2005 C5 Weird Rear Wheel Position Query

[dave_s13]

Hi. 

 

Recently acquired at 92k mile 2005 C5 and just noticed that the offside rear wheel is sitting further forward in the arch than the nearside. 

 

If you stick 2 fingers between the leading edge of the tyre on the offside your fingers touch both the the tyre and the arch. The same 2 fingers on the other side sees some clear space left over. 

 

Ride height measured as being the same each side with a rough tape measure check. Basically the wheel on the offside seems to be positioned further forward than the other. 

 

I'll get some pictures posted up later to clarify but any ideas anyone? Car drives straight and true btw.

 

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/dirtydave999/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-08/IMG_20140826_172541084.jpg

Offside rear wheel

 

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/dirtydave999/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-08/IMG_20140826_172528816.jpg

Nearside rear wheel

 

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/dirtydave999/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-08/IMG_20140826_172507309.jpg

Offside rear - look to have more toe in than the nearside

 

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/dirtydave999/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-08/IMG_20140826_172519494.jpg

Nearside rear - looks to have less toe in than offside.

 

After a bit of reading up it appears the only thing this could be is a misaligned rear radius arm. Given the car was owned new by my old man and it hasn't been in a bang then is it correct to assume it must be the bearing. Can someone give me an indication of what these cost to replace, and if you're doing one is it good sense to do the othe side too i.e. do they have a finite lifespan?

 

Thanks for looking anyway :)

 

After looking again I'm not 100% sure about the degree of toe in on each side? Is it just me that can see a difference, hard to capture with a pic.

 

And here's the car on stilts from the rear

 

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/dirtydave999/IMG_20140826_193232788.jpg

 

I'm confused now I was expecting to see something a bit more /----\

 

????

 

 

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

It could be the radius arm bearings and if so you may also get some noise over bumps but I have no idea of the cost of replacement. Are the tyres the same on each side since it is not easy to see from the photos and is there any uneven wear ? Also check the wheels are on properly but I am sure this would be obvious.

 

If you go under the car to have a good look around, make sure you use axle stands since if a height sensor on the anti roll bar is caught, the suspension may quickly drop to only a few inches above the ground. Before jacking up you should also raise the suspension to max height to avoid problems with the suspension.

[Sixchannel]

Don't know the wheel diameter but are both tyres the same aspect ratio? If one tyre was, say, /70 and the other /65 that would do it.

[coastline taxis]

paul is right it is the radius arm bearings. about 200 a side as there awkward to do unless youve done them. you also need to get the right bearing from the dealer as there quite a few choices