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Grinding noise after wheel alignment


wvSTUwv

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I've recently had to replace 1 of my rear control arms on my right rear after hitting a kerb. Once fitted the car was driving ok but the camber was far from straight so I took it to for a wheel alignment now after driving it at 60mph the car feels very unstable and traction control keeps kicking in for no reason and causing the front left wheel to lock. Now I have drove it for about 15 minutes there is a loud grinding noise coming from the right rear of my car and I don't have a clue what it could be. Any ideas what could be the cause? 

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That's not good, OK so a couple of problems to resolve,

 

1. Check tyre pressures all round, this can make the car feel unstable.

2. Check under the rear of the car for damage if you hit a curb and needed a new arm there may be other damage, one thing that often gets missed is the spring carrier I have seen them twist or snap also check the camber arm.

3. The grinding it may be as simple as rust being dislodged from the brake disk that is now stuck behind the disk against the dust plate or brake caliper - inspection required - or you may have bent something again you will need to have a good look.

 

For the car to be all over the place after a wheel alignment the things to check are the camber bolts, they may have slipped and put the camber out also bushes I have seen a failed bush but it moved under load so was fine on the alignment rig but as soon as you pushed the car hard it would give and the alignment would be way out causing the car to feel like the back was not connected to the front!

 

TC kicking in - Check the rear wheel speed sensor for damage, this is just to the side of the rear diff in the subframe above the toothed ally ring on the drive shaft, also check the ring for damage, Hopefully it is the camber that is throwing out the wheel speed sensor causing the TC light although to get the front wheel to lock it may be worth having the steering alignment position checked (you need a reader) as if that is out it will cause that wheel lock problem it may have been damaged or knocked out when the kerb was clipped.

 

Good luck :)

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Hi, just an update so far on this I have took the car to 4 different garages and none of them can see anything wrong brakes are fine, suspension is fine.

 

The grinding noise has now stopped on its own. 2 of the garages said it could have just been the new parts wearing in.

 

TC still keeps kicking in for no reason and the car is still very unstable at speed, getting 4 new tyres tomorrow to see if that makes any difference as I have I mix of tyres on at the moment 2 with hardly any tread left, 1 budget and the other wheel has a okay tyre on it.

 

Thanks for the replys

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The tyre situation will definitely be a factor as one manufacturers 245x40 will be a slightly different width/height/circumference to anothers. Couple that with the difference between "new" tyres and "bald" tyres and you could have say 4mm top and bottom manufactor variance, 5mm top and bottom wear variance multiply by pie to get circumference and you have 56mm of difference for a single wheel rotation, i'm sure thats more than enough to mess with TCS. 

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You need a decent garage that specialises in high power / sporty cars and really knows their stuff about suspension and wheel alignment.  Any of the Z specialists on here would be a fine choice also as they ought to be able to spot dodgy bushes etc. Clearly the alignment and suspension are fighting over something. 

I know of somewhere like that in Gateshead but that's a long way from you. 

 

Perhaps bite the bullet and travel to a Z specialist?  I don't expect a Nissan garage to have much more effect other than have higher hourly rates and recommend you replace pretty much every part and then still not fix it.

 

Oh, one more idea, is there anywhere near you that has a chassis jig?  That would test if the rear chassis has been bonked out of shape and rectify it if it isn't too bad.

Edited by Toon Chris
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