Ricey McRicerton

I'm having issues with my car pulling to the drivers side and am about out of ideas. Finally broke down and came here asking for advice.

Things I've done/checked
-Alignment. Toe is within spec in both the front and rear.
Camber is not in the front. I'm at about -1.5* up front. The rear
is fine. (spec is 1* to -1*)
Caster is not.
I just got this re-done this weekend, so I'll post the actual numbers
later.
-Brakes. None are dragging. E-brake disengages fully

-Axles. Not clicking at all. I'm about 95% they're correctly seated and installed, but I do hear a slight banging noise from the passenger front suspension/axle area on and off.

-Motor mounts. Lower torque mounts are stock with ES Inserts. Both are fine.

-Tire pressures. All at 32 psi.

I'm running out of ideas. It pulls HARD to the left. Hard enough if I take my hand off of the wheel for 5 seconds I'm already in the other lane. Is it possible that the guy who did my alignment set my toe correctly, but cocked my tires to the drivers side? Can a bad CV joint cause this even though the axles aren't clicking? This isn't torque steer because it does it in gear, out of gear, but not as much when I'm braking.

I need something to even check. Thanks guys.

colinproctor

how is the tread on your tires?

not that i think it would pull that hard from uneven tread wear but i am trying to think of anything.

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ricey McRicerton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
-Alignment. Toe is within spec in both the front and rear.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is it 'in spec' or set to 0?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ricey McRicerton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Camber is not in the front. I'm at about -1.5* up front. The rear
is fine. (spec is 1* to -1*)
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Shouldn't make much difference.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ricey McRicerton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Caster is not.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why is this? Is there enough adjustment left to get it into spec?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ricey McRicerton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Is it possible that the guy who did my alignment set my toe correctly, but cocked my tires to the drivers side? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Toe is pretty much how 'parallel' the tires are. So even if they were set like this \\ which is entirely possible with a 2 wheel alignment (which is why I don't like them), they'd still be parallel. This would allow the car do drive straight, but your wheel would be crooked. If the toe wasn't set to zero, and it wasn't set to the centerline of the car (done by a 4 wheel alignment), this could cause pulling; although how much, I don't know.

I guess the other thing would be how long has it been doing this? Is it possible something may be bent?

civtegra_hybrid

if you hear a bearing nosie from the left mite be your front wheel bearing. , and as for the axle boot, it should be replaced no matter if it's the prob. or not, cuz it will soon be. also I would check all your ball joints and bushings, if some or one is bad it can make the alinement way off. (a good alinement guy wouldn't even touch the alinement with out those things being good) and also if your lucky it mite be the camber ware on the tire, but you would see that if you just look at the tires. I'ts has to be one of these things. make sure to check them out.

Ricey McRicerton

Okay, here are the alignment numbers.

Caster isn't adjustable on our cars from what I understand. I have no idea why mines out of spec. It is possible that something is bent, but before I start replacing a ton of suspension parts, I'd like to know what could be bent that would mess my alignment up this badly.

Driver front
camber--1.5* (specified range 1 to -1)
caster- .3* (specified range is .7 to 2.7*)
toe - .08* (specified range is -.04 to .12*)

Passenger front
camber- -1.8*
caster- .2*
toe .05*

Driver rear
camber- -1.3* (specified range is -2.0 to 0.0*)
toe- .08* (specified range is .04 to .16*)

Passenger rear
camber- -1.8*
toe- .11*


I've had this pulling proplem for a couple months, but have yet to . This was a 4 wheel alignment, and it was done at Just Tires on their machine.

I do have some uneven wear on the inside of the tires, but my toe was quite bad before I got it re-aligned.

All of this is with a 96 ITR brake setup on stock shocks with some RS*R springs.

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ricey McRicerton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Caster isn't adjustable on our cars from what I understand. I have no idea why mines out of spec. . </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I believe you're right. I've never thought about it, because I've never been out of spec and needed to adjust it. It is possible that this could be causing your problem. From:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...n.jsp

For vehicles set up to drive on the "right" side of the road, the right side is aligned with a little more negative camber (about 1/4-degree) and a little more positive caster (again, about 1/4-degree) to help the vehicle resist the influence of crowned roads that would cause it to drift "downhill" to the right gutter. Since most roads are crowned, cross-camber and cross-caster are helpful the majority of the time, however they will cause a vehicle to drift to the left on a perfectly flat road or a road that leans to the left.

The weird thing is both sides are on the low side, and the numbers are pretty close to each other... As much of a PITA, would it be possible to set the toe to 0, just to remove that variable and see what happens?

I'd then take it to a few body shops to see if anything is bent...

Sorry I can't be more help.

Teggys1ClnDA

I know when I bought my car the guy threw cheap tires on it and the tread was wearing weird and it was pulling to the right a lot. As soon as I let go of the steering wheel it would just turn. I replaced the tires and my cars been fine ever since.

civicboisi

try swapping the 2 front tires...could be a tire pull but get all of your specs in the green...meaning dead zero...if they are...which by looking at ur numbers they're not...you shouldn't be pulling anywhere unless you have bald or bad tires or if there's a brake pull or tire pull.

Try it!

