Ok..

Question Uno,

I need to swap out the Rotors on a 98 Victoria that's got a serious problem.. If I remember correctly all I have to do is unbolt the Caliper and hang it up right? I dont need to compress the pin or anything because the pad's arent being changed..?


Question Duce,

I got a 00 F150 and for some reason when I have the steering wheel straight the truck goes to the right.. It's tickin me off because when I do drive straight my wheel is turned a bit to the left and its an eye sore lol.. How can I fix that or is that an Alignment issue?

 

To change the rotors on the Clown Vic you will probably have to push the pistons in a bit because the new rotors will probably be thicker than the old ones.
To get the steering wheel centered on your truck you have to adjust the tie rod end sleeve on both sides of the truck until the wheel is centered. The best is to have an alignment shop do this but if you decide to try just remember that if you turn one sleeve 1 turn you need to turn the other one a turn as well or you'll change the toe-in.

 

Have to agree with Racerguy about letting a shop tweak the steering wheel. You'll know for sure that it's aligned. I prefer a frame shop over the smaller outfits, just the degree of expertise required (hopefully) of employees.

While you're there, you can verify something I was told looooong ago: Vehicles are designed to slowly drift to the right. This is for people who can't stay conscious at the wheel. The reasoning is that a ditch is better than a head-on, unless you drive the mountians.

Have fun, Mike

 

You are right about that.. Vehicle do have a right drift to the steering.. That way if they pass out the vehicle will go into a barditch or something instead of oncoming traffic..

But thats not the problem with my truck.. Its bad.. The steering is way off! If you look at it, its turned about 3-6 inches to the left when your driving straight.. Its annoying as hell and it only started when I put new tires on.. Wondering if the tire size change affect the alignment..

Also would that cause drifting? It seems like the front end likes to move around.. I checked the front end for obvious and nothing is bad.. It has 49k miles, 2000 model.. I see nothing broken, what would give it the sway if something was wrong?

 

my grandfather just bought some Toyo M54's (front & rear, dually) and i notice that it is kinda more all over the road. and one who operates heavy equipment will know what i'm talking about. like when you have a tractor or harvestor at a high speed(like 15-25 mph when moving it to another location on the road) it wanders all over the place and is hard to keep straight. I'm not sure this is your problem but it's my grandfathers on his truck. 99 F-350 v-10 Dually. can't really go much over 80 without it feeling squerlly. Well the tires were meant to be used on towing apps that weren't ment to go 75+ i hope.




If You Ain't Good In The Saddle Lord She Won't Be Satisfied!!!

 

Thats the same thing mine does.. Its not bad.. Just annoying as hell lol.. I only got a F150 Supercab V6

 

OK, a few things come to mind:

1)Larger tires; Typically this also means wider tires. This gives the road surface more mechanical advantage to work against your steering components. Even with slight wear in your tie rod ends, ball joints, rubber bushings, ect., changing widths will make this wear more noticable.

2)Tread design is another factor in rolling resistance;
A straight "highway" tire has a continous tread (directional tread) that runs around the tire. Front tires on a semi tractor are a good example. This design has minimal resistance to rolling, and a greater tendency to roll straight (tracking ability) and better stability while cornering and braking.

To improve traction in poor conditions, tires have breaks in the directional tread, across the width of the tire. This gives the tire more "bite". And as the gaps get wider, more ability for the tread to clean out as the tire rotates.

So, the wider the gaps between tread blocks, the more they tend to wander (less tracking ability), the more the tread wants to "squirm" on dry pavement (less tread stability). If you've changed from an A/S rated tread to a mud tread, that could be it in a nutshell.

3) Defective tires, that's why they have warrenties. There were a few threads in this forum about Pro-Comp tires, not very pretty.

One last thought; if you just can't leave the front end alone , start with any rubber bushings.

Good luck, Mike