Problem: Car pulls strongly to the right (travelling on the highway at 65mph, if I let go of the wheel I would be in the next lane within a couple of seconds)

1999 Prelude base model with 130,000 miles. New front tires (I had the tire shop replace the new front right tire with another new tire - still pulls to the right). New shocks and springs. Alignment done (see pic). They weren't able to get the specs of the front end to the correct numbers, probably because of the Eibach Prokit springs. However, would this cause the car to pull strongly to the right? I'm scratching my head here... any help is appreciated.

 

caliper sticking?

 

My 1997 prelude did the same thing! Has it ever been in a wreck before? If so possably a brent fame! Messure from corner to corner in your engine bay! that will help you out with knowing if the fame is bent or not! Also messure from the last bolt hole on the fender to the first bolt hole on both sides! As well as from corner to corner on the front end, and from the center of one motor mount to the one directly across from it! Also check all suspension component's! My problem was a sway bar end link on the drivers side!


Modified by HTwankyDeuce at 12:07 PM 6/16/2007

 

Does it happen anytime? Is it worse when you use your brakes? you might need to get your rotors turned. check to see if they are really rough. I just bought a 97 lude and mine does the same, more so when i use my brakes. rotors turned!!!!

 

check your tire pressure

 

mine pulls to the right as well.

and mine is clean.


also... to check if it has been in a accident.... see if all the vins match on the fenders, door jambs, glass....

for a car to have a bent frame.... it would have had to be hit damn hard.... usually causing the air bags to explode..... and usually cars are totaled when that happens.

and itle be in the car fax.

 

sounds like a bent frame. its like 200 to get it pulled back out.

 

Bent frame is highly unlikely. I purchased the car when it had 69,000 miles on it and it didn't pull like this until recently.

I should also mentioned I hit a nasty pot hole about a year ago which bent the right front rim and had that replaced. I bought a refurbished stock wheel. Maybe if that wheel is defective it could be causing the pulll???

 

Question - does this only happen at HWY? Because if this is the case, then it'll just be the crown of the road.... Mine does it but it usually pulls to the left on the highway.

 

This may be a dumb question, but what would be the easiest way to determine that a caliper is stuck?

 

take off your tire
try to spin tire with brakes not engaged. if tire rotates freely your caliper isn't sticking. If you can't spin tire, your caliper is sticking. (of course test with car not in gear and front lifted so tires are off ground.

Also, aply brake, and then release brake and repeat above test.

 

could be a bad tire do you have any weird road noise?

 

From what I can see off your printout you have too much neg camber on the right and left but you can't change no adjustment if your car is like mine. caster is 1 degree off on the left but that might not be a big deal. I would double check tire pressure. I highly doubt its a stuck caliper you would have break noise and be eating through pads. Could be a slightly bent strut. And last tires can also cause pull. But that is easy to diag. Swap tires left to right and right to left if they arent directional. if the are use the rears.

 

since u mentioned replacing the wheel when hitting the pot hole. perhaps your control arm is bent?

 

mine did this too when I first bought it..Turned out to be a defective tire coupled with a very slightly bent rim..replaced both and it's perfect now...People are quick to assume the worst when it usually is something small and subtle

 

I am starting to wonder if the wheel is causing this problem. It would make sense since it (the wheel I had replaced due to a pothole) is the right front rim - the car is pulling to the right... Unfortunately the tires are directional, so I can't swap the wheel from side to side. Would moving the front wheels to the back help solve this problem???

 

Did it pull before the alignment?? Alignment print outs are worthless. Many times you have some monkey who only knows the basic of doing an alignment and will falsify the spec sheet to please the customers. if It didnt do it before it most likely shouildnt be doing it now..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fubar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am starting to wonder if the wheel is causing this problem. It would make sense since it (the wheel I had replaced due to a pothole) is the right front rim - the car is pulling to the right... Unfortunately the tires are directional, so I can't swap the wheel from side to side. Would moving the front wheels to the back help solve this problem???</TD></TR></TABLE>


Rotating the rears would work, plus if you have a bent rim put in the back. You might get a some wabble (ifs its bad) but most likely you wouldnt notice it. Just make sure your tires in the rear arent too wide.

