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MG MGF Technical - Tramlining

Another recent thread raised the subject of "tramlining" - the front wheels following ruts and bumps in the road, making steering feel very imprecise.

I did not had this problem on my F and nor so far on my TF. But the family V70 Volvo with 225/45 Pirelli tyres all round is very susceptible to this - especially under braking.

Is there a solution to this or is it going to be an inevitable feature of the car. Could someone explain what "toe angles" are, how they are relevant to this problem and whether this is something that can be adjusted to rectify the problem? I will need a new pair of front tyres soon and wonder whether a change of type is either adviseable or likely to have any effect.

Thanks in advance

John
John

John

What wheels did you have on the F 15" if so they are quite narrow compared to the volvo, also the TF has narrower wheels on the front.

As for Toe angle I am not quite sure how these effect tramlining but all they do is effect the distance between the front of the weels compared to the back.
Toe in would be the the front of the wheels being narrower at the front than back (wheels point in at front). Toe out is the opposite wider at the front(wheels point out at the front).

The other thing which can effect tramlining is tyre pattern.

Hope this helps

Tom
Tom Randell

Changing to a narrower tyre size on the front should ease this a little. I think you need a Volvo BBS for more details. Maybe try 215/50 on the front, what does the basic volvo model have on the front anyway?

I did not find toe angle to have any effect on tramlining, but then again I'm no expert, only from my F driving with 185s, 205s and 195s on the front. I settled for 195s for less damn understeer and no tramlining.
Tony Smith

I remember seeing a note about Volvos saying that they are susceptable to diffrent types of tyres in the same way as the 'F' but the bulletin seemed to be harsher in a sort of void insurance sort of way- but this might not be the V70, or I might be compleatly wrong (as I don't have a volvo I didn't pay a lot of attention) seek advice from a good tyre dealer rather than the Volvo dealer.

Will
Will Munns

If you put "volvo" and "tramlining" into www.google.com it would appear that its not an unknown phenominum.

It would seem that negative camber can accentuate it (from http://www.autospeed.co.nz/A_0913/page1.html?src=suggestions which actually seems to be quite a good write-up on wheel geometry)

Neil.
Neil

Folks

Thanks very much for your help. My Volvo is a T5 and the review article on the S60 T5 you mentioned sounds alarmingly familiar.

This BBS has been harsh on MG dealers many times. Well, the handling difficulties I've experienced with the V70 I've mentioned to two Volvo dealers - neither of whom acknowledged any recognition of a problem at all. They either didn't know or didn't care.

I've now got a lot more understanding to quiz them or a tyre dealer before making the necessary front tyre replacements.

Thanks once again.

John
John

This thread was discussed on 13/05/2002

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