The resurrection of Doc, bringing a 20 year old neismann Bischoff Flair back to life after 12 years off road.

[Northernraider]

A slight breakthrough of sorts .

I gave steertrack a call back ....really hated having to do it as the guy has ignored my texts and didn't get back to me last week when he should of .....but as I've little choice ( which seems to be the extent of customer service these days ) so I called him back.

He can do it Monday 4th November in the morning. The day before my ferry which isn't the best but again no choice.

And for the princely sum of £120 + vat ....rip off compared to car prices of approx £60 but again I've no choice and he obviously knows it .


I asked him to be sure he can do it as I've obviously had a few say they can but they can't. I've sent him photos of the motorhome and the wheel so he knows what to expect . He says it should be fine ...the word should always concerns me . But again I've little choice.



My wheels are not that far set in ... unlike many like the hymers etc

Not sure why it's such a problem .

 

[Northernraider]

Just had a call back from the other mobile company steer align he says he may be able to come this afternoon as he is doing a job not that far from here . So I'm just waiting on confirmation of that and a price from him too.

 

[JockandRita]

Not sure why it's such a problem .

No, and neither do I Tam, having had a very favourable experience locally when ours needed doing.................and nowhere near £120 +VAT.

Just had a call back from the other mobile company steer align he says he may be able to come this afternoon as he is doing a job not that far from here . So I'm just waiting on confirmation of that and a price from him too.

I hope that works out for you, then you can tell matey to shove his £120 +VAT.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Northernraider]

No, and neither do I Tam, having had a very favourable experience locally when ours needed doing.................and nowhere near £120 +VAT.


I hope that works out for you, then you can tell matey to shove his £120 +VAT.

Cheers,

Jock.

Well he might be dearer .... hopefully not so

 

[Northernraider]

Right I finally found my tape measure to check height difference on the van.

So sat on lennys drive if I put tape to below the front wheel arch to the tyre valve which is in the centre of each wheel the lhs measures 37cm and the rhs measures 39.5cm .. so yes it appears it is sitting down on one side at the front .

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[JockandRita]

Well he might be dearer .... hopefully not so

But even if he is, matey won't know.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Barclaybasher]

Right I finally found my tape measure to check height difference on the van.

So sat on lennys drive if I put tape to below the front wheel arch to the tyre valve which is in the centre of each wheel the lhs measures 37cm and the rhs measures 39.5cm .. so yes it appears it is sitting down on one side at the front .

Did you check the rear?

 

[Northernraider]

Did you check the rear?

The rear is on leaf springs and airbags I can adjust the rear up and down at the touch of a button.


edit as I initially thought that shouldn't matter

So I measured the rear and lhs is 38cm rhs is 39cm

So I dunno... maybe the ground isn't perfectly level . Who knows.

It's not a massive amount out and I don't know if that could be down to how the van is loaded or what. It's complicated.

I guess the only thing I can do is have the tracking checked and see if it is out or not .

I'm not sure if it being down on one side would cause the steering wheel to be off centre or not

Geometry was never my strong point either

 

[Ditcha]

The rear is on leaf springs and airbags I can adjust the rear up and down at the touch of a button.

Yeah but if the rear has the same difference it's how the van is sitting

 

[Northernraider]

Yeah but if the rear has the same difference it's how the van is sitting

It hasn't the same difference but it does have a difference it would seem .


That's what I said the other day it's quite hard to find a perfectly level bit of ground. And of course the wheel trims may not be dead centre either due to how they're mounted to the wheels .

Meh ....Will have to see if tracking makes a difference.

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[SM0129]

So I dunno... maybe the ground isn't perfectly level . Who knows.

Next time you park on the drive, do so in the opposite direction. If you then check the measurements again and still get the same variances then you have a potential problem- if the variance disappears then the drive isn't level.

 

[Barclaybasher]

My Moby used to lean to one side on the back, altering the air bags didn't help - changing the front springs fixed it.
Edit - the front wheelarch measurements were different which is why I had them changed

The steering didn't pull to one side before or after and the steering wheel is only nearly straight.....

 

[Minxy]

Tam make sure your front tyres are at the same pressure then measure to the ground, not the valves.

