Alignment Issue

[1James]

Hello,

I wanted to ask you guys about a problem I have been having with my alignment. I installed coilovers a while back and had the car aligned. The car pulls to the right slightly even after it was aligned, front toe was zeroed out. I think that there are two potential factors here:

1. When installing coilovers a few years back, I removed the ball joint from the lower control arm and reinstalled it. Did I mess something up by just putting it on and tightening it? Did I need to mark its location and install in the exact same location?

2. The rack is not centered. The steering wheel is installed such that when everything is straight, the rack thinks I'm turning right by up to 45°. To say it another way, if I reinstalled the steering wheel correctly it would be turned to the right even though my wheels are straight. I found a post by Tim from TIP in a thread with the same topic, and looked into it a bit more:

Caster sounds like it would be fine. I dont' remember what my brother's car is set at right now.

Something seems off though. If you're toe is really 0 at each wheel and your caster is about even, a 0.2* difference between camber wouldn't make the car feel like that. Definitely add a little more camber though, it might help just because of camber gain with steer angle.

Also, make sure your steering rack is centered, if not it could be contributing to this.

But the ideal alignment would depend on the rest of the car setup.

From the TSRM Power Steering Description, it says that "When the steering main shaft is turned in either direction, the control valve also moves, closing one of the fluid passages..." Blah blah creating pressure to help move the piston in the way that you are turning.

Is the control valve's operation proportional only to steering position, where it would still assist when the wheel is steady state at a turning position, or is the assist proportional to the steering position's time derivative, where it only helps when you are moving the wheel?

If the control valve is just linked to position, then it would likely explain why the car wants to pull to the right even though the alignment is good and the car is pointed straight, since the control valve is telling the rack to assist with a right turn. I would like to know though, if my removal and careless reinstall of the ball joint is also affecting my problem.

Thanks!

 

[hvyman]

The rack should be centered and then re aligned. Also camber will make a car pull as well. Often the camber bolts will be sized and the bolts will need to be cut out and replaced. Also some shops like to just set the toe and let it go. with no adjustment to camber/caster.

when you install the front upper control arms they are supposed to be torqued when the wheels are on the ground. ball joint are not directional.

 

[DeMoN2318]

Lower ball joint has three attachment points, so its triangulated, so no alignment is needed...just bolt it on.

The power steering is not dependent on position, you have to be moving the wheel for fluid to flow and assist you


I dont think your alignment is good...if you went to a reputable shop they would have alligned the steering wheel correctly before doing the alignment. You did get a 4-wheel alignment right? these cars have 4-wheel independent suspension so they require all four wheel's alignments to be coupled.


Assuming you alignment IS good, check tire pressure.
I do not have coilovers, but I have read that you need to set the rate such that you have even loading side to side...so maybe your coilovers are not adjusted correctly.

 

[3p141592654]

Make sure the rear is aligned, and nothing is loose or worn back there.

 

[1James]

Thank you all for the replies and the expertise. A full four wheel alignment was performed, but I cannot find the alignment sheet. I do know that castor is even at roughly 7.5° and camber is even at all four corners at either -1.0° or -1.5°. I can't remember if rear toe is zero or a small amount in, but the rest of the specs should be accurate.

I know the high camber will make the car more sensitive to road crowning, but I am thinking about this when reporting symptoms.

I agree that the coilovers should be set evenly. I have not had the car corner-balanced, but ride height and preload is the same from left to right within 1mm.

The rear does seem a little loose so I will retorque the subframe the next time I have it in the air.

I will also recenter the steering wheel and realign the car.

Thanks again!
James

 

[1James]

Also to address hvyman's comment, I did torque the control arms with the suspension loaded up. That was freaking hard.

 

[DeMoN2318]

Also to address hvyman's comment, I did torque the control arms with the suspension loaded up. That was freaking hard.

Yea man, when I redid my suspension I built a set of wooden ramps the entire length of my garage so I could get underneath the car with the suspension loaded and torque everything. I still couldnt get some of the high torque stuff fully torqued. I need to find a friend with a four post lift...

 

[1James]

Yeah, I sketchily jacked up the car and set it down on ramps because it was too low to go up the ramps after the install. Able to get the torques down though.

 

[3p141592654]

Agreed. Such a pain trying to hit 177ft-lbs on those front cam bolts lying on your side with no room to maneuver.

 

[slowma70]

Whats the condition of your front lower control arm bushings? Maybe the shop tried to align them and the bushing is to messed to hold the screw in place.