two brands.

I also have performance Continentals on a CL55 which I have found a reasonable trade off relative to price, length of use, ride quality but never really used that car as a sports car since that is not it's mission. I believe that the ZR Continentals were about $400- $500 less expensive and got a little more use relative to the MPSS. When I originally went to the Continentals replacement MPSS tires were not available in my size and would have had to wait to get a complete set. Since I burn off my rears twice as the fronts so every time I replace all four and was at that rotation point.

Since the 612 is a 2 ton vehicle I should have gone with my gut feeling and replaced the old Pirellis with MPSS tires but made the mistake of wanting to keep the car original as much as possible.

I would expect the tires on your 575 are far past their performance age, so if you use the car in sporty, aggressive driving I would replace all four with MPSS and just bit the bullet. If you rarely use the car and then only light travel around town I would just replace the 2 worn tires with new P Zeros of the same type since the performance issues don't seem to be in play.

 

Darius- Look at the date codes on the tires. If they are 6 years old or older, time to replace them, regardless of how new they look. Pirellis seem particularly prone to getting hard with age, and even three years may be enough to degrade ride and handling noticeably. This date code shows the 51st week of 2007.
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Taz -I can never seem to remember this date coding system although I have been told several times. Thanks again

 

Thanks Randy, Taz. I'll check this afternoon. From memory one axle has new P Zeros from when I bought the car last year. The other has 7 year old P Zeros. That's my dilemma - throw away the new(ish) ones to get MPSS all round?

When it's driven, the car is driven with vigour (circumstances permitting).