Hi all,

Just wanted to check with the group before freaking out. When I maneuver out of my drive way I need to make a tight turn in reverse. When I turn the wheel all the way to the right, an awful sound comes out of the "front right tire area". Is this normal and should I just avoid very tight turns? In case it's relevant, this also happens maneuvering forward in a super tight turn.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

Can you describe the sound?

Could be the shocks/springs, could be the power steering, tire rubbing, swaybars binding?

Somehow I got the idea it's not good to hold the power steering on any car at full lock for any length of time. No idea if that's true or why.

 

Is the car AWD?

 

I get a loud "rubber chirping" sound from front passenger wheel area on when wheel turned all the way (can't remember right or left turns). 997.1 C2 19" wheels lowered on HR springs. Can't remember what the reason is but when I first got the car the dealer I did a PPI at told me not to worry about it. 3 years and 24K Miles later no issues, though I always lay off the turn when I hear it.

 

It's a kind of thunk/clack sound. It's a 997.1 CS4

 

Sounds like spring binding. Mine does it sometimes too. The front struts rotate when you turn the wheel.

 

Me too. 997.1 100,000 kms, lowered on H&R's. Loud creaking noise in reverse.
My indy suggested the strut bearing at the top of the shocks.
As long as I know its nothing loose or going to bust.
He said I could fix it or leave it. Don't care, left it.
I make more noise getting out of bed in the morning.

 

Had what i think is the same problem. Tire dealer told me the term they use for this (I forget), but basically, when I replaced the tires (Pirelli P Zero to Michelin SS), it stopped. sounded like the tire was rubbing the fender well, but it was not.

 

I have to make a hard turn at the end of my driveway to prevent a nose scrape as the mouth of the driveway drops down. Due to the short suspension travel, the outside front tire either completely or nearly lifts off the pavement. Since I tend to be lightly on the brakes at this point, the ABS kicks in on that wheel and makes a mechanical stuttering sound that you can sometimes feel in the steering wheel as well. I wouldn't rank it at the level of an "awful" sound though. Could it be this? I guess in your case it sounds like it is on the other tire... the one where the suspension becomes more compressed during the exit.

A close examination of the tire and fender well liner right after you hear this may reveal a rubbing due to the combination of compression and hard turn. I'd take a look for this. If you have trouble seeing anything, you can use the autocross trick of rubbing chalk on the corners of the tire and you may see some chalk transfer to the wheel well lining. This is my guess at what you are experiencing. If your car happens to be lowered then this is even more likely.

 

Same problem, and with PZero's. Thanks for that! And these are relatively new set (back in June).

 

There is nothing wrong guys, its a perfectly normal result of caster angle combined with wide tires, and of course exacerbated by cold weather. Caster is the difference between the geometric vertical axis of the tire patch and the center of the wheels axis of rotation when steering. If there was no caster angle there would be no scrubbing sound. Search for walnuts, for some reason guys say it feels like driving on nuts, there's probably about a zillion hits that's how often this comes up. I prefer scrubbing, because that's what the tread is doing, scrubbing as the tread blocks are forced to slide across the pavement.

Anyway, without caster there'd be no scrubbing, but also no steering feedback, as there would also be no force working to make the car naturally want to go in a straight line. Study the diagrams, think about what happens when the wheel is turned full lock, it will (should) all make sense.

(Do I get a prize for being first?)

 

You are cranking in too much steering lock (wheels turned in too far) at slow speed. The front tires are slipping not rolling on the road surface because of the steering geometry and the fact that you have turned the steering wheel too sharply. The car cannot turn that sharply and you can feel the front begin to slip and bounce. Turn the wheel back to center (counter steer) and make your turn less acutely. This is not a fault. The car has a set turning radius and no steering stops to prevent you from turning the steering in too far. Worn tires will slip more and cold roads also make it more noticeable Pay attention to what the tires are telling you.

 

Glad I am not the only one - but the sound is from my left wheel area. I was getting worried for a while, but I just adjusted how I backed out. All other performance is perfect - at least as much as I can tell.

 

Chuck911...awesome. Thank you! I learn a lot from this forum.

 

There's no need to adjust your driving or anything else. The scrubbing sound is nothing more than tread blocks sliding across pavement. Same exact thing (from the tires point of view) happens every time you take a turn hard. In fact if you pay close attention as you corner harder and harder you will notice this same sort of sensation, which merely indicates the tires are working. Work them harder they will do it more, the sound turns into a squeal.

In case you're still wondering, this is all very easy to test and prove its not something else. Simply go on the road or parking lot, turn full lock, drive forward and backwards a little. The effect we are talking about here relies on traction, so pay attention to your pavement- is it level? dry? rough? smooth? As long as everything is the same left and right then you know it is caster and not something else.

Edit to add one more thing: Whenever steering is adjusted, like when setting toe-in, one step is to make sure that when the car is going straight the steering wheel is pointed straight ahead as well. What the tech sometimes forgets is to set this so the whole suspension is dead-on straight ahead. If they don't do this then you get a car that goes straight, wheel is straight, but the whole thing is cocked off to one side. Everything works fine, except you find the car will turn at full lock one way tighter than the other. If this is the case then you will notice the caster scrubbing a little more one way than the other.