760 gle estate 1990...headed for the scrap yard

[roadsleet]

well I have a nice 760 gle estate.Well made car, nice engine ,but the front suspension is driving me bananas.
The car as not been in any sort of accident,its straight and unmolested.
Ive done a fair amount of work,and replaced just about all of the bushes,apart from the lower arm bushes where they meet the crossmember.
The shock inserts are new,new steering rack,and everything is tight,tracking is fine.
Iam being plagued by vibration from the front end that is felt through the wheel,and under braking.What are club members experiences of the 700s front end and problems they have had with it.
Somebody has mentioned to me that the symptoms I have point to front suspension geometry, ie castor and camber angles,or is the 700 front suspesion just badly designed

[rogerthechorister]

Front discs are out of true

[rogerthechorister]

Or the front wheels are ****ed - I've had that twice in my life. Set of cosmics on a 95 mph Morris Minor, and set of Skoda alloys on a 110mph Skoda Favorit.

Or maybe the tyres. I had that on an Isuzu Trooper, but it only did 95 anyway.

[James A]

The wheels may be out of balance or the tyres could be slightly mis-shapen. I experienced such symptoms with a Fiesta that needed new tyres at the front...

[alsner]

In truth it doesn't sound terminal which ever way you look at it. Does it happen constantly regardless of speed?

several things to check all listed above.

Balancing (out of balance will give you all sorts of hell through the steering ususally more promenant the faster you go but sometime you can drive through it)
Tyres
Wheels (If buckled will affect you at all speeds and braking)
Brake discs (If warped will effect your braking and the gyroscopic effect will play up on free running)

I'm sorry to inform you but I think you've been barking up the wrong tree with all the suspension changes unless they were b*gg**ed anyway.

Think in rotational terms rather than up and down (suspension)

ALi

[LankyTim]

As stated above,

Out of balance wheels,
Warped discs,
Disc/hub mating surfaces contaminated with a foreign object meaning the disc is not sitting flat on the hub,
Bucked roadwheel
Cheap and nasty or damaged tyres. (or both!)

Best of luck with it!

[MTerry]

Does it have Girling front brakes? I've had a recurring problem with one of the two caliper pots sticking intermittantly on the front brakes. It causes the disk to twist under braking which leads to warped disks and a shimmy, as well as a horrible total car shaking when the brakes are applied (the wipers actually vibrate up and down on the windshield).

[roadsleet]

just got in from work.Thanks for all all the responses.
Youve all got me thinking.The tyres certainly arent pirelli or good year,but some obscure make, woosung from the deepest far east,and this problem is not constant,sometimes good somtimes bad...tyres?
Ive checked the brake discs with a dial gauge and all is within spec,the wheels are fine in runout,no knocks or dings etc.
From what everybody has said the tyres look the main suspect.
I think the caliper piston are moving okay but I will check this out,certainly when braking it can sometimes feel like the front end is about to come off.
Could the rear suspension having some problems influence this?

[alsner]

Sounds like tyres/balancing to me, I seriously doubt the rear suspension has anything to do with it at all. Do you feel a wobbling sensation at the back end of the car also (put someone in the back and drive the car if you can't tell from the front)? If not then do a front back swap and see if the vibration swaps ends of the car, it won't cure your problem, but it'll swap it to the rear of the car and make it easier to drive until you get if fixed.

How much tread is on the tyres anyway? if they're getting low it's worth changing them before the weather sets in and you'll get the balancing done at the same time...

Low tread will really effect your braking on wet surfaces more than some people realise.

ALi

[robtd]

could be a combo of warped discs and worn ball joints