I recently bought a set of wheels for it 17 inch they came with 215.45.17 on the front and 225.45.17 on the rear. I put them on the car and it drove fine, I then had the NCT and realised the tyres on the front weren't E Marked so I changed them to a set of Barum's in 225.45.17 to match the rear.. As soon as I drove out of the garage it was pulling left, anyway put it through the NCT and it passed. To cut a long story short I have then gone to 3 different tyre / garages to get the wheels aligned and one was a mates garage who has been doing it for years. We brought it out on the motorway and it still pulls left although the machine was saying it’s fine. Overall we spent around 4 hours on it that day and we couldn’t get it to go straight!

So I went on another forum and I was told it’s the steering rack and that my model (2002 EP3 Type R) should have been recalled for a new steering rack a good few years back. However the car is a Japanese import and and I have no way of checking if this is true. I went to my local Honda dealer and asked the mechanic there, he took a look also and said the steering rack was fine, other mechanics have also confirmed this for me.

So now I’m just trying to decide my next steps of what to do? Should I changed the tyres all round to 225.45.17 and risk it or go back to the set up that was working 215.45.17 on the front and 225.45.17 on the rear. Does anyone know if this is even normal for EP3’s? Strangely the guy I bought the wheels off had them on his EP3 and he ran those sizes (215 front 225 rear). I know it seems obvious to go to the old set up but I am going to replace all the tyres in case the rear are the ones acting up.. I just don’t want to spend more money (I don’t have) on tyres and still be stuck with a car that won’t drive in a straight line!

Also it would hardly be because the tyres on the front are reverse rotational and the rear aren't?

Any help or experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Andy

 

Did you try rotating the tires left to right? Tires can cause a mean pull. I've worked on a lot of cars where rotating left to right solves the pull.

Also, camber and caster could cause a pull if they aren't equal on the left and right.

(I work at a tire and alignment shop)

 

They might not be balanced. Take them to a tire shop and have them check. Also you may have bumped something suspension wise and thrown your alignment off.

 

Yeah we tried that swapping them left to right, we thought that would solve the mystery straight away but it didn't, it was the exact same.

The camber on teh car is fine, from what I've been told, I've been to 3 alignment places now and tehy all said theame

I'm going to change the tyres to 225.45.17 all round and if that doesn't solve it, I will put the suspension back to standard. Hopefulyl thet will fix it?

 

Yeah I thought this but I've had them aligned 3 times now and still no joy. The wheels do need to be balanced but thats definitely causing teh pull. As the pull is quite extreme to be honest, the car would change lane on a motorway

 

Maybe a bent control arm then.

 

Do you have a printout of the alignment readings? I doubt changing the tires to a different size will fix the pull if rotating them didn't change anything.

 

Get the SAI and IA readings, along with the other specifications. Your "mate" who's been doing alignments for years should know the value of those angles in alignment diagnostics....

 

Thanks all, I'm bringing it up to the garage in the morning.

I really appreciate your replies/help. @dcfiver I know nothing about alignment, is this something I cshould be supplying or getting? Maybe you are right and his machine is wrong along with the others I went to. Honestly I know nothing about alignment so would there be anywhere i could get the JDM EP3 settings and maybe check them against?

Thanks again

 

You need a LSD. JK, but check your control arms or anything to do with suspension.

 

Thanks, a couple of people have suggested to me about control arms.. The camber on the rear has a bit of stance but looks/seems even, but maybe this is an issue?

If I was to raise the coilovers to standard height would this help?

Thanks again

 

If control arm is bent then the alignment willl very clearly be off

you should be able to eyeball your camber and tell that its off
otherwise...i'd say that the alignment machines are correct and its something else..