Wandering steering

[JonnyG]

Hi
i purchased my first Boxster (987.2) at the beginning of October with 16500 miles on the clock and full Poesche service history. Having driven about 1500 miles now I've noticed that any small unevenness in the road surface or even a raised white line will cause the steering to wander and correction at the steering wheel is required. The car is being checked out at Dove House tomorrow but I was wondering if this was something others had experienced and how it has been resolved? Hopefully it's just a case of adjusting the tracking/geometry.
Thanks, John

 

[CLIFFWILKINS]

I would assume it's either wheel alignment or tyres possibly a broken coil spring.

 

[Boxbrownie]

Did you check the tyre pressures? This can often have an influence.

 

[chrishak]

Let me guess, your car is on Pirelli P-Zero's...
I had them on my 986 and the tramlining (which I think is what you are suffering) was of biblical proportions. Eventually swapped them for Continental Sport Contact's, job done!

 

[tscaptain]

tramlining (which I think is what you are suffering) was of biblical proportions.

Would that be the chariots then, Chris?[]

 

[chrishak]

tramlining (which I think is what you are suffering) was of biblical proportions.

Would that be the chariots then, Chris?[]

Inter-region Boxster racing around the Circus Maximus - with slasher knives attached to the wheels? Now there's a thought...??

 

[Motorhead]

John,

If your tyre pressures are correct then on such a low mileage car I'd suspect a tracking anomaly. Dove House should be able to sort it for you.

Incidentally, despite what Chris says, I've run my 987.2 Cayman on (19") P-Zeros and have never experienced any tramlining.

Jeff

 

[duffy]

Check out the age of the tyres and signs of cracking. They degrade with time usually in about 4 years. I had a similar issue, had the tracking and geometry done with no improvement. Replaced the tyres and the problem was solved.

 

[SurferDoc]

Michelin Pilot Sport for me on my 987.1; tried PZero's on my 986 I had a number of issues having swapped from MPS's and thought I'd give them a whirl, great when first fitted but found they slipped on the rim and hence variable day to day, been with MPS's since. By the way I like the fact that you can feel the road, however if the wander is excessive an Official Porsche Centre will advise if there's a problem and find it. I'd wait for your dealer response (Dove House) and if not satisfied have an enjoyable trip to your nearest OPC and seek their advice. No disrespect to Dove House intended I just prefer the OPC's having used various specialists (924s, 964 Carerra 2 Targa & 986) I now use OPC for all her needs and she serves me well because of it .

 

[andrew0401]

Would also be suspicious of temperature - run P Zero on my 981S and always find that as the weather gets colder the grip starts to go and a steering wander appears. Change the wheels over to the winter set (P sotte Zero) and the grip reappears and the wandering tendency vanishes

Andrew

 

[JonnyG]

Good Morning All, not a day to be out with one's roof down. Apologies for my slow response to your helpful comments. My cars on Michelin Pilot Sport but they are probably the original tyres. I checked the tyre pressures again and they were 2 psi lower (Now 30psi). Having topped them up it has certainly improved things and reduced the tramlining. As it's a 90 mile round trip to Dove House I decided to abort the trip and do a few miles on the current pressures so I can provide them with better feedback. The front tyres will need changing in the next couple of months so that may add to the current improvement.

Many thanks for all your advice.

John

 

[SurferDoc]

Hi John,
the tyre pressures should(?) be different front to back they re for the 19's on my 987.1. This would make a difference.
Cheers

 

[JonnyG]

Hi

I thought that I'd update everyone following your helpful comments. My tramlining problem appears to be sorted.

Following checks by Dove House on the tyre pressures, alignment etc we decided to change the 2 front Michelin tyres which were 6 years old. Initially Dove House suggested changing all 4 to a different brand because they could not replicate what I was feeling when driving (occasional light steering, floating to the left or right on bumpy back roads and sometimes when crossing the white lines on motorways) and logically I suppose, they suggested that all 4 tyres were changed in case the tyre tread pattern did not work well with the car. Anyway long story short we agreed to just replace the 2 fronts with Michelin Sport N4 and the car feels great now and well planted. After 6 years it's my feeling that the tyres had lost a lot of their give and flexibility and were well past their best even though the tread depth was good.

Thanks for all your advice, I hope this experience may help someone else in the future.

Cheers