Vx Out Of Control...

[dobie3]

as though it was running on ice. My wife called yesterday in a near panic, as she was in I-90 in eastern WA, with our '01 VX running as though it was on ice. Now this is a lady who drives about 35K miles per year, with a good record, on all road types and conditions. She could not exceed 30mph without the VX feeling like it was drifting into another vehicle. Literally, the car felt like it was out of control.

She managed the next 20 miles to our local Isuzu dealer, and I suggested they check the differential fluid, as she noticed some oil-like deposit on the garage floor. Thus far, the dealer (and they've been good ) has found nothing, but is speculating it might be the TOD.

Please...any similar experiences, or even intelligent speculation?

Thanks,

[mrtew]

I'm sure I remember something like this before on this board. Try searching and post back here when you find how what it was in case it happens to someone else! Scary!

[SGT.BATGUANO]

Drifting or pulling is most likely front related. Check steering components and front brakes. Check tire pressure all around too.

Was it pulling to one side only and constantly?

Could it have been the road? Was the weather clear?

[t2p]

ditto on SGT's ideas ....
.
could be a frozen caliper .........
.
could be a bad tire - bad/shifted/broken belt .......
.

[WormGod]

I have noticed the same sort of handling in my VX, but I relate mine to the larger, wider tire. More road coverage means I am grabbing more surface and I tend to carry in many road imperfections. I have been desensitised to this though since I have almost always had automobiles with larger tires and have gotten used to it. Fighting the wheel a bit just sorta seems to go with the territory of trying to tame the beast you are piloting. ;)

Good luck finding your problem. :)

[dobie3]

and we did check the various front-end compnents and systems.
And the car continued to misbehave (albeit less so), even after exiting the freeway, and driving on side roads at lower speed.

The service mgr and I spoke this morning, and he indicated that after a rigorous check, two techs drove the VX, and could not replicate the problem.

I had a thought. If this problem proves to be intermittent (God forbid we should experience this again), it could be electrical in nature; i.e., a connection somewhere is being compromised, causing the TOD to misbehave, resulting in the loss of control. But then why isn't this happening to those of you who take your VX's to some punishing off-road courses, with no adverse effects?

Or...as we re-mounted the stock tires two weeks ago, from the 16-inch snow tires, back to the 18-inch stock, a possible imbalance? I cannot imagine it so severe as to cause a loss of control.

Anyway, we pick up the car today, and I'll drive it next week. Meanwhile pray for us, and as always, your thoughts welcome.

Thanks,

[t2p]

more .......
.
..... bad c/v joint ............... u joint ....... ???
.
???
.
.
WormGod - I believe I understand your reference - My VX appeared to 'wander' or 'hunt' more - especially on crowned road surfaces - with 265-60 tires on it. A small change - to 255-55's - same brand/model tire - minimized this.
.

[dobie3]

It seems when the tire dealer re-installed th stock tires, he failed to do the same thing on each side; i.e., he moved one former rear to the front, without doing the same to the other side. Tires must be kept on the same side AND the same axle.

So, when you feel like you're out of control, or simply tenoidng toward one side and the other, check your last tire rotation. This car, whether due to its larger radius tires, and/or it short wheelbase, has different dynamics than other vehicles.

And...both the Isuzu and tire dealer said that a misbalance, would not cause the loss of control. Really? KNOW THY VEHICLE!

[xdfarrx]

That is good news and we all hope it is resolved. I will say I have had weird stuff happen but due to really cold roads, to high of speeds, the short wheel base, and the front weight bias, I have had a couple odd handling situations. These cars I feel like to over steer. Subsequently when in the winter I actually took out 4 psi of air in the rear tires, a tactic from rally days, to give the car a more nuetral turn in. I remember Tone saying that all wheels should be equally inflated because of the TOD but I found nothing undo with the TOD, and it did help the car in ice'y' conditions.
take care

[JAFO]

Originally posted by dobie3i.e., he moved one former rear to the front, without doing the same to the other side. Tires must be kept on the same side AND the same axle.
So you guys don't use the "X" rotation patern?
http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tiretech/rotate1.gif
http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tiretech/rotate5.gif

TireRack.com "On rear wheel or four wheel drive vehicles, rotate the tires in a rearward cross pattern (fig. C) or the alternative X pattern (fig. B)"
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/rotate.jsp

[Green Dragon]

So you guys don't use the "X" rotation patern?

http://www.discounttire.com/dtc/brochure/info/helpDeskTireRotation.jsp

[JAFO]

I'm confused. Green Dragon, are you also interested in my question, or are you backing me up? As Discount's image shown below also indicates "X" rotation on 4WD vehicles.

http://www.discounttire.com/images/tireRotation.gif


Originally posted by Dobie3:Tires must be kept on the same side AND the same axle.

I just thought of this; How do you rotate the tires and keep the tires on the same side AND the same axle? Besides driving them down the road!

[psychos2]

what he means is keep the tires on the same side and keep fronts and rears together. fronts go to the rear and rears go the front.lefts stay on the left and rights stay on the right. shawn