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

[Northernraider]

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

I've not physically seen it done since I was an apprentice, the only vehicle I've had it done on in recent years was the hymer in 2019 but sat in waiting room so couldn't see how they did it.

When I was an apprentice it was the old calipers on the floor ... we would push car forward then place calipers on to the wheels etc.


In all the years its not something I've ever had to do myself.

I understand how it's done though .

This van is supposed to toe In slightly 1/8 of an inch

If it is out I can't imagine it's by much , but that does make me wonder why the steering wheel is out as much

 

[Northernraider]

This is where the wheel sits when driving... that's how it went when I reversed in to drive not holding the wheel.

It's annoying as you can't see the stalk with wipers cruise control etc on it .
When driving forward though if I left the wheel like that I'd end up in the hedge...I've to push it up to hold it almost level to drive straight.

 

[Just smiffy]

Aren’t vehicles supposed to have a slight pull the the inside to stop you wandering into head on traffic..? Better to hit the verge then a bus coming the other way….

 

[Northernraider]

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 ).

I'm gonna ask this fella who's doing the alignment today if it's something he's clued up on as I'm not unfortunately.. whilst there's a lot of mechanical stuff I can do this is above me unfortunately. And when it's something I'm not sure of I'm hesitant to mess with it incase I make it worse.

I'm hoping what he does solves my problem then I can just forget about it lol as my head is frying

 

[Ditcha]

Aren’t vehicles supposed to have a slight pull the the inside to stop you wandering into head on traffic..? Better to hit the verge then a bus coming the other way….

And take all the pedestrians out

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Northernraider]

Aren’t vehicles supposed to have a slight pull the the inside to stop you wandering into head on traffic..? Better to hit the verge then a bus coming the other way….

I don't think so .

Thats what I said to you before , if this was just behaving like all my previous motors i wouldn't have mentioned it so much . You know yourself it was one of the first things I mentioned to you the day we picked it up ... I said it had no power and was pulling to the left constantly...that's why we went to garage Mind to blow tyres up.


It is a shame that you couldn't drive it as I know you'd then see what I mean with it.

Hopefully this fella sorts it today but if he don't then I'll see if uncle Lenny HB wants to try it when he's back next week and if he notices it the same

 

[Barryh]

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.

My old Autotrail was lower on the near side. I’d never noticed it until it was pointed out to me. It drove fine.

 

[Northernraider]

Typically it's about to start peeing it down here lol.

The devil in me thinks well rather you than me Mr alignment man having to crawl about in the wet to fix it.
But the other part thinks I hope he don't cut corners to get out of the rain.



At 4 o'clock until further notice I insist you all keep all fingers crossed that this issue gets sorted today.

It's spoiling the enjoyment of me new van


Remap tomorrow too ...

 

[Northernraider]

How much simpler life was in 2016 when I had this van ....and no dogs


I often wonder IF I'd decided to keep this one and I did that first trip around Spain etc if I'd still be fulltime now , would I have had at least one dog or none etc

I loved this van it was mint for its age ... and hassle free lol. But I thought I needed a huge van to live in so I sold it and bought franky

 

[scousebird]

Typically it's about to start peeing it down here lol.

The devil in me thinks well rather you than me Mr alignment man having to crawl about in the wet to fix it.
But the other part thinks I hope he don't cut corners to get out of the rain.



At 4 o'clock until further notice I insist you all keep all fingers crossed that this issue gets sorted today.

It's spoiling the enjoyment of me new van


Remap tomorrow too ...

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Just smiffy]

How much simpler life was in 2016 when I had this van ....and no dogs


I often wonder IF I'd decided to keep this one and I did that first trip around Spain etc if I'd still be fulltime now , would I have had at least one dog or none etc

I loved this van it was mint for its age ... and hassle free lol. But I thought I needed a huge van to live in so I sold it and bought franky View attachment 971398View attachment 971399View attachment 971400

Should have kept it, just think of all the money you could have saved….

 

[Northernraider]

Should have kept it, just think of all the money you could have saved….

I know. I paid £8k for that van , sold it fir £13k but it was a great wee bus . Called gracey. Even had a toilet n shower.

 

[L' Hobo]

Aren’t vehicles supposed to have a slight pull the the inside to stop you wandering into head on traffic..? Better to hit the verge then a bus coming the other way….

In the old days before power steering, steering was adjusted so it self centred.

In other words, after you went around a bend and back on the straight, if you slackened you grip of the steering wheel, it would spin back to going straight.

I think it is only when one has power steering that the steering is so light that it feels as if the road camber is pulling the vehicle to the left slightly?

PS. Northernraider I think the early VW combi (splitscreen) vans had rear torsion bar suspension.
Might be worth searching their sites for how to make adjustments?

 

[Northernraider]

PS. Northernraider I think the early VW combi (splitscreen) vans had rear torsion bar suspension.
Might be worth searching their sites for how to make adjustments?