 

i crashed my **** into a ditch,a long time ago,it did the same thing.did u mabe hit a curb or something.it could be your lower control arm,or u bent the frame where it mounts.it can be fixed,i had to get a new subframe,then i had to get another part straighten,but its just fine now,better than new.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fubar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I should also mentioned I hit a nasty pot hole about a year ago which bent the right front rim and had that replaced. </TD></TR></TABLE>
someone bent the rim and tweeked my alignment this way. i went to get an alignment and i was told something was bent but my alignment was perfectly fine... im guessing something like the control arm uper lower whatever is bent.

 

i bet u money thats were ur problem came from.the guy who straighten mine said he has fixed alot of hondas,where people hit a big potholes.it wont cost much,and i got my car back the nexy day.I bet ur tire is wearing down quick to...just take it somewhere that can straighten it,theyll put it on a machine and see where its bent.that is if its not a controll arm....

 

That's a possibility. I had asked them to check the suspension components - I explained how I hit a pothole, bent the wheel, etc. They didn't see anything I guess. But I notice that the right front of my car is lower than the left front of the car. Would a bent control arm cause this?

Seeing that the alignment shop wasn't able to match the right front wheel with the left front wheel alignment specs seems to indicate there is a problem there. This is so frustrating. I've had my car to three different shops within the past month or so and I find it hard to believe nobody can figure out what the problem is. Sorry, just venting...

 

like i said, when i wrecked my car i had to replace the subframe,LCR,and something was bent.GO TO A SHOP WITH A FRAME STRAIGHTNER NOT A REGULAR TIRE PLACE,they will be able to tell u what and where it is.if it dosent read it might just be the controll arm.But i do know that the guy who fixed mine said hes seen it on alot of hondas from people hitting potholes,curbs etc...

 

My Prelude was run into a curb on the passenger side at 60MPH by the previous owner, I couldn't keep the car straight (I literally had to hold the steering wheel 180degrees to keep it straight).

I've replaced the following so far:

-Front:Rear subframe (This made the biggest difference)
-LCA
-Sway bar endlink

The car drives somewhat straighter now... However, I still need to replace the following (I've got most of the parts in my garage):

-Radius arm
-Knuckle
-Hub
-Tie rod end

After that, I'm certain it will be back to normal... If not, I'll change the front:front subframe, and if that doesn't do it, I'll cry in the corner for a few days, and hope God will have mercy on my suffered and magically straighten everything out... Unlikely, but you know.

Anyway, my car was run into a curb at 60MPH, and the frame's straight as can be, so I'd guess you have some suspension damage of somekind... Typically, the first thing to bend will be your knuckle, and it sucks, because it's nearly impossible to tell if it's bent or not.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fubar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... I had asked them to check the suspension components... They didn't see anything I guess... </TD></TR></TABLE>

This is the key part. Even very, very subtle bends in suspension components can have an effect on feel/driving dynamics, especially when large amounts of load are placed on them. This is why it is more common to notice something not quite right with the front end components whilst under breaking or deceleration, or with the left side components while turning right and vise versa, because greater loads are present at that time. It is honestly damn near impossible to just eyeball a suspension piece and decide if its straight or not. I'd say start with the wheel and pray it's that because if its not, pin pointing the suspension part at fault is gunna be a bitch.

EDIT: I learned most of this stuff the hard way when I was Drift0!ng in the snow and decided to go a little too fast, swing the *** out a little too wide, and caught the driver's side rear wheel on a nice curb. The car ended up being limped home looking something like this from the back \_\------\_\ when they should've looked alittle like this /_/-------\_\ Anyways the shitty part about the hit was that it wasn't hard enough to really break anything or bend anything to the point of being obvious. So I took the car to a lot of places everyone had a different part in mind but no one could seem to come up with a reason why they thought it was the part they chose. Then finally, one of the techs decided to be honest with me, "Honestly, in situations like this, it is extremely hard to tell which component is bent. Often times its not even just one component; all of the pieces could be off by a tiny tiny bit making a big difference by the time they all add up and your tire meets the pavement." So yea... I guess the moral of my long *** post is if it does come down to the suspension parts, don't even bother bringing it to the shop, because they will just guess and waste your money trying to figure it out. So instead, you guess, and waste your own money trying to figure it out, it feels much better that way