My car pulls to the left under acceleration and braking, but when up to speed its pretty damn straight. is this just the alignment or is there more to it?

 

when was the last time you had a wheel alingment done?

 

heh not since i got the car a few months ago, but i recently sorta bumped off a curb in the rain so im really hoping its just the alignment.

 

my guess would be alignment.


maybe you have more horsepower on the left side of you car.

 

gooooood one! haha

 

Hahahaha, that's funny

 

definately get the alignment checked

 

alignment

 

Wooo Wooo Hold up

If it pulls while braking it might not be alignment it can be brakes, a week caliper or a drum will do that too.

while ur at it check you axels too (CV Boots)

my problem was a torn boot and alignment was fine it only did it when accelerating

 

if it's the boot, look at your wheel..if you see some grease, that's a good indicator you tore something.

 

I think with it pulling also during periods of braking I would relate it more to the tie rod and ball joint or to the braking assembly on the left side of the car, something like a dragging calipher/brake pad.

 

well i noticed since the brush with the curb my brakes started squeaking a little bit, could those things be related?

 

Well you have brushed up a lot more then just alignment probs buddy ...but let pray its not that serious

Hope you didn't screw up ur toe

also check and see (with the Jack provided in ur Car) to see if there is any oil, Grease etc. around rims Brake lines.

 

i'll look at it tomorrow, if there as grease, oil, or anything there, would it be a big job to fix and also, would i need to take care of it quick or would it be okay to drive around on as long as i take it easy?

edit: just talked to my friend who was there when we pulled off the tire this morning and he said he looked around the brake lines and didnt see anything out of the ordinary, and just a quick glance at the tie rods and nothing looks out of the ordinary he says. (he's not a car EXPERT but he does know a hell of a lot more than me.)


[Modified by dyases, 4:59 AM 2/2/2003]

 

well depends if grease you can drive it for a while(not long though) if oil then you might have a prob. I was indirectly asking you to see if you might have damaged any brake lines by mistake.Take the squeeking wheel off and see if you still have pad left. then take the other one out and compare them if they are the same then you are k if one is worren out more then you might have a bad calliper.

 

well if the boot is not worn then it was the curb then its your alignment and check for the brake pads though that will give you an idea which caliper is week and might be going out. use they don't have to match down to every single mm but not too much diff to

 

well i just had the front brake pads replaced at the beginning of this month so i dont think the pads should be bad, how to i know if its a caliper?

 

like i said when you are driving straight (do this in open area, on a even road, and level too away from trafic and people, if you wreck of kill somebody i'm not responsible) drive at normal speed let go of streering wheel to where the car is going straight slam on brakes and see which side the car is pulling on braking. thats the easy way then there is other way that i mentioned above.

 

so if the pads are good do i need to replace the caliper? if so, is there a lot involved in that or is it just remove old/bolt new one on?

 

have a lot of brake fluid handy its pretty much simple....working on a car is like Legos man ......

But get the alignment first and see.

if the caliper where jammed the guy would have told you though (but this was before you met MR. CURB)

 

thanks for all your help man, hopefully i'll get this taken care of tomorrow

 

As my auto shop teacher always says. Never use ripped rubbers. (this being in accordance to the cv boots earlier in the thread)