*interesting* Behaviour At The Back End

[benje 0]

Hello All,

 

Sorry, its a question about the 306, however as it's so similar to the 205 I'm hoping I could get some advice and also maybe help people in the future with similar symptoms.

 

Right, I've had a few problems with the rear end, e.g bearing failure, which led to interesting handling in a straight line and round corners (Car was trying to steer itself at the back ) Anyhow, fixed that, then one of the beam mounts sheared itself off, which gave a similar feeling to what I have now ....... (Fixed these by the way,all 4)

 

When driving in a straight line there is no issue. Granted the ride is a bit "Wobbly" probably down to the fact the car has covered 130K on the original shocks. Going round slow/quick-ish/fast corners on perfectly smooth tarmac no issue. However as soon as the rear wheels hit a drain cover, or a rough bit of road, a dip etc, it seems like the whole rear end is moving independent of the wheels, like a big rear wheel steer moment. Almost like the entire beam is moving separate to the car.

 

Now I jacked it up checked the wheels for anything obvious, nothing. However I do have the signs of an early failing rear beam (Camber) It's not a massive issue, however is this the cause of this feeling OR would a set of severely worn rear shocks give a similar effect? I'm not clued up on torsion beam suspension so am a little uncertain of the failure modes!

 

Any ideas ?

 

Thanks all

 

Ben

[welshpug 1,623]

any sign of camber is bad and likely to cause behaviour like this, I'd say the beam shafts and bearings at least are toast if not the tube.

 

 

poor quality (aka Bilstein streetline) or worn our dampers can exacerbate the symptoms too.

Edited September 15, 2009 by welshpug

[benje 0]

Cheers Welshpug, looks like the beam is completely dead then