Why is my FD pulling to the RIGHT???!!!

[ash]

The FD was pulling to the right hard before, and still is. I dont know how old the bushings are.

Looking at the vehicle ride height, it does look even but i will still check this.

Ash

[Jono FD3]

bugger me, I paid £60 to get mine don in my local!! & the poor guy was under the car for about 4 hours getting the settings I wanted!! realy felt sorry for him, but he pulled through in the end!

Jono

[SiH]

Jone - was that camber, castor, and toe? or was that just toe all round?
Proper 4 wheel laser alignment tends to be more than £60.

If it was pulling before I\'d suggest it\'s calipers - I recently rebuilt mine on a 48k fresh import and they were showing signs of starting to seize some of the pistons.
In fact, I\'m pretty sure the basic caliper is identical (except for mounting points) to that of an S14 200SX and R33 GTST - both of which seize just for a giggle, so i wouldn\'t be surprised at all.

Does it do it on power, on overrun, in neutral, or all of the above?
Also check the handbrake cables for freeness.

[ash]

SiH - The FD was pulling to the right hard before, the same as its doing now.

So i have checked the suspension heights, these are both approx. 25" from ground to under wheel arch. I have checked the wheel bearings both side, and there is no movement in the vertical motion, a little in the horizontal but that is due to the steering. I took the FD for a drive (5 mins) variety of braking and the right caliper was not warm/hot, so no sticking piston.

Does this now leave as SiH said:

Worn track rod ends could lead to problems, likewise bushes in the rear toe links but could worn bushings really cause the car to pull so much.

Example:- 30mph, let go of wheel, let the car coast and within 20 meters the car would be hitting the kerb on the other side of the road!:confused::confused:

[bnaellis]

Have you had a look underneath the car as a whole to see if the chassis has any signs of damage repair?



rgds

Brian

[clive]

Hi Ash,

If you want to give me a ring on 01474 361800 so I can get more info I will try and help

[ash]

Have you had a look underneath the car as a whole to see if the chassis has any signs of damage repair?



rgds

Brian

Hi Brian,

I have had a look, but not a detailed one so I cant really comment - this has started to cross my mind!:3Confused

[ash]

Hi Ash,

If you want to give me a ring on 01474 361800 so I can get more info I will try and help

Hi Clive,

I have left a message on your answer phone.

Thanks
Ash

[ash]

Thanks for the call today Clive. I have spoken with the Garage that did the 4W Laser alignment and they are going to check it again when i get the chance to take it in.

Also, out of interest i did a car MOT search online to see if it has ever failed or had any advisories. Would either of the following cause the pulling to the right:-

1/. Steering column universal joint has slight play (2.1.4)

2/. Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage rubber mounting deteriorated resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.3)

3/. Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage severely distorted (2.4.G.1)

Thanks
Ash

[Brett]

IIRC the FD has a similar DTSS setup to the FC - that being the case you may find your pulling problems relate to a collapsed DTSS bush.  Its a common cause of pulling in the FC :wave

[ash]

I took the FD back to the 4Wheel Laser place

They checked the tracking, all was fine. I asked them out of elimination to change the wheels over [front left and right]. Drove the car away (after i got a jump) and UNBELIEVABLY the car now pulls to the LEFT !!!!

How is this at all possible.

- Tyre pressure the same
- Tyre make the same (Dunlop)
- Non rotational so can be swapped easily

So I can only think of two things, the wheel that is now on the left (nearside) is either:-

a). Heavier in weight, wheel fault
b). Not balanced at all, but there is no steering wheel wobble!?

I think my next step is to get hold of a cheap set of std alloys with even tyres and swap them.

Comments please guys.

Oh, also I checked the chassis when it was up in the air and there are no bents suspension parts, chassis all straight and no signs of damage. I had a good look!! Plus the swapping of wheels proves no damage.:Thumbsup!

[royal]

Thats pretty weird Ash! Even different tyres and pressures don\'t make as obvious a difference as you are describing, they just makes the car feel ropey and pull slightly. I never get tyres balanced because of drifting them and its never an issue.
This may sound like a dumb question but you have deffo got both narrower wheels on the front and not one skinny and one wide have you?!

[ash]

It is weird!! Royal, I was chatting to a mate at work just now and he suggested the same, to be honest I cant remember if the tyre sizes are the same on the front. They should be 235/40/17 (I think). Wheel size i have not checked but me thinkings this must be the reason!

[clive]

Pleased your getting somewhere finally,

If the tyre is the same size but the rim widths are different sizes then the overall circumference will be completely different and will cause this,

Failing that take both wheels off and check the offsets from one rim to the other,

You can do this by laying the wheel on it\'s face, lay a straight edge horizontally across the tyre and then measure from the flat surface where the stud holes are up to the straight edge,

Hope this helps and makes sense

[ash]

Hi Clive,

Yes, glad that its not the worsre that i thought it may have been!! Will give what you suggested a try.

Thanks to everyone that has helped. I will let you all know the outcome.