car pulls to the right

[Redtail]

Hey All,
The roadster has pulled fairly bad to the right since the day I bought her. I normally have to hold the wheel at a 15 degree angle on the highway to keep her going straight. I tried adjusting the tie rods last weekend, but that just changed the angle of the steering wheel and it still pulled the same. Are there any other adjustments I could make to fix the pulling, or do I have some kind of bent suspension component. How would I go about locating which piece is bent? thanks a bunch!!!

[toolsnob]

Pulling is generall associated with drag or alignment.. First jack up your car and verify that the right front wheel moves freely without restriction. Do this with and without the brakes being used. If that turns out good then take your car to a professional shop and have the front end aligned. You cannot just eyeball alignment. If that fails, take the car to a body shop and have them measure the frame to ensure you are not sidewinding down the road. If the chassis is fine, take a gas can with a cloth hanging out of the end and light it, make sure you run away.....jka

If those measures don't work then I am out of ideas.

Alexi

[Redtail]

Hey Thanks Alexi,
Hmmm, I guess my idea to save a few bucks doing the alignment myself is a no-go. I kinda figured it wouldn't work anyways. I've had the car up on jackstands a few times, and the steering is (reasonably) smooth right to left, so I guess I just need to spend the $65 and get the steering aligned at a shop. Hopefully that will work and I don't end up replacing the whole front end!

[toolsnob]

Yeah, but did you check to make sure your right front caliper is not dragging against the rotor? That will cause the car to pull also. But I do recommend a professional alignment.

Alexi

[Redtail]

actually, I found a while ago that one cylinder on the passenger side was the only thing stopping the front of the car I replaced all the cylinders in the front, and found out the new rear cylinders put on by the P.O. were installed wrong and leaking fluid on the shoes.

long story short, the brakes in the front don't drag, that is something I checked after I installed the new cylinders up there. I'll get an alignment later in the week - the car is apart right now getting a new dashpad

I'll keep you posted on developments!

[hport]

All,

Here is a check list for alignment issues;

1. Tire type, are they the same make, size, model and have the same amount of tread depth?

2. Pressure, do the tires all have the same pressure?

3. If the car is pulling to one side, swap tires from side to side, does it now pull in the opposite direction? If so, its the tires. If the tires are new to very good condition, breakdown one tire and flip it around on the rim, this will help with the sidewall height problem found on most tires.

4. A four wheel alignment, should be done only after the tires have been ruled out as a cause. The rear alignment cannot be changed by adjustments, but its good to see whats going on there, since rear alignment has the greatest affect on going straight. If your tires are showing signs of miss alignment then by all means get it done first, but tires are a major cause of alignment precived problems. The roadster is a short wheel base vehicle, aligning by eye is fine for a trackside fix, but a no no for street use.

5. Camber is a biggest cause of pulling, toe is usally associated with steering wheel off center. Caster if out allot can cause a pull, but very rarely is the case. If your tires are wearing to one edge, thats camber, if they are feather edging it is a toe problem, caster doesn't show a wear problem.

A couple of cents worth, hope it helps.

JC

[Chris Coker]

Bent lower (or upper) control arms can cause a pull to one side as well. It can be hard to spot. If the alignment shop says the frame is bent, it might actually just be a case of bent suspension components. These will normally bend before the frame. The roadster frame is pretty tough (and heavy).

Chris Coker

[oilleak]

Worn ball joints, steering idler box, and bushings can cause the front end not to accept an alignment - It'll change once it takes load from moving. Idler boxes are notorious for letting the right front wheels toe change dramaticaly once they're worn out. Have someone turn the steering wheel while you watch the idler shaft to see how far it moves side to side before is starts turning the idler arm. Mine would move a 1/4 inch. Also, if doing an alignment your self, note that you can't just measure total toe. You need to know how much is on each side. To do that, you need to measure off of parallel strings on either side of the car rather than just going from point to point on either side of the tires.

[Redtail]

hey guys,
I got the roadster aligned last night and it took care of the pulling problem. She was almost too small to fit on the rack though They didn't have specs in the computer, so we used some I printed off the list, and everything seems to have worked out fine.

The tech did make a comment that I need the bushing where the steering column goes into the firewall - does anyone know if this is still available from the vendors? Is it a rubber bushing or a bearing of some sort? thanks

[toolsnob]

yeah, that is a rubber bushing that helps to keep the steering shaft from flopping around. You could probably make one out of a upper shock bushing (rear of the car), cut it down to fit. Or go the easy way and check the vendors.

Alexi