Roomster pulls to the left

[paul2129]

I may well have posted something about this a good while ago, however I feel compelled to ask the question again after I read a posting that said that Roomsters and Fabia's are sensitive to issues with the front suspension, perhaps after bieng kurbed or driven down pot-holes.

I bought my car as a demonstrator with about 4000 miles on it, it's now got 27000 in the two years I've had it...... and it's always pulled to the left

I took it straight back after I bought it and Simpsons Skoda said that it all checked out as bieng set up correctly and that it was likely due to the fact that the rear track is wider than the front, causing it to go left on the camber of our british roads ( I think however that I've tried it on large car parks without the same camber and it still goes left !

I took it for laser wheel alignment, a fractional adjusment was made (perhaps to justify their charge) but it still goes left

It did this with the original 16" factory wheels and tyres, and it's still the same since I fitted the Scout 17" alloys and new tyres

I can rule out the position of the steering wheel, and I know that driving with no hands on the wheel is stupid but does demonstrate that it pulls futher and further toward the left it you let go...... and this manifests itself in the fact that you have to always hold it from pulling left against your hands on the wheel.

Can anyone confirm :-

1, do they have the same problem... or infact does yours go left, right or more or less straight

2, Can we confirm that it 'should' be doing this, someone suggested it was done on purpose for safety..... I'm not sure

3, I don't think this is caused by accident repair, can it only be the tracking or are there other aspects of suspension that could cause this ?

[Dan H]

Hmm,

From your description it's not clear the extent of the wheel alignment that's been done.

A standard wheel alignment only checks toe. Camber, caster and so on are vital as well. Companies like Micheldever Tyres will do a check that checks a lot more of the suspension geometry than just the toe-in, A check like this is a must as a first step in my view to ensure nothing is out of whack.

Good luck with resolving this.

[Eccles]

Mine behaves perfectly and I am fairly sensitive to such issues:- Recently happened to drive my daughter's V. Corsa which was definitely wandering right. Got home and checked the front tyre pressures and found one tyre was 8 lbs too high and the other about 2 lbs low so not surprised that it was doing strange things - worth a look?

[Calomax]

I may well have posted something about this a good while ago, however I feel compelled to ask the question again after I read a posting that said that Roomsters and Fabia's are sensitive to issues with the front suspension, perhaps after being kerbed or driven down pot-holes.

I bought my car as a demonstrator with about 4000 miles on it, it's now got 27000 in the two years I've had it...... and it's always pulled to the left

I took it straight back after I bought it and Simpsons Skoda said that it all checked out as being set up correctly and that it was likely due to the fact that the rear track is wider than the front, causing it to go left on the camber of our British roads ( I think however that I've tried it on large car parks without the same camber and it still goes left !

I took it for laser wheel alignment, a fractional adjustment was made (perhaps to justify their charge) but it still goes left

It did this with the original 16" factory wheels and tyres, and it's still the same since I fitted the Scout 17" alloys and new tyres

I can rule out the position of the steering wheel, and I know that driving with no hands on the wheel is stupid but does demonstrate that it pulls futher and further toward the left it you let go...... and this manifests itself in the fact that you have to always hold it from pulling left against your hands on the wheel.

Can anyone confirm :-

1, do they have the same problem... or in fact does yours go left, right or more or less straight

2, Can we confirm that it 'should' be doing this, someone suggested it was done on purpose for safety..... I'm not sure

3, I don't think this is caused by accident repair, can it only be the tracking or are there other aspects of suspension that could cause this ?

I think you're being told porkies. Mine is, and always has been, as straight as a die on virtually every surface.

[paul2129]

Mine behaves perfectly and I am fairly sensitive to such issues:- Recently happened to drive my daughter's V. Corsa which was definitely wandering right. Got home and checked the front tyre pressures and found one tyre was 8 lbs too high and the other about 2 lbs low so not surprised that it was doing strange things - worth a look?

thankyou both very much for the advice, it's intersting to note that there are other cars which don't have the left/right tendency......... I will check the tyre pressures and I think that a proper alignment check is in order

thanks again !

Paul

[paul2129]

An article I read just mentined that incorrect camber can possibly be the cause...... and it says that this is not adjustable on certain Front wheel drive cars, is anyone aware that the camber can be adjusted on the Roomster ?

