HEAVY steering

[JNW]

Yep, done that.
JW

[R0B]

its likely to be one of the following..
1. Low tire pressures
2. Incorrect wheel alignment
3. Stiff track rod ends
4. Steering rack

[Cruz]

Weetabix? An egg a day?

[scottbott]

have you got standard wheels and tyres,I went for a test drive of a westie poptop with BRM wheels and massive tyres on,could hardly turn the steering wheel at low speeds and still heavy as hell at speed,bloody awful it was

[fullsunian]

Swap your front wheels from side to side...that should sort your pulling out. Do all the above and also jack the front end up so both front wheels are off the ground, then try turning the steering. If its free then that how it is, if not drop a track rod off at a time and see if that makes a difference. if it don't then your looking at steering column or inturnal within the rack...
IAN

[JNW]

Thanks. I've got standard wheels and tyres, but that's how it feels, very tight at very low speeds.

I'll try Ian's fault finding list, and swap the wheels round too.

I can't find a 'chatty' garage round Bristol. They're all so well run that you feel like they are going to start charging you the hourly rate for a conversation.

Cheers guys.

Julian

[New Kentish Campers]

Also check the brake caliper on the n/s in case its got a piston that's seized or partially seized.

When you had the 'tracking' done,was that done on a 4-wheel infra-red machine? These machines are way superior than the older gun-sight units and would show up any caster or camber differences, as one of these, if out of tolerance, would also make the van pull to one side. And, as the rear wheels are checked at the same time,would show up any issues.

I'd also try putting the rear wheels to the fronts; the fronts could, if the geometry is wrong, have bad tread/their own individual wear issues areas that could well mask the problem.

[..lee..]

i got 255`s on my syncro and the steering is light. with the 225`s i have on the early westy the steering is much heavier. dont really know why, when its back on the road i`ll have to sort it, i think its either down to the castor angle, or the tyre pattern???????

[scottbott]

the tyres on the westy looked like car tyres,did not know what pressure was in them,even the father in law had a drive and commented on how heavy the steering was,tyres may have had hardly any pressure in them,bit of a flash git selling the van,telling us how he races porsches etc etc,father in law races single seaters and reckoned the bloke was full of crap,could not open the sliding door all the way as it hit the tyre and he did not know what to do about it,needless to say did not buy the van

[Cruz]

me neither
low pressures did though

I have 42psi in my front 215/60 X 16"

225/55/16 35psi front 45 psi rear

[kevtherev]

interesting.. so a 7 psi difference makes no difference to the steering weight
Even wear across the tread width is a great indicator of good tyre wear, too much on the shoulders is indicative of under pressured tyres.
I just changed my Pirelli P6 's after 4 years use, they were cracked and out of date, even wear meant there was a good years use left, but the tyres were an accident waiting to happen.

I have 45 in the rear too cruz

[Cruz]

After 18 months the tyres are wearing evenly but I might run them at 42 on the front for a week just to see if I noticed any difference steering wise