If it is lower on one side it will pull that way, as an experiment you could try reducing the tyre pressure on the right and increasing it on the left to even out the difference in height and then drive it for a short distance to see if it is better. Also put something on the passenger seat to offset your weight if you can. Worth a try?

 

[Northernraider]

Tam make sure your front tyres are at the same pressure then measure to the ground, not the valves.

If it is lower on one side it will pull that way, as an experiment you could try reducing the tyre pressure on the right and increasing it on the left to even out the difference in height and then drive it for a short distance to see if it is better. Also put something on the passenger seat to offset your weight if you can. Worth a try?

I've checked the pressures constantly, I measured to the valves as they are (hopefully) in the centre of the wheel .. measuring to the ground would possibly give an inaccurate reading too if ground is higher.


Generally I don't believe it to be down to weight etc as surely all my other vans would have drifted to the left too and the steering wheel would have sat off centre .

Moby I could take my hands off the wheel and it would run straight ... I regularly removed jumpers etc when driving.. waved my hands about to music etc lol.

I wouldn't have noticed this van doing it so much if it wasn't something new to me and annoying me .

It's one of those things you notice the first time you drive it and it's there all the time .

First time I drove this I thought it was the tyre pressures so my first stop was a petrol station to inflate them ...they were low but both were and blowing them up never solved it .


I sincerely hope it is just the tracking but I've that annoying niggle in my head saying what if its not and £140 quid later it still does it .


We all know that whoever checks the alignment is going to tell me its out and needs adjusting lol. They want paid

 

[Northernraider]

Tam make sure your front tyres are at the same pressure then measure to the ground, not the valves.

If it is lower on one side it will pull that way, as an experiment you could try reducing the tyre pressure on the right and increasing it on the left to even out the difference in height and then drive it for a short distance to see if it is better. Also put something on the passenger seat to offset your weight if you can. Worth a try?

OK because I'm aware I could be wrong and not fully understand it I have just measured again from arch to the ground


So on rhs front we have 72.5cm rhs rear 71.5cm
On lhs front we have 70cm and rear 71cm


So yep it still shows as being a 2.5cm difference on the front.


So because it is the side its pulling too logic would suggest it has something to do with it.

But no idea why it's like that.

The torsion bars are adjustable I know that and they do raise the ride height of the vehicle. How exactly its done though I'm not sure. I can ask these mobile alignment guys I guess but I wonder how common it is on a motorhome to be sitting unlevel given all the variances in water tanks , gas tanks ,how we load them etc .. I don't know enough about this stuff to know

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[BobJayne]

We all know that whoever checks the alignment is going to tell me its out and needs adjusting lol. They want paid

Interesting video.
A 2 human hair width adjustment for payment!

 

[scousebird]

Just had a call back from the other mobile company steer align he says he may be able to come this afternoon as he is doing a job not that far from here . So I'm just waiting on confirmation of that and a price from him too.

 

[Northernraider]

Interesting video.
A 2 human hair width adjustment for payment!

Yes this is why I have zero trust with any "professional " honesty doesn't exsist

 

[Northernraider]

OK lol

So the other mobile guy has just got back to me .. he can do it at 4pm today

£125 + VAT



And I still don't know if that is the problem or if it will fix it.

All I know is I'll be £150 worse off

 

[Dutch 68]

Yes this is why I have zero trust with any "professional " honesty doesn't exsist

You pay anyway when they check, doesn’t matter if it’s out or not, setting it all up and checking it is a lot more time then the actual adjustment, and most vehicles are out with their tracking as one big pothole can be enough to cause it to be wrong again, most vehicles will pull to the left, not always because of a mechanical issue of the car, but simply because of camber of the road , but checking it doesn’t any harm, and if still not ok you can then safely go to the suspension step

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[Northernraider]

You pay anyway when they check, doesn’t matter if it’s out or not, setting it all up and checking it is a lot more time then the actual adjustment, and most vehicles are out with their tracking as one big pothole can be enough to cause it to be wrong again, most vehicles will pull to the left, not always because of a mechanical issue of the car, but simply because of camber of the road , but checking it doesn’t any harm, and if still not ok you can then safely go to the suspension step

I know.. but £150 hurts if it doesn't make any difference. That's more than a tyre cost lol.