(it said that if the camber is out in the case of these cars that you have to replace the bent or damaged component

suppose I should just take this to somewhere where they know what they're talking about !

Paul

[Robjon]

Hi Paul,

Mine runs dead straight on a perfectly flat road, but it is very susceptible to camber.

I pot-holed a nearside front tyre recently and the replacement tyre, while identical in every other way, had a different speed rating (the two-digit W number on the sidewall). This was enough to make the steering pull left. Changing the tyre so that both front tyres had the same speed rating effected a cure. HTH

Rob

[stratosg]

My previous 2002 1.6 Octavia used to pull to the right. I did wheel alignment but nothing got better.

My previous 2006 1.2 Fabia used to pull to the right.

My brand new Roomster is pulling to the left. That was a great surprise. My dealer performed a laser wheel alignment but the Roomster is still pulling to the left. Less but still. I'm also checking regularly the tires to have the right pressure but still.... going left.

And my best friend's 1.8Tsi 2009 Superb is pulling to the left.

I've heard from many other VAG owners having alignment issues since the very first Km of their cars. I think this is a common VAG bug.

Having a left handed car, I prefer pulling to the right than pulling to the left, but my car decides not me.

Someone else told me that the fuel tank should be half empty to achieve an accurate alignment.

[ruzhyo]

My Roomster pulls left too! I was starting to think I am crazy.

Rotate the wheels, multiple wheel alinement and balance but still pull left.

Looks like I am not the only one.

[ivaned]

mine pulls to the left to well it did i put more air in the left tyre now no more pulling

[richardf]

I have a 56 1.9 Diesel in 3 spec with the 16 inch low profile tyres and I can confirm it is very affected by road camber changes. I recently had the front suspension bushes changed under extended warranty, the full laser alignment and two new front tyres. This has made previously "wandering" steering much better but the camber reaction problem is still there. I do suspect that it would be a much better car on higher profile tyres, possibly 15 inch, but on a 4 year old car I'm reluctant to spend the money. Shame because I think the Roomster has the potential to be an excellent car rather than just a good one, but I suspect that putting on inappropriate tyres at the factory is a problem not confined to Skoda.

Edited 14 January, 2011 by richardf

[Broomster]

I may well have posted something about this a good while ago, however I feel compelled to ask the question again after I read a posting that said that Roomsters and Fabia's are sensitive to issues with the front suspension, perhaps after bieng kurbed or driven down pot-holes.

I bought my car as a demonstrator with about 4000 miles on it, it's now got 27000 in the two years I've had it...... and it's always pulled to the left

I took it straight back after I bought it and Simpsons Skoda said that it all checked out as bieng set up correctly and that it was likely due to the fact that the rear track is wider than the front, causing it to go left on the camber of our british roads ( I think however that I've tried it on large car parks without the same camber and it still goes left !

I took it for laser wheel alignment, a fractional adjusment was made (perhaps to justify their charge) but it still goes left

It did this with the original 16" factory wheels and tyres, and it's still the same since I fitted the Scout 17" alloys and new tyres

I can rule out the position of the steering wheel, and I know that driving with no hands on the wheel is stupid but does demonstrate that it pulls futher and further toward the left it you let go...... and this manifests itself in the fact that you have to always hold it from pulling left against your hands on the wheel.

Can anyone confirm :-

1, do they have the same problem... or infact does yours go left, right or more or less straight

2, Can we confirm that it 'should' be doing this, someone suggested it was done on purpose for safety..... I'm not sure

3, I don't think this is caused by accident repair, can it only be the tracking or are there other aspects of suspension that could cause this ?

I dont have a major problem with mine, though as others have said road camber has quite an effect because of the asymmetric track front and back, though its not brutal. However I can't "let go" or the car will follow the camber which is typical of cars with low profiles. I have also hit some major potholes and so far it has not changed too much. I dont consider this mild effect to be a problem as it changes with load, speed and road conditions.

Tracking wont make a lot of difference - that only affects toe, not alignment. This will affect steering wheel alignment, turn in sensitivity, tyre wear and may affect suscetibility to camber, but would not cause it to pull on a flat road.

My question is what affect if any does having a passenger make? Having all the weight on one side compresses one side of the suspension and tyres more than the other, and as suspension compression affects the geometry, this will cause a drift.

