Hi everyone, just want to rattle your brains if I may. Me and my partner were out greenlaining in our FL2 with a group of others at the weekend and everything was great. Once we got onto the dual carriageway I noticed that the car pulled to the right but only when:

The car is in 5th or 6th gear and more than half throttle is used/the revs are at about 1500rpm in 5th or 6th.

The best way to describe it is it almost feels like torque steer. If for example I'm doing 60mph and I hit the resume button on the cruise control, the car will head right so much so that I have to use a small amount of counter steer to keep it going straight. Then once the throttle/torque has eased off, it will then track straight once again.

When accelerating gently it doesn't do it.
It doesn't seem to do it at lower speeds, or if it does then it's not noticeable.
It brakes straight and true.

It's having new tyres this week and front wheel alignment as we notice that each time we go off roading, it tweaks the tracking slightly but will see how the rears are doing and will get them to adjust if necessary.

My thinkings are:

This is just a geometry issue and could be fixed when it gets tracked but would've thought it would do it at any speed and not just under load.
Could the car be showing that a drive shaft is on it's way out and this is the symptoms of it. Although I would've thought there would be a grinding sound or it would complain when cornering.
Would a PTU failing give this sort on sensation?

I've taken the front wheels off hoping to see something broken or loose but everything seems fine.

Front and rear anti-roll bars look fine and bushes look ok.
I've given everything a tug and a wiggle and the only thing that was loose was the top nut on the drivers side drop link but I wouldn't of thought that would lead to the pulling that we are having?

Your thoughts please.

I think that you have the two most likely reasons noted logically when you say.

This is just a geometry issue and could be fixed when it gets tracked but would've thought it would do it at any speed and not just under load.
Could the car be showing that a drive shaft is on it's way out and this is the symptoms of it.

Without something broken/bent/out of align I would not think that you would have enough torque at 60mph to pull the car off track.

Just carry on as you are going and get these checked. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Quote:

It's having new tyres this week and front wheel alignment

I'm hoping while I'm at the garage they can tell me how far out the rear is as it's alot of extra money for something that might only be a fraction out. I know that's probably the wrong way to look at it but I own a Freelander so funds are permanently tight .

As for it being seized, hopefully not as we had a lift kit and new shocks and springs fitted not too long back.

Quote:

'As for it being seized, hopefully not as we had a lift kit and new shocks and springs fitted not too long back. Very Happy'

You need to have a proper 4 wheel alignment check. The Hunter wheel alignment system is supposed to be the best and have it done by someone who knows what they are doing! You admit to greenlaning so your car gets put through tougher use than most FL2’s.

As it only started after your green-laning day then its most likely that this is the cause and you have bent something or finished off an already worn part - suspension bush maybe.

Worn bushes on the suspension arms - excessive movement during acceleration will alter the geometry.

Out of interest , did you get a 4 wheel alignment after the lift kit installation? Jules

RocketStu wrote:

That might be your reason for change in geometry?

This is taken from the Muddy Mods website who produce the lift kit. "The camber angle and caster angle are both compensated for in the kit itself as these are fixed." While I said that we have had the lift kit fitted recently we have also covered a fair amount of miles with it on and the car drove on the whole much the same pre-lift as to post-lift as this issue has only come about since our last trip out.

BossBob wrote:

You need to have a proper 4 wheel alignment check. The Hunter wheel alignment system is supposed to be the best and have it done by someone who knows what they are doing! You admit to greenlaning so your car gets put through tougher use than most FL2’s.

Thanks for the advice that I'll keep in mind for next time it gets tracked as green laning and off roading regularly knocks the tracking out. But touch wood, we have never had any uneven tyre wear at any point so the car must be pointing in generally the right direction.

jules wrote:

As it only started after your green-laning day then its most likely that this is the cause and you have bent something or finished off an already worn part - suspension bush maybe.

Worn bushes on the suspension arms - excessive movement during acceleration will alter the geometry.

Out of interest , did you get a 4 wheel alignment after the lift kit installation?

As part of the fitment of the lift kit, Warren at Muddy Mods tracks the car, especially seeing as we had new shocks and springs all round too.

I am on the same sort of logic as you regarding an expired bush or we have tweaked something while we were out. But from rolling around on the floor yesterday, everything looks straight and the bushes look in good shape and I gave everything a good tug. Although I know that the smallest of movement from a bush or a tiny bend in something can cause big effects.

My thinking would be that if it was a worn bush or something was bent, wouldn't I be feeling the effects of it at lower speeds and braking?

I will keep this thread updated once I get to the bottom of it.

Hi
Last time, I had the same issue, the car would swerve lightly to the right only when accelerating and would come back on course. The issue was that we had the lower arm suspension bolt not tighten. we just had all the suspension re done and the dealership didnt do their job well. We brought it to a tyre company who saw the problem once car was put on the lift.

A few thing to look at:

Had a terrible torque steer, although on suspension everything seemed ok. Just lived with it until the torque steer was so bad that it was dangerous to overtake someone on a highway. It turned out that one of lower control arms bolts was a little loose (had installed it 6 months prior), tightened that up, and torque steer disappeared.

Had a similar thing one year after that - no torque steer, but the car pulled to right side whenever in higher gears. Checked tyre pressure, alignment, all was good, also the control arm looked good as it had less than 30 000 km on it. The pulling was also complimented with slight vibration in steering wheel and noticeable steering issues on uneven surfaces. Replaced the right lower control arm again, and it solved the issue. The big control arm bushing had gone.

Our car was left in the very capable hands of Warren at MuddyMods once again and it caused him a bit of head scratching. It turned out to be the steering rack. Rack now replaced and the car is running all straight and true once again.

so what was the fault with the rack?