They had adjustable torsion beam front suspension too but a different method from this van.


I used to cut and turn the beams on the old t2's to lower them .

This is a slightly more complex system.

 

[Northernraider]

Alignment guy has just phoned he's just leaving Haywards heath so reckons he'll be about a half hour .

Gonna be dark when he gets here lol. Still peeing it down too.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[MichaelT]

Alignment guy has just phoned he's just leaving Haywards heath so reckons he'll be about a half hour .

Gonna be dark when he gets here lol. Still peeing it down too.

At least he's still coming.

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

I don't think the prices they are quoting are that bad. I use a mechanic who charges 70 quid an hour, used a mobile one several years ago as it was a starter motor and he charged 60, this guy has to travel and will be wanting that kind of hourly rate.
Good luck .......

 

[Billmyl]

Mistake no comment.

 

[Northernraider]

I don't think the prices they are quoting are that bad. I use a mechanic who charges 70 quid an hour, used a mobile one several years ago as it was a starter motor and he charged 60, this guy has to travel and will be wanting that kind of hourly rate.
Good luck .......

Depends how long it takes him I suppose. If it fixes the issue I won't mind so much . But £150 seems a bit pricey . I know he has to travel so I expected it to be a bit more .

Because I couldn't get any garages to quote on it there's nothing to compare to bar the big names for car alignment which was between £45 and £60 on their websites.


If it sorts the problem fair do's if it makes no difference I'll be well peed off lol

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

I'm sceptical but think it's the best place to start.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[L' Hobo]

They had adjustable torsion beam front suspension too but a different method from this van.


I used to cut and turn the beams on the old t2's to lower them .

This is a slightly more complex system.

If you say so but I'm not sure it is?
A torsion bar suspension is fairly simple with few parts to go wrong and, on the diagram, it appears to be anchored on the outside of the chassis and an awful lot of adjustment on the banana shaped fitting.

I think you just need someone who knows what they are doing but what do I know?

 

[tonyidle]

I'm more concerned about the steering wheel misalignment. If the van hasn't been touched by anyone in the past the steering wheel position can't be influenced by tracking. Most likely contact by one wheel with something solid. Like a kerb or deep pothole which could alter the position of the tiebar. If I was looking for a cure I'd ask for a suspension alignment check and tracking adjustment.

 

[Manic]

Just think of the stuff you got with this van and sold , that would cover the cost for tracking
I’m sure rose tinted glass would see you full timing in that Autosleeper but in reality I’m not so sure.

 

[Northernraider]

If you say so but I'm not sure it is?
A torsion bar suspension is fairly simple with few parts to go wrong and, on the diagram, it appears to be anchored on the outside of the chassis and an awful lot of adjustment on the banana shaped fitting.

I think you just need someone who knows what they are doing but what do I know?

The front suspension on this van looks nothing like that of the old vws. I've never seen a setup like this on anything bar the previous iveco I had. The old vws were very simple. I don't know where to start with this one

 

[CazPaul]

What was the layout Tam in that auto sleeper for such a small van but with a toilet and shower.

I quite miss our 5.59 metre Murvi at times toilet and shower and lovely sofa

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Northernraider]

He's here doing it now anyway. Not a million miles out he says but it is out. Steering wheel well out he thinks. .

 

[L' Hobo]

The front suspension on this van looks nothing like that of the old vws. I've never seen a setup like this on anything bar the previous iveco I had. The old vws were very simple. I don't know where to start with this one

I understand! Good luck with the tracking guy, have your big brolly ready!

 

[Northernraider]

I wanted to watch what he was doing but bloody dogs won't stay quiet and refrain from licking him so I have to sit in back with them . Buggers

 

[intokenny]

Good luck, hope he sorts it, will be money well spent!!!!!

 

[Northernraider]

Right jobs done and he's off , I've not road tested it so I don't know yet if it has cured it. I'll be roadtesting it tomorrow after the remap is done so I will know then .

He has lined up the steering wheel and its set now to approx 5mm toe in .

He said that it was out but not a great amount which is what I thought but the steering wheel was well out. So he's adjusted the tracking to bring the wheel back to centre . He said that it would have taken around 5/6000 miles to notice a bit of scrubbing on the tyres .

He's pointed out the exact bolt that's used to adjust the height on the torsion bar so if it's still sitting low when I measure it again on a different surface I might have a go at winding that up a little ...but he doesn't think that would cause it to pull to left so who knows.

No vat if paying cash so it cost £125 in the end .

If it has solved the problem I'll be happy enough at that.

This remap tomorrow is cheaper than the celtic tuning one and achieves 7 more bhp than celtic tuning so if that all works out the 70 quid saving between remaps will go some way to paying for the alignment


Fingers crossed that goes well too.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}