Other things to check are:

An incorrectly fitted (or damaged) rollbar or worn spring - check that the car sits level on a flat level surface.

Check that the front suspension bushes are tight (this is a known issue on roomies and they dont always wear evenly).

Check that you dont have a binding caliper (daft I know but it would cause the problem if one brake was partially on, though I would have thought it would smell of burning)

Check that tyres both sides have the same wear pattern. If one is worn on the shoulder and the other is not, there is a more serious issue but it would explain the pull.

More serious issues would be a bent suspension arm. Very hard to do this in practice without other obvious signs of damage. Those things are built to take a lot of punishment and the wheels/teyres would normally go first.

At the end of the day, no monocoque design is ever perfectly straight out of the factory, and small amounts of asymmetry are allowed for in the design. Try all the above and if not happy take it to someone that can do a full geometry check.

[123BRIAN]

Have same problem - car pulls to the left paticularly felt at speed. After complaining 3 times (car under guarantee) a 4 wheel alignment was carried out - Toe/in and Camber settings normal but CASTER ANGLE figures were the problem. However, Caster cannot be adjusted on this car.

Car back to dealer next week!

[stratosg]

I've read in a VW's forum that a polo 6R 1.2Tsi owner had issues with his car too. It was pooling to the right and after many alignments and wheel changes, he found out (with the help of his dealer) that there was a sensor that was reading that the steering rack was slightly left and ordered the pump to press to the right. I don't know how to translate the sensor's name. Its job is to measure the steering angle.

They used VCDS and were driving the car in a very low speed, about 15 to 20 Km/h.

I've never heard that before, so i cannot be sure that it is correct or true. Mine is still pulling to the left but very slightly and even less than before since i changed front wheels with rear wheels after 13.800 Km.

[Lorenzo]

I've read in a VW's forum that a polo 6R 1.2Tsi owner had issues with his car too. It was pooling to the right and after many alignments and wheel changes, he found out (with the help of his dealer) that there was a sensor that was reading that the steering rack was slightly left and ordered the pump to press to the right. I don't know how to translate the sensor's name. Its job is to measure the steering angle.

They used VCDS and were driving the car in a very low speed, about 15 to 20 Km/h.

I've never heard that before, so i cannot be sure that it is correct or true. Mine is still pulling to the left but very slightly and even less than before since i changed front wheels with rear wheels after 13.800 Km.

I have owned a '98 Polo 1.4 Petrol with 170k km and no problems. Now, my roomy has just 5k km and no sign of this probem. Am I lucky or just an insensitive driver?

[fabdavrav]

The whole subframe inc the console units has about 5mm of "play" in it so castor can be slightly adjusted as follows:

****************************************************************************

Front pivot bolt for lower wishbone = 70Nm (52lbf ft)+ 1/4 turn.

Lower arm rear mounting bracket plate (console) has 1 large bolt and 2 small ones.

Large = 70Nm (52lbf ft)+ 1/4 turn.

Small = 20Nm (15lbf ft)+ 1/4 turn. Always renew these bolts.

Front (console) subframe to underbody bolt (the one that you get to through hole on wishbone) = 50Nm (37lbf ft)+ 1/4 turn (Yes I know that this is a lower torque than rear bolt, but logically the rear one takes more force as the suspension tries to go up and back into bodywork, which is why it also has a reinforcing place and a further 2 bolts!!

Steering rack to subframe/console/underbody (four bolts) = 50Nm (37lbf ft)+ 1/4 turn.

Gearbox link to subframe bolt = 40Nm (30lbf ft)+ 1/4 turn.

***If you have had to move/replace console, ARB, etc. I have found this to help setting it up even!! Slacken all the above bolts up to line ******(especially front pivot). Then push the aluminium consoles (you might also have to push the subframe) to rear of car and outwards max diff is about 5mm. Then fully tighten the rear console bracket bolts (6 total) and front console bolts (2). Then tighten (evenly) the front pivot bolts to 1/2 torque (this positions the sub frame), then fully tighten the four steering rack bolts. Now you can go back and fully tighten the front pivot bolts, and the gearbox link to subframe bolt!!!

From my post.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/199067-torque-settings-for-bolts/

[FirstTimeSkoda]

Yep - mines has done this from new.