Okay, thanks chaps I'm going to be out and about tomorrow so will see how it corners etc - and if it also drifts when it's not being pummelled by cross winds. Maybe I just got carried away when @Lasty said his van was 'good in cross winds' and came over all green eyed monster! It is a solid block of rectangle on wheels after all. And I'll certainly get Alex to have a look at all things 'front end' when I'm down there next. The fear of taking a shock absorber off myself is strong, but if I can find my glasses and my Haynes then there's no harm in seeing if the bolts are undoable.....
I do and I do. But yes, I'll have a look at the things Mike has suggested, and everyone else. Always good to explore new areas of the bus and learn a bit more
I've seen the work the chap does who looks after Sarah's Bay, he rebuilt the front end of my Bug, he has a good reputation and is/was one of the racers at Santa Pod etc, I don't think he would rip Sarah off. Besides his life might not be worth living if he tried that
And if the wind doesnt get you, the snow will A lad from work lives Snake side of Sheffield, he mentioned it was snowing yesterday ova'th pass
There's no such thing as a safe motor when driving over Snake Pass youth in rum bugger conditions surrey
You can check the camber angle with a Clinometer app on a smartphone. Also useful for levelling on campsites.. A car will pass an MOT with some of the problems I listed with maybe an advisory, the difference between "MOT advisory" and "good" is quite large in some cases. So if you turn up and ask for it to to pass an MOT then you get just that. Asking to check it all and replace is a much bigger and time consuming job. Basically if you turn the steering with the bus stopped on the ground and the front wheel can not be seen moving gradually immediately you move the steering wheel there is some improvement possible. If you waggle the wheel and there are noises off stage definitely so. I recently changed the idler pin on my bus because it was rocking, the wheels moved a bit, stopped, it went clunk then they carried on moving. The camber angle one is a particular fun one: The steering box by design has some backlash at larger steering angles (to prevent it siezing up) which the normally adjusted steering geometry will push against so it all feels smooth. With the wheel centred the backlash is adjusted to minimum. If the camber angle is off/different left and right then the bus tries to drive in a big circle. So you turn the wheel permanently left or right a bit, into a region where there is designed in backlash in the box. Now the wind pushes the bus the same way you are steering and the steering box gives, and your hand moves too.. and suddenly its hello kerb or white line..
Good thread from @MorkC68 here https://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/steering-idler-pin-removal-replacement.24228/
Driving a bay over the original Severn Bridge when all it had was side railings on each side was a test of your bottle, especially when passing the two pairs of suspension towers that acted as a brief windbreak, catapulting you towards them and then away from them as you pass by.
