Nice Breezy today for a test drive down the 31 you driving side saddle one hand on the steering the other holding the pop top down
May I suggest we have a communal 'steering component' shake down at techenders? We all park up in a line on hard standing and follow Mike's guidance: wiggling steering wheels, looking underneath and prodding bits etc to identify components that could be contributing to wind problems. Buddy system so you check the feel of your bits & your neighbours for comparison. I know that sounds very wrong! If it's windy we all then go for a spin in convoy down the A5/M69 to see who has biggest issues. If it isn't windy all the vegetarians line up and point their rear ends towards the side of the each bay. Failing that we recreate the impact of the wind by 5 or so people simultaneously running into the side of the moving bays or shoving them to see how far they moves sideways.
I have but I Don't think they have ever greased my nipples, they seem to concentrate on the back end!
Yes, agreed, I don't know if we need to move the vehicles, if there hasn't been too much rain. Either way, it's a very good idea, and really what TE is all about. For example, Mike's fresh set of eyes looking at my dual carb linkage last year, gave me the impetus to recognise what, I guess I already knew, but was subconsciously ignoring, I needed a new linkage, or a bunch of new parts for the old one.
Whilst I’m not really a fan of replacing things just because they are old, I think 40 year old shocks are an exception. Even if they do still damp, I’m sure new ones would damp betterer.. If it where me, I would start with getting under the front of the van, grab the rubber discy thing above the steering box, and twist it back and forth while looking at the arm on the idler pin in the centre of the beam. If that rocks, get the pin and bushes done. If it doesn’t, get the camber and tracking done. If that doesn’t help, fit new shocks. If that doesn’t make any difference, give up , it’s probably as good as it is going to be. Just thinking out loud here really, but I have noticed that buses with power steering conversions, suffer from side winds considerably less than standard buses... and the only thing that changes apart from the motor, is the rubber discy thing is swapped for a proper UJ
There’s hell of a difference between genuine vw rubber steering couplings and the repro ones that were available at one point. Like you said once you’ve gone through everything and replaced what’s worn out with good quality stuff and everything is aligned properly that’s the best you can hope for.
Some of that is the "I spent a lot of money on something so I will tell myself it must be better" mindset one must maintain after fitting expensive gear in order to avoid constantly questioning it, getting distracted by it and not enjoying things as much with it. More likely, the PAS has the effect of preventing the wind from taking the steering wheel from your hands and the PAS helping you just hold it still rather than over compensating or under compensating which is another factor in the bus going all over the place. However, by 70mph, the PAS should be dialling itself right back to avoid servo-assisted slaloming all over the place. Its also experience like when overtaking a truck in your bus, first you get sucked in towards it so you know to edge away a bit, then as you come out into the bow wave, you get pushed away from it, so you learn to compensate.
I replaced my shocks on my XO Not because they were worn out but because I thought they might be The top mount fixing on my beam couldn’t cope due to unseen corrosion and tore a large hole out of my beam Hence a replacement beam, So be sure when you go for new shocks your beam top mounts are in good shape
Having taken Clem out for a good ol' drive around yesterday, up to Salisbury (collected best mate), driven down the quite exposed A31 to Poole (with afore mentioned best mate commenting 'oooh I see what you mean' as we got buffeted by a crosswind), collected best mate's T4 from where it has been converted into a campervan and had a nice big hole cut for a Skyline roof (looks fab), and then been completely out accelerated on the way back by the now very happy, demon driver best mate, plus taking on board all of your comments above, I'm coming to the conclusion that Clem may actually be no worse than any other flat sided object gunning along an open road in a stiff breeze. When the wind dropped, we stayed dead straight even if i performed a series of Jazz Hands, and it is actually only when the wind came from the side that I had to fight not to be pushed off course. I'm sure improvements can be made, but some of that can be in my anticipation of driving conditions as well as mechanical bits on Clem. I'll look into any play in the steering, as that sounds like a good idea anyway; and I'll investigate the notion of new shock absorbers all around. I will make sure the top mounts are in good condition @monkeyvanwestybike, as a new front beam is definitely not on my potential shopping list - but as @Dubs pointed out, 47 year old shock absorbers can most likely be improved on, even if they are still damping. Sadly ERNIE didn't even come up with £25 this month, and I don't do the lottery, so I will most likely be looking at BOGE rather than KONI for my replacements - unless someone can come up with a conclusive argument why red shocks are better than food! I do like @paulcalf 's communal steering check at techenders idea So thank you all ! And please do keep any further ideas and solutions coming.....
I'll bring my grease gun to TE so we can grease people's nipples You will have to bring your own grease
