Good evening F chatters. This is my first time on such a thing - a virgin I guess you could say! I'm not that computer conversant but learning all the time, I'm told by many that you are a very helpful and knowledgable lot out there and love solving real problems that occur on our favourite toys. I have a 1988 328 GTS that I love to bits, BUT it's trying to kill me. I cant get the steering right. It has just been serviced and is running beautifully, and the man says all is ok, camber is right, alignment fine etc tyres are fair BUT of different bread to the rear, suspension overall is great. Problem. When at speed, 80k's plus, I cant hold her straight, any slight rut or bump { like railway line } she lurches violently one way or another - so much so that I'm forever correcting her or fear going off road. I now have no confidence in her at speed and am sick and tired of fighting her all the time, especially after a long drive recently to get her back home. In short, I was f 'kt. So, for those who can solve this there is a gold star on your exercise book, and my eternal thanks. Regards Perrari
I would say three things - firstly 328s are quite "lively" - hard as it may seem you need to try & relax a bit when you drive it - let it move around a little. If you try and stop/correct every movement of the wheel you will indeed be absolutely destroyed every time you get out of it. What's it like to drive on smooth tarmac on the freeway? Have you tried driving another 328 or getting someone who knows 328's to drive yours? Secondly, having different tyres front & rear certainly isn't going to help (also what tyre pressures are you running?) Thirdly, if you are still not convinced about it then get a second opinion on the alignement and get all the suspension joints & bushes checked again. Also check the spings for cracks/breaks and get the steering rack looked at.
What you are describing sounds like tire tramlining. What brand of tires have you on you car? Check to see if you have bigish blocks within the tread. I have Pirelli Nero Zero's on my 328 and they are awful. The front left tire WILL NOT stand up by itself. I removed the wheels yesterday to prepare for a concourse and was amazed how bad they were. I have an E36 M3 which had some crappy Nankangs when I bought it. I recently fitted some Bridgestone Potenza RE 01 and the car transformed immediately. You would swear you are driving a different car. If the tires have been run over/under inflated or incorrect camber/castor/ toe-in then she will dart and lunge all over the place. The worst brand of tire I ever had for tramling was Falken. Positively dangerous. Good luck anyway. Cheers, Bob. PS: I just noticed you are an Aussie too. Forgive my American spelling of tire. We spell it tyre, but I try to fit in with the masses.
I'd look at the age of my tyres, the pressures (too high will do this easily) and the condition of my shocks.
My car tracks solid as a rock at 80 mph+; I can take my hands off the wheel and it just goes straight and true. Good luck finding the problem
I'd have your Mechanic make sure that you don't have a problem like this: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246235 With these types of problems (a broken/cracked component), everything can measure OK statically (and not look too obviously bad if the break is in a subtle location), but is uber-bad and dangerous under dynamic loads.
Hey Pete welcome to the madhouse,My GT4 used to do that as well until I changed fronts,I went from Dunlops to Bridgestones and I have no idea if it was a new wheel alignment,the brand or the fact that the Dunlops were 9years old.any way hope you get it sorted.Ken
this problem sounds very similar to what i've just begun experiencing. my 328 recently had her 3yr. major done, new rear tires and 4 wheel alignment. the former rears were worn down smooth but did not exhibit this problem. i am using kumho ecsta spt on all 4's and running with 33psi front, 36 psi rear. handling at speeds above 70mph is absolutely frightening especially on downhill sweepers. the front feels as though it wants to lift and the steering has to be "fought" constantly to keep the car heading straight. if you know the sensation of an impending spin on ice, you will understand the car's problem. reading the alignment report appears all settings are to factory specs. i tried raising the pressures 6psi front & rear which only makes handling scarier! the alignment shop is aware of my concerns and she will be going back for re-inspection. could it be that brand new kumhos on the rear and 4/32" on the front is causing this problem? i never experienced problems like this prior to the alignment job. in fact, she has never drifted around even at speeds over 100mph. getting a solution would be most welcome, as it appears from this thread others have been here before.
I think it has all be said here. Tires are a big issue and these cars do tend to do this a bit, especially on rough road surfaces. Mine made me a bit nervous at first but now it does not bother me. It seems to me to be worse in the speed range you speak of. But I know mine will do it at 140kph a little, always when it hits an irregularity in the road. Change the tires if they are more than a few years old, get suspension bushings looked at, check shock absorbers.
"I would say three things - firstly 328s are quite "lively" - hard as it may seem you need to try & relax a bit when you drive it - let it move around a little. " Totally agree. On my 3000 mile trip across country after buying the car (and brand new Goodyear F1s) , it took me the first day to figure out that overcontrolling is really easy. Relax and let the car do the work is the answer. The car was totally stable at speeds up to 140+ MPH with no weirdness at all and the classic "the faster you go the faster it wants to go" feel. Obviously if you have a tire incompatibility/alignment/bad parts issue, that's a different thing. But they do react to any sort of bump and the steering is much more sensitive than any other car I have driven, much more so than my '99 911 was.
Based upon what you are describing, there's something seriously wrong with your steering/suspension. A 3X8 is a pretty benign car that tracks quite true and doesn't kick and lurch at speed or in the twisties. Like others have said, make sure you have good condition tires all around in the original specified sizing, tires that match by brand and model, and which don't have any obvious signs of flaws (bulging or similar). Make sure your wheels run straight and true. An easy test it to jack up the front of the car and spin the wheels - see if they run true and without bumps or undulations at both the outer rim, and the tire face. Check other obvious stuff like ball joints and the A arm pivots. Make sure your steering rack is properly mounted and affixed. Make sure your ride height is near spec. By feel, try to determine if there is a bunch of slop in the rack - have your wife sit in the car with the front end elevated and wheels off the ground, have her rotate the steering wheel from lock to lock and feel the motion by hand at the steering arm ball joint for example. Make sure there's still some life left in your shocks. Once you've checked the above items you'll have eliminated 90% of the problems.
3x8 steering racks commonly fail. Since you will have the car on a lift for inspection, don't neglect to include the steering rack as a potential source of problems. The bushings are known to drop out or break and will present sloppy steering at speed. When loosing the passenger side bushing, the drivers side will stay firmly with the steering wheel and passenger side wheel have considerable play back and forth. Edit/Delete Message
Peter , Welcome to F-chat Is your mechanic aware the rear alignment should be done too? Are you running the stock wheels? If you ask in the Australian section, one of us may be able to recommend a tech near you. Sorry, I am only familiar with the Brisbane and Melbourne workshops.
I had a very similar problem in my 87 328 when I bought her 4 years ago. Driving through a sweeping bend at say 70-80mph plus was a scary experience. At first I could not understand the situation as I had a porsche 993 that was super on bends & corners! My confidence in the 328 hit the floor and I was going to sell her straight away. Any way after checking all the tyres, wheel balancing suspension etc, (Which were fine) Some one told me to check the steering rack... You can do this by jacking the car up and seeing how much play you have in the movement of the wheels? Not sure if the components are swapped over for a LHD/RHD but the play on the passenger side (RHD) was horrific! Thus causing the problem. A new rack with upgraded bush (very important) transformed the car over night and thus giving me confidence in the old girl! Its worth a look if not already checked!
