Pulling to the left

[Rybo Flavin]

I have an '03 Touring with the stock chrome wheels, 22 k miles. When I purchased the car, it had the stock cr@p Eagles and I noticed the car was pulling to the left. It pulls more while coasting than it does under throttle and braking does not affect it one way or the other. I inspected the tires and found that one of the front tires was brand new while the other was pretty worn down. I noticed scratches on the paint where the jackstand goes, so I'm pretty sure the car had a flat on the passenger-front in the past. I switched the tires around and it started pulling real bad to the right.

So, I bought some new Yokohoma Avid V4S and since I live near the TireRack.com facility in South Bend, I had them install them. They didn't find any problems with the rims. Anyway, it's back to pulling to the left as I mentioned above. I've tried swapping the tires from front to back, but it didn't help and I've also messed with the tire pressures.

Do you think the alignment could cause this to happen? Maybe it got knocked out of whack when the flat tire happened? Anything else I could check?..brakes?

[technobear]

Usually when i get new tires i have it aligned anyway. but yes its very possible that the alignment is off. Park the car on a level parking lot. then step back and check out how it sits. Does it sit level? ( its extremely remotely possible that the frame is bent from hitting a curb or ditching the car.)

BTW im near fort wayne. Small world eh?

[quicksilverdon]

quote:Originally posted by Rybo Flavin

I switched the tires around and it started pulling real bad to the right.
Do you think the alignment could cause this to happen? Maybe it got knocked out of whack when the flat tire happened? Anything else I could check?..brakes?

Alignment. If it were brakes, when you swapped the original tires it wouldn't have mattered. Suspect tires wore because of mis-alignment, then when you swapped 'em the wear caused pull.

[RallyDRock]

take it in for a pre-alignment inspection because if a ball joint or control arm bushing is bad than the alignment is worthless. get an alignment so you sont wipe out your new rubber. does it pull to the left the same all the time? usually camber out of spec would cause lateral pull.

[Rybo Flavin]

quote:Originally posted by RallyDRock

does it pull to the left the same all the time? usually camber out of spec would cause lateral pull.

I had the alignment done...everything is in spec now, and the ball joints were fine, but it's still pulling to the left when coasting. Once you hit the gas and apply torque to the wheels, it straightens out perfectly...let off the gas and it starts hooking to the left again. I tried rotating the tires one more time, but it has no effect. Also, I changed tire pressure to 40 lbs. on drivers/front & 30 lbs. on passenger/front and it helped a little bit by putting more drag on the right side...but it's not a good permanent solution, that I do know.

Any other ideas?

[purple04]

Take it back and let them know what your problem is, so they can 'adjust' for it. A basic alignment is just toe, since camber isn't usually off, and caster is not adjustable. They may have to do a bit more (check SAI) to resolve it. And to those that complain about shop prices, the comeback is part of the reason. When I turned wrenches, I had a lady come back to complain about her engine idle quality after an idler arm (suspension part) was installed! True story. [:O]
Sounds like you have a legitimate complaint. If you tend toward the heavier side of the scale and often drive alone, ask if they can check/set it with you in the car.

[Rybo Flavin]

Why would it only pull while coasting though? If it were alignment, wouldn't it pull even under throttle?

[2step]

Sure sounds like a control arm bushing problem. I don't know if you can tell by a visual inspection. I saw some posts on this and other forums about how they don't hold up well.[:I]

[RallyDRock]

agreed if it changes under accel/brake then i would also suspect that the control arm bushings are worn. What happens is the inner part of the rear bushing pulls out and separates form the outer rubber part. the control arm can now pivot and will vary your steering angle and give you weird handling, mostly understeer (plowing feel on turns)
im sorry i dont have a before pic but heres what it looks like with the Energy Suspension Poly Bushings in the front control arms. The rear bushing is of a totally different design and will not fail as easily as the stock ones.

[Cal Cruzer]

Does the PT need a 4 wheel alignment? Can't remember but I thought I saw somenthing about it somewhere.