SlepT ej6

is this during normal driving that it pulls hard to the left? because i can remember with my brothers car that when we wuld gun it lets say from 2nd to 3rd as soon as we shifter the car would want to hit the wall........ i gotta ask him what he did to alleviate the problem, but best guess would be to make sure nothing is bent or check your bushings in the front suspension to see if they are existent!!!

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SlepT ej6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is this during normal driving that it pulls hard to the left? because i can remember with my brothers car that when we wuld gun it lets say from 2nd to 3rd as soon as we shifter the car would want to hit the wall........ i gotta ask him what he did to alleviate the problem, but best guess would be to make sure nothing is bent or check your bushings in the front suspension to see if they are existent!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

That would be torque steer. Every FWD has that problem to some degree.

T-25ej6

alinment

Ricey McRicerton

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by angleyecivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">alinment</TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you even read the thread?

No, it's not torque steer. This is constantly. I can be at 10% throttle or even off of it and it pulls hard to the left. I don't know about running the tires from side to side, as they're uni-directional tires, but maybe I can get a friend of mine at Just Tires to swap them.

EDIT: I've got the front ITR UCAs and LCAs and may try swapping over to them in the next couple of days to see if perhaps that's the problem and some of my stock stuff is bent.

SOHCD16y8

When did this start happening? ( you may have posted it and i missed it) That happened to my friends Ek only to the right, the alignment machine said everything was good but his tie rod was bent causing it to pull to the right, this was right after he went up a steep curb, just trying to help

Ricey McRicerton

I honestly can't remember when it started pulling to the left, but I knew my alignment wasn't right. It got much worse when my alignment was done, even though now my toe is back where it should be.

Ricey McRicerton

Okay, more information. It pulls much harder whenever I'm on the gas. I can fight the wheel to keep the car going straight when on the throttle, and then when I get off of it, the car snaps back to the passenger side.

If I just drive and let the car do it's thing, the wheel uncenters itself to the drivers side, and the car veers that way.

eK9aT10pSi

lower / upper control arm bent ? if you did it at firestone, go to another place and watch them check/reset [if necessary] i go in and just tell them to fix my toe, and thats it. agx/h&r sport springs

Ricey McRicerton

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eK9aT10pSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">lower / upper control arm bent ? if you did it at firestone, go to another place and watch them check/reset [if necessary] i go in and just tell them to fix my toe, and thats it. agx/h&r sport springs</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well I went by my parents house tonight and grabbed my ITR UCAs and LCAs for the front. I don't think any of it's bent, but I'll be swapping it over tomorrow before work. Hopefully that fixes it, but it doesn't explain why it pulls SO much harder under accelleration. I understand torque steer, but I've had 2 different turbo setups, and up until recently, it's not been bad like this.

eK9aT10pSi

i guess this is where lsd helps, lol. thats kinda wierd that it spins one wheel more than the other [more than ususal] to make it go one way. when you drive normally, in a staright line, let go of the wheel, it shifts over. the front hubs bent? the alignment shop can set everything to spec but if that **** is bent, the machine wouldnt know. just some thoughts ...

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ricey McRicerton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I understand torque steer, but I've had 2 different turbo setups, and up until recently, it's not been bad like this. </TD></TR></TABLE>

So the setup you've been running now is the same setup you've had for a while, and it just recently started pulling? Nothing else has happened (curbing, potholes etc.) during that time?

Sorry for all the questions, but this one honestly has me stumped. If it was my car I'd bring it to a few body shops and alignment shops; as much as a pain in the *** that is. But I think I said that already...

Archidictus

I suggest either a bad wheel bearing or a bent wheel. Switch the wheels on the driver's side to the passenger's side and see if that helps anything. Yeah, if you have performance tires they'll probably be facing the wrong way, but if a rim is bent, that'll tell you.

Now that I think about it, if your shock was dead on the driver's front, it's very possible that it would pull progressively harder upon acceleration because the rebound wouldn't be there in time to match the unloading of the front suspension. Push on your car and see how squishy she is.

Good luck with this, Ricey. I hate mystery problems.

Ricey McRicerton

Yes, this setup has been on my car, unchanged for about 6-8 months. It has just recently started doing this, and I've had my aligment done (with the numbers posted in here) as well as my tires re-balanced, so I don't think it's a bent rim (it was done prior to the alignment, and they told me last time I had a bent rim).

I really don't have the time to get it to a body shop, but maybe I can get my brother to take it for me.

eK9aT10pSi

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Archidictus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I suggest either a bad wheel bearing</TD></TR></TABLE>

i was thinking that too but if it was the wheel bearing, it make an annoying sound all the time while driving.

Archidictus

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eK9aT10pSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i was thinking that too but if it was the wheel bearing, it make an annoying sound all the time while driving.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not necessarilly.

RangerDan

I think (among other things) its tire related. If you have uneven wear...something caused it more than likely the vehicle is lowered abit. Then after the alignment the tires will pull in a direction harder because everything is different now. ugh. That explanation sucked.

Your tires wore to a certain pattern before, even if the alighnment was off it will still track ok because they (the tires) wore that way.

Now youve had it aligned but the tires wear pattern is sitting differently and thus causing the pull.

Oh yeah and I know this is an understood but if your offset is a ways off from stock your car would pull harder on rough roads, so Im gonna guess that with the above theory it would mutiply the effect.

Fu*k it ask Tom isnt this his kinda thing. Good Luck!

BauleyCivic

Axle or bent rim IMHO