Pulling to the left under breaking and acceleration

[CMF_Nudger]

Hi all

Any thoughs on this one... Basically the car pulls to the left all the time... but espicially under hard breaking and acceleration. My thoughs are:

A) CV's
B) Left hand front break pads catching
C) Shocks
D) Wheel balance/tyre balance (had an alignment done... made almost no difference)
E) Steering mechanism (oh no )

F) All of the above

The little beast is slowely falling apart...

 

[CMF_Nudger]

And again

 

[CMF_Nudger]

Oh... I forgot to add the wicked shudder through the steering wheel, when traveling over 100km. Under 100km it feels 'normal', well like any other car that I have driven. But over 100/110km + it's like a hand and forearm massage.

 

[CMF_Yom]

Check the suspension alignment (could have a bent left wishbone) or there could also be worn bushings.

Also check the tyres on the front and make sure they're the same type, tread depth, inflation pressure etc.

 

[CMF_jay22]

i had the same shuddering on a different car, just needed a while alignment. also check the rims

 

[CMF_Nudger]

Cheers Yom

The tyres are the same all round and have done about 15,000km. I'll check the inflation pressure tonight

Ill have a look also at the bushings and check the left wishbone out and see if there is anything clearly 'bent/wrong' with it.

Appreciate the help

Nige

 

[CMF_Nudger]

A rim-balancing is a possibility - I did not put the rim's on, so I do not know if they were balanced or not...

 

[CMF_Yom]

Does it shudder while cornering?

Check wheel nuts, hub bearing condition and torque.

Unassisted rack problems generally give constant symptoms (like slack steering wheel etc). But check for freeplay and also the tie rod ends (little ball joint things which attach the rack to the hubs)

 

[CMF_Nudger]

No shudder while cornering... it just pulls to the left, which i have to 'fight' against. I had a look at the tie rod ends on the weekend just been. The right hand side one is fairly stuffed... but the left one seemed ok hmmmm...

Looks like i'm going to have to pull everything apart and have a good look at the amount of 'wear and tear'. Another weekend of grease covered hands excellent

Cheers for the help Yom

Nige

 

[CMF_Geoff W]

Another thing to make sure of is that the tyres aren't rotational/asymmetrical. If the tyre is rotating the "wrong" way this can produce a similar result to a really bad wheel alignment.

I know this as my brother recently had a similar problem on his 180SX.
The wheel alignment guys put one of the front wheels on the wrong side. After spending money on 2 other wheel alignments it was as simple as swapping around some wheels, suddenly it was all okay.

 

[CMF_Nudger]

good point had not though of that... something else to check out.

Cheers Geoff

Nige

 

[CMF_Snoopy]

Swap the tyres from left to right (if there not directional). Steel belts are known to move & can make a car pull to one side. One of my falkens did it after about 10,000kms.

Another thing to try is, jack up the front of the car & check to make sure both front wheels rotate freely (or atleast with the same amount of resistance) this can indicate brakes binding. Also look at the brake pad wear (the binding brake will use the pads up faster).

Also, how did they do a proper wheel alighnment if one of the tie rods had free play. If they have done the alighnment with a buggered tie rod chances are that the alighnment will be wrong.

If it was me, I would fix the tie rod (you will need an other alighnment after this), swap the tyres & see what happens.

 

[CMF_1300cc]

yeah, a good wheel aligner should check first the tie rod ends before doing the alignment.

mine is due for replacement, just waiting for the parts.....ive seen lots of youtube videos and it looks like easy to do.....

 

[CMF_Greo]

holy old thread batman!

 

[CMF_1300cc]

Just to share u my experience robin

 

[CMF_DECIM8]

Mate, if its just under braking then its simple.

Brake discs are warped. Go get them machined, either take them off or ring up the place and see if they have a on car machiner. Really common on cars that have sat around for awhile. Sometime in cars driven really hard, like a race car.

Brake pads will need to be replaced (I never did though)

Looking at your problems while driving sounds like something is bent, you shouldnt be fighting the steering in a turn..You could have a buckled joint or knuckle too. Check out all the rubbers and sway bars.

Also dont get wheel alignments @ bob jane, its crap. Use pedders or a wheel alignment shop.

Good luck