Dragging front wheels and rear view mirror

[homesea]

I've noticed the car has started dragging its front wheels sidewise when in reverse and a fair bit of lock on it.

Now I'm not sure if this is due to low levels of grip on the road or if something has worn. If its wear and tear is this most likely to be a ball joint?

Also I went to adjust the rear view mirror and it fell off, I think due to the cold. I have some mirror glue but can't get the old glue off the window to get a nice clean surface to stick to. Anyone any ideas?

 

[hotblack944]

Raid the kitchen draw for a metal scraper blade used for cleaning ovens - worked a treat the last time this happened to me.

 

[Lowtimer]

That wheel-dragging thing sounds to me like the consequences of a limited slip diff (which I assume you have) overpowering the grip of the front wheels on a low-friction surface.

 

[homesea]

Tried an ice scaper but can't shift the blob of glue.

As to the LSD I do have one, so you saying the car turns faster than it should due to the diff locking one rear wheel and the front wheels cant keep up??

It's always done it a bit but seems worse at the moment, none of my other 944 have done it but they didnt have a LSD.

 

[Lowtimer]

Not quite: I am suggesting that the LSD causes both rear wheels to rotate at the same speed, or close to the same speed, which makes the car basically try to reverse in a straight line despite the steering being on lock, and that makes the front wheels drag rather than the nose swinging out as you would expect.

Understeer in reverse, if you see what I mean.

I might have misunderstood what you were describing.

 

[homesea]

Not meaning to hijack the thread guys, but the LSD thing is really interesting to me - my S2, which has an LSD, has always "sung" at parking speeds when I put a lot of lock on, either forward or reverse. I assumed the rack or PS pump were behind it, and maybe they are, but factoring in the fight there must be between what the rear axle is trying to do and what I'm asking the front axle to do, it's not surprising there are complaints! - and I'd never thought of that. I now wonder if this is a case of "They all do that, sir."?

Thanks, Lowtimer!

ORIGINAL: Lowtimer

Not quite: I am suggesting that the LSD causes both rear wheels to rotate at the same speed, or close to the same speed, which makes the car basically try to reverse in a straight line despite the steering being on lock, and that makes the front wheels drag rather than the nose swinging out as you would expect. 

Understeer in reverse, if you see what I mean.

I might have misunderstood what you were describing.

 

[Northern924]

Not heard this theory before, mine does it but as far as I know it does not have a LSD, it did get worse when the tryes were worn and has improved since fitting new rubber.

Would worn ball joints cause it as well as thats what I was putting mine down to and had it next on the list of mechanical repair jobs....

 

[Mr.FixitNorm]

My 944s does that as well it feels like the car is trying to go in a straight line but the front wheels are `dragging' when on a tight lock. Mine doesn't have a LSD either. It's just passed it's MOT and both the tester and the garage owner remarked on how good every thing was underneath.

I've always put it down to the 205/50/17 boxster wheels on the front ( with the 255/40/17's on the back ), but I'm no expert.

Norm

 

[homesea]

Maybe they all do it!

But I'm sure my old 944 didnt.

I have the normal 16" wheels and new tyres so not sure.[&o]

 

[sawood12]

LSD's only actually work at speed don't they? At low speed the plates should slide past eachother allowing the wheels to operate at different speeds? At higher speeds when drive-shaft speed differences are higher and you get high differences in wheel speeds (for example when one wheel loses grip and spins up) the higher friction generated by the plates causes then to grip more and cause more resistance until they lock? Maybe i've misunderstood the way these things operate.

I noticed a bit of light scrubbing of the front wheels while reverse parking on full lock with my car (which didn't have an LSD). I always put it down to the wheels toeing in or toeing out on full lock. With these things having longitudinally mounted engines meaning you get more lock than a transversly mounted engine'd car (which most of us are used to these days), therefore the toeing-in or toeing-out of the wheels at full lock will have more of an effect.

 

[Lowtimer]

Well, for sure if cars with open diffs do the same thing it can't be anything to do with the LSD.

 

[graham.webb]

For the mirror a gentle scrape (a plastic ruler?) might clean it off. This happened to me the week before a track day (essential to have a mirror for that), an urgent phone call to the local OPC and others drew a blank.

Then I remembered a similar problem with our Fiesta, easily solved by a special self adhesive pad from the Ford dealerTrim to new shape, peel off the paper backing and on it goes! Just 90p I recall.