Rubbing noise from OSF wheel when turning left and other steering maladies

[WoolyFox]

Hello all again,

Something that's been annoying me since I bought the car just under 2 weeks ago, when turning left at around 1/2 lock there is a distinct rubbing noise coming from the OSF tyre (driver's side front tyre just to be sure). The outside shoulder on the tyre is also worn. There is no noise turning right.

I had new rear tyres fitted this morning and had a 4 wheel alignment done to see if this would fix the shoulder wear. It fixed a separate issue with my steering wheel not being straight when the wheels were but the rubbing noise is still there at 1/2 lock when turning left.

I suspect the wheel is catching on something while turning left but cannot see what it could be as there are no obvious wear marks on the wheel lining or even the chassis. Unless I am missing something does anyone have an idea of what it is?

Also a more worrying sign, when I was testing this out in concrete car park, the front tyres left nice black tyre marks. Would this mean my front diff is locked or a dragging brake?

Just to add, the tyre fitter took it for a short test drive to check the alignment and suspects I have a binding brakes or handbrake and worn out rear bushes. I do not know what to make of this but as MOT time is fast approaching I would like to nail this down before going down the long (and possibly expensive) garage route.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Hi WF. Firstly there is no diff lock in the front so it can't be locked unless there is a fault with it.
Secondly, they should have checked the rear bushes before they did the alignment check because if they were worn the rear axle would not be sitting exactly where it should.
Thirdly binding brakes and caliper problems are not uncommon on Cruisers of your vintage so its not a surprise its been mentioned. Jack both sides of the front off the ground and feel for any extra resistance to the wheels turning, press the brakes and check again. Do the rear the same way also handbrake on and off.

100's do have a reputation for scrubbing the outer edge off the tyre, I've just had my 100 four wheel aligned this week to remove positive camber on the N/S/F, also resulting in outer wear but not in a tracking kind of way. This was the result of in the past having 2 top wishbones fitted by the previous owner and the geometry not checked. The top bushes are fitted in an adjustable mechanism which allows the camber to be adjusted to suit the wishbone should it be replaced.
After all aspects of the geometry were adjusted to spec the truck drives in a truer fashion, with better straight line stability and better self centering. BTW I checked all the rear bushes before it went and they were all perfect ( its done 110K though).
Hope this helps.

 

[WoolyFox]

Thanks for the info, will take a look this weekend or next if the weather is as foul as forecast. I have it booked into a garage on Tuesday to sort out the brakes as I think the calipers and handbrake a need a little persuasion as it had been parked up for 6 months on a car dealer forecourt.

Next job to sort out is the rust and a new windscreen fitting.

 

[WoolyFox]

A small update - got it into my local garage for them to diagnose the brake noise and was told the OSF brake was seized and both front pads were down to metal. They also said I got it early enough that the discs themselves are still good.

Overall they will fit a new OSF caliper (I guess it's OEM), front brake pads for both sides and clean up my rear disc and adjust the handbrake. All in all a slightly expensive job but nowhere near as bad as needing two new calipers and discs!