I just had the front end aligned at Sears, since I had a new idler arm put in. I watched the guy do the alignment, and saw the computer readings change as he was adjusting things. All looked OK. But now the car pulls to the right on the highway, even more than it used to. When I called back and mentioned it, I got the tech, and he said he was surprised that it pulled either way, but that he would adjust it to compensate.
I asked if it could be the tires, and he said they might be "contributing" to the pull. Both front tires are worn in the inside edge, since the camber , or caster, whichever, was way out, but the left is worn a bit more than the right.
Maybe I should just switch the 2 front tires. Or move the rear tires, which have even wear, to the front ??

Thanks






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88 GTA 5.7 TPI Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

 

i notice my car pulls a certain side to i think it's left though

 

sounds like you just need a tire rotation and balancing..you've hit that one right on. If that doesn't fix it, then they perobably did a crappy job on the alignment.

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'86 IROC 5-speed
305 LG4
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msd pro billet hei distributer
'95 3.23 rearend
hotchkis rear suspension
PST front polygraphite suspension
"speed kills. buy a f@&d, live forever."

 

Passenger cars need at least .5° of Caster more on the right side then the left. This corrects most pull concerns to the right.

Another source of "pull" is whats called a "radial pull". Its in the tire, but don't condem a tire for it. Just swap sides on the front tires and see if it goes away.

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'97 Bonneville SSE

 

Right... the cause of a pull is usually the tires. Swap them from one side to the other and see if it changes it. Rear tires can cause it too, so try them if the fronts don't have an effect. After all, it's free...

Like GMTech said, there should be about ½° of caster split, and if the camber is different on the 2 sides, it should be more negative on the right as well. (These cars like about 1°-1½° of negative camber) Both of those things will tend to make the car want to turn, or actually drift, slightly left. Nearly all roads tilt to the right to drain rainwater, this alignment tweak helps compensate for that.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

I remembered the tech dropped the tire pressure to 30 pounds all around before he did the alignment. Just for the heck of it I put 35 pounds in the 2 front tires, which is what I had before, and now it pulls much less to the right. Must have been "radial pull" activated at the lower tire pressure. It is actually better now than before the alignment, as far as pulling right, so I may just leave it alone. Thanks for the replies and info .

 

Just to make the alignment that more legit, you can sit in the car while they do it since the car will be driving most of the time with your weight on the drivers side. Thats what I do.

Bugs

 

Not trying to be an *** but, there is a suspension board.