My car is pulling to the right. What usually needs to get fixed so it stays straight?.... so that when I take it in to the alignment shop I can watch that they do things right

 

since you posted this in the 92-00 forum i am assuming you have a 92-00 civ. just assuming.

there is only 1 adjustment that can be made. front and rear toe.

mose shops charge another service for adjustable camber implements.

so you will only be watching them set the toe. make sure they set the tire pressures.

also bad alignment isnt always the culprit when it comes to a pull. it may be in a tire also. this is diag'd by swapping the front tires and see if the pull goes to the other side.

 

+1. my civic was pulling to the right also. i took it to the local tire shop and they aligned it. keep your tires properly inflated too.

 

Did they just fix the toe? running straight now?

 

take it to the dealer where the alignment machine is actually good, make sure the tire tread depth is all the same, and it doesn't matter what kind of civic he has in this situation so it wasn't really necessary to say what year.

 

what year? i wasnt worried about that.
"My car is pulling to the right. What usually needs to get fixed so it stays straight?.... so that when I take it in to the alignment shop I can watch that they do things right"

never said what car. just making sure in fact it was a civic. nowhere does it say what car it is.

 

76 Pinto....LOL

Watch alignment shops. About 1/4 of them actually know what they are doing. Also ensure that they center your steering wheel and latch it with a latch tool. And yes, if the front tires are different in any way (pressure, tread, brand) it can cause a pull.

 

I recommend taking it to a shop that has the electronic alignment machine because they will give you a print out of what your car's current settings are (both Toe and Camber) and then they will make adjustments to both. Then they will give you a print out of what the settings are after they are complete. Tire Pressure is also a big one because not only will it effect the way your car handles, but it will also effect you gas mileage as well.

 

Just get the dang thing aligned, or at least checked.

 

Here are my alignment specs:

Left Front-
Camber: -2.04 degrees
Toe: 0.01 degrees

Right Front-
Camber: -1.74 degrees
Toe: 0.06 degrees

Left Rear-
Camber: -0.99 degrees
Toe: 0.12 degrees

Right Rear-
Camber: -0.99 degrees
Toe: 0.13 degrees

Any problems?