And more than a new pair of Monroe shock absorbers.

If it fixes the problem then overall I'll be happy as it should be more pleasant ri drive. If it doesn't it's shit

 

[funflair]

OK because I'm aware I could be wrong and not fully understand it I have just measured again from arch to the ground


So on rhs front we have 72.5cm rhs rear 71.5cm
On lhs front we have 70cm and rear 71cm


So yep it still shows as being a 2.5cm difference on the front.


So because it is the side its pulling too logic would suggest it has something to do with it.

But no idea why it's like that.

The torsion bars are adjustable I know that and they do raise the ride height of the vehicle. How exactly its done though I'm not sure. I can ask these mobile alignment guys I guess but I wonder how common it is on a motorhome to be sitting unlevel given all the variances in water tanks , gas tanks ,how we load them etc .. I don't know enough about this stuff to know

Torsion bar adjustment is in that manual I linked but basically, jack it up to take weight off and then the adjustment is at the rear end of the bar, back off lock nut and wind in the screw, that's as I understand from the reading I have done. Don't think down a little bit will affect the steering though

 

[dalspa]

With the tracking procedure completed if the steering wheel is still not properly aligned then it would be prudent to correct before moving the van ie whilst the wheels are dead ahead.

 

[Northernraider]

Torsion bar adjustment is in that manual I linked but basically, jack it up to take weight off and then the adjustment is at the rear end of the bar, back off lock nut and wind in the screw, that's as I understand from the reading I have done. Don't think down a little bit will affect the steering though

Yes I could see how it's physically done but not how you'd work out how much .. I reckon it would be trial and error.
I too am unsure if it would cause the problem I'm having.

I have no choice really I just have to bite the bullet and let the guy do the alignment today and pay the £150 .

I just hope it's out and he can show me it's out. Then I'll at least feel better if it's corrected

 

[karalal]

The rear is on leaf springs and airbags I can adjust the rear up and down at the touch of a button.


edit as I initially thought that shouldn't matter

So I measured the rear and lhs is 38cm rhs is 39cm

So I dunno... maybe the ground isn't perfectly level . Who knows.

It's not a massive amount out and I don't know if that could be down to how the van is loaded or what. It's complicated.

I guess the only thing I can do is have the tracking checked and see if it is out or not .

I'm not sure if it being down on one side would cause the steering wheel to be off centre or not

Geometry was never my strong point either

Try turning the van around and re measure

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[tacr2man]

Ideally you want ride height correct before alignment , To adj torsion bar just release lock nut, jack up , tighten adj screw to raise (try one turn to start ). Then lower jack and roll forward and backward and bounce to settle .Its trial and remeasure to get correct there is no ratio , repeat until correct and then tighten locknut .

 

[gus-lopez]

With the tracking procedure completed if the steering wheel is still not properly aligned then it would be prudent to correct before moving the van ie whilst the wheels are dead ahead.

Normally they would centre the wheel then adjust the tracking.Never seen it done any other way.

 

[tacr2man]

Wheel should also be central checked by going lock to lock .

 

[Northernraider]

Try turning the van around and re measure

I think it will still sit down on the left as I first noticed this a Couple of weeks ago .

Ideally you want ride height correct before alignment , To adj torsion bar just release lock nut, jack up , tighten adj screw to raise (try one turn to start ). Then lower jack and roll forward and backward and bounce to settle .Its trial and remeasure to get correct there is no ratio , repeat until correct and then tighten locknut .

No chance of that being done unfortunately. Its after 2pm now and the tracking is being done at 4pm .


As I said earlier though I'd have to completely empty the van to see if how it's loaded etc causes it to sit lower on one side.

I'm curious how many other folks vans on here don't sit exactly level. It's not often that noticeable till you put a tape measure on it.


I don't know if 25mm is a lot or not in the grand scheme of things

 

[tacr2man]

If you always run with same weight distribution it will not hurt to adjust torsion bar to suit , leaf spring landrovers had different springs left and right to compensate for driver , battery and fuel tank all being on one side (with RHD vehicle ).

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