hey guys i ran into a problem after rebuilding my engine. when im under acceleration the car pulls to the right and when i let off it pulls to the left. i just got it aligned but something doesnt seem right. it feels scary when im hitting 100mph. im running turbo and about 380 to the wheels if it helps any. any ideas?

 

if it's pulling when you let off, then it can't be torque steer.

 

do u have any idea what it could be? it slowly pulls to the right when im cruising. i took it back to the alignment shop because of this and they made some adjustments but it didn't fix the problem. i dont know what to do... if feels so unsafe. any ideas?

 

Bent, broken, or loose front suspension component. Most likely loose.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alexisthemovie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if it's pulling when you let off, then it can't be torque steer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

A force is still torquing the car one way or the next... a lot of newer motorcycles (and nearly all race-prepped bikes) are using a slipper clutch. A slipper clutch is simply a clutch that allows positive engagement one direction, but limits back-torque in the other... it slips when back-torque is applied as is the case when downshifting and locking the tire.

It sound like one of 3 things to me:

1) a brake dragging

2) a loose suspension component somewhere

3) actual, bonefied torque steer (&lt;--- most likely the case)

To answer your question: yes a limited slip differential will greatly improve your car's torque steering issues. Other things will come into play, like alignment, tire pressures, suspension corner weights and rim offset, but an LSD is a great start to making your car more usable.

 

they problem is that i do have an lsd and i still have this problem. i have a quaife lsd to be exact. i drove it again today and when im accelerating it kind of moves side to side. its scary. so im battling to keep it going strait. what kind of components from the suspension can possibly be loose that are causing this? i just checked my suspension today before taking down my transmission for service and everything seemed to be fine.

 

check your tie rods maybe

 

check your Toe too.

 

the alignment shop checked them and made me replace two of um. any other ideas? ive ran a search but cant seem to find anything

 

how can i check the toe?

 

Well when you go to the allignement shop there suppose to check it for you. You need a machine to check it. try getting your tires rotated and balanced too. If it's only doing it at higher speeds theres a good chance your tires just need to be balanced.

 

i think i tried everything i could think of. i balanced the wheels and it didnt make a difference. it does it at low speeds too. when im under full throttle is when i begin to battle to keep it going strait, but when im hitting high speeds is when its most scary.

 

oh yeah when i got the paper from the alignment shop everything was in spec. so everything was in green and nothing in red. so im guessing the toe was fine.

 

what shop did you take it to?? a good performance shop will notice thing better than other (Brake Plus, Meideke,etc...) I got an alignment at Brake Plus and everything on paper is good but my car still pull to the right a little when driving. So I took it to a Honda Performance shop and found out that my "LCA" was bend.

 

maybe you just own a high horsepower FWD. when i catch traction my car wants to swerve, i just got used to it and can control it know. also means i gotta turn up the boost.

 

Even a Quaife differential will allow more torque to one side or the next... just not to the extent that an open differential does.

Also, as you accelerate your suspension's caster and toe settings both change, when you let off the throttle they change again (but the opposite way). This is caused by bushing deflection, and short of replacing bushings with spherical bearings, or adding a traction bar there is not much to counteract this problem. Having too much toe out can cause a very darty car, and will add to the torque steering issue. Also, having rims that stick out farther than stock (numerically lower offset number) or that are wider than stock will add to torque steer, as the farther something is from the steering axis, the more force it can exert.

With all of my mindless rambling done (hey, I am bored at work, pulling a bunch of Over-Time), let me offer you the following:

With out seeing your specific car, there is not much I can do except rely on past experiences. Your car may have something wrong, or it may simply be the fact that front wheel drive cars with 300+ hp are going to be a handful under power. You are putting out over double the car's original horsepower... you might have some issues.

 

i took it to a local spot around my house (los angeles) called fast wheels. is there any reputable alignment shops around my area that u guys know of that can better assess my problem? i also have anti sway bars that i bought but they pretty much seem useless.

 

West-end alignment is somewhere in So Cal... they are pretty well respected when it comes to this sort of thing.

 

alright thanks

 

Could also be if you have negative camber and the type of tire you have as a combination. Could just be following grooves in the road taking it side to side.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tornadom &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Even a Quaife differential will allow more torque to one side or the next... just not to the extent that an open differential does.

Also, as you accelerate your suspension's caster and toe settings both change, when you let off the throttle they change again (but the opposite way). This is caused by bushing deflection, and short of replacing bushings with spherical bearings, or adding a traction bar there is not much to counteract this problem. Having too much toe out can cause a very darty car, and will add to the torque steering issue. Also, having rims that stick out farther than stock (numerically lower offset number) or that are wider than stock will add to torque steer, as the farther something is from the steering axis, the more force it can exert.

With all of my mindless rambling done (hey, I am bored at work, pulling a bunch of Over-Time), let me offer you the following:

With out seeing your specific car, there is not much I can do except rely on past experiences. Your car may have something wrong, or it may simply be the fact that front wheel drive cars with 300+ hp are going to be a handful under power. You are putting out over double the car's original horsepower... you might have some issues.</TD></TR></TABLE>

too much toe in causes them to be darty...but they turn quicker
too much toe out gives higher stability but doesnt turn as quick.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crave13k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hey guys i ran into a problem after rebuilding my engine. when im under acceleration the car pulls to the right and when i let off it pulls to the left. i just got it aligned but something doesnt seem right. it feels scary when im hitting 100mph. im running turbo and about 380 to the wheels if it helps any. any ideas?</TD></TR></TABLE>

have you checked for a sticking caliper? when i had a front caliper sticking my car was extremely unstable at high speeds when accelerating or braking. i thought the alignment was the problem so i went to les schwab, they told me the alignment was fine and the caliper was the problem.

 

how can i check if the caliper is sticking? i know its not the road that is making me swirve... this problem started happening after i had the engine rebuilt, upgraded the sway bars, installed the camber kits, and installed the quaife lsd. oh yeah i might add that when i was hitting like 115ish and tapped the brakes the car felt like it was fishtailing like crazy! is that normal?

 

check your rear brakes. check to see if the pads/shoes have even wear.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crave13k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how can i check if the caliper is sticking? i know its not the road that is making me swirve... this problem started happening after i had the engine rebuilt, upgraded the sway bars, installed the camber kits, and installed the quaife lsd. oh yeah i might add that when i was hitting like 115ish and tapped the brakes the car felt like it was fishtailing like crazy! is that normal?</TD></TR></TABLE>

jack up your car and spin the wheels by hand. my front left wheel was much harder to turn than the right.