Steering pulls to the right (Resolved 11/08)

[ZoomZoomZoom]

So here is where I am with the pull.
..
I think I'm going to give the Supra a new name...."The $upra $uper Pocket $cooper"

WELCOME TO THE CLUB!! Its a bit crowded, but come on in! We always welcome new members. All you need is a credit card. And we know you already have a jack!

My car goes in tuesday for a new tranny seal, new high-pressure PS hose, and new brake master cylinder. Oh, and there's a new thunk in the ps front tire, and the lower ball joint was recently replaced, so I'm sure its something expensive.

Now you can check out the thread that just finished on what tire to buy. Kumho won - gives most bang for the buck, ASX if you drive in snow, SPT if you don't. I have the SPTs.

Eventually, after replacing everything, you'll have a whole new car

 

[IJ.]

If they aligned it with a badly worn tire the answer is NO they didn't do it properly, again if it wore the tire AFTER they did it the answer is still NO.

You need to take the car somewhere that has real technicians not 15 year old kids due to the complexity of the Mk3 suspension design.

 

[lewis15498]

First things first Check your tire pressure. I belive the factory setting is 28 psi but it wont make the car pull as long as they are the same. Make sure all 4 tires have sufficient and equal pressure.

As others have said, you could have a sticking caliper. If its sticking bad it should heat up the rim noticably. Try getting on the highway and let go of the wheel as you step on the brakes it the pulling ceases or pulls differently while braking you likely have a caliper problem.

Second, if you drove for a while before getting the car aligned you could have caused irregular tire wear which sometimes will make the car pull even when its aligned properly. check your tires for feathering or any other irregular wear, most likely angular.

This is a long shot but if you have a warped rim this can make the car appear to be aligned properly on the machine when it is actually off because one of the alignment things is connected to a warped wheel.

If all else fails, try a different shop. A few years ago i put full coilovers and a camber kit on a 93 accord. I took it to the same shop 3 times for alignment and they assured me it was right even showing me the readout figures. But it still pulled to the right hard. Frusturated I brought it to another alignment shop which showed it was not aligned properly. They lined it up and i was good to go. Moral of the story is some shops have faulty/uncalibrated equipment.

Good luck

 

[lewis15498]

Edit to my post.
When doing the highway brake test you have a caliper issue if the pull decreases, increases and/or changes direction (left)

 

[Who]

If they aligned it with a badly worn tire the answer is NO they didn't do it properly, again if it wore the tire AFTER they did it the answer is still NO.

You need to take the car somewhere that has real technicians not 15 year old kids due to the complexity of the Mk3 suspension design.

They aligned it with the badly worn tire. My fault I should of checked more carefully. The tire looks ok when you take a quick look at it but when I removed it the tire is worn on the inside past the wear markers but the outside of tire has plenty of tread. I complained to the shop that they should have checked the tires and suspension before doing the alignment. The shop said they would do the alignment again for no charge.

Luckily I did the alignment at goodyear so I will go to a different shop for the free re-alignment and avoid the 15 year old kids.

First things first Check your tire pressure. I belive the factory setting is 28 psi but it wont make the car pull as long as they are the same. Make sure all 4 tires have sufficient and equal pressure.

As others have said, you could have a sticking caliper. If its sticking bad it should heat up the rim noticably. Try getting on the highway and let go of the wheel as you step on the brakes it the pulling ceases or pulls differently while braking you likely have a caliper problem.

Second, if you drove for a while before getting the car aligned you could have caused irregular tire wear which sometimes will make the car pull even when its aligned properly. check your tires for feathering or any other irregular wear, most likely angular.

This is a long shot but if you have a warped rim this can make the car appear to be aligned properly on the machine when it is actually off because one of the alignment things is connected to a warped wheel.

If all else fails, try a different shop. A few years ago i put full coilovers and a camber kit on a 93 accord. I took it to the same shop 3 times for alignment and they assured me it was right even showing me the readout figures. But it still pulled to the right hard. Frusturated I brought it to another alignment shop which showed it was not aligned properly. They lined it up and i was good to go. Moral of the story is some shops have faulty/uncalibrated equipment.

Good luck

I'll check for the brake pull.

Second... One of the tires is definitely shot. Tire tread is shaped like a wedge

When I get new tires if the rim is warped it should show itself when they high speed spin it for the balance right.

Thanks guys \ gals.

 

[IJ.]

Good deal on no 15 year olds

 

[Who]

If things don't work out I will go and see the alignment nazi. (Remember Seinfeld and the soup nazi). This guy can align and mod any combination of rims and suspension mods to the nines. If he can't fix it no one can. His starting price for a front wheel alignment on stock rims and suspension is $100. If you want the rear end aligned, stock rims and suspension add $80.00.. He works alone, and takes appointments only, no drive in's allowed. He must be doing something right because he only works Monday - Thursday 8:00 - 5:00pm. The shop looks like one of the shops on tv with spotless floors and shine on the tools. The downside is his personality. He's rude and short with his customers.

 

[Keros]

I think I'm going to give the Supra a new name...."The $upra $uper Pocket $cooper"

I spent $1800 getting tires on my Supra, I know how absalutely true that statement is.

 

[frontierguy25]

I am having a problem very similar to yours, If I figure it out I'll let you know.

Does your car make any clunking sounds or anything when driving? Mine pulls to the right and every time I turn to the left it makes a clunking sound.

 

[Figit090]

I'm getting my alignment done at 4pm today at Les Schwab...I really hope they don't fuck up. I wish i could do my own alignment.

Some technicians go thought things so quick you wonder if they are doing it right, and hope they're going fast not because they're careless but because that's what they do, all day, every day.

Should all 4 wheels be easy to spin freely under their own momentum for a few seconds when they're off the ground? Or just be fairly easy to turn by hand? i've never checked this but my car, in my garage, is REALLY hard to roll compared to my dad's little 1/2 ton pickup and i'm wondering if maybe i have a bearing or brake problem.

 

[IJ.]

I spent a lot of time on the rack at one of the Race shops here when I first got the car learning what it and I liked setting wise.

Turns out a childhood friend has a shop nearby so I go there now for any tweaking, their equipment is sensitive that if you lean on it the data changes.

Personally if I were you I'd visit the Alignment Nazi.

 

[Figit090]

lol...who is that

 

[Who]

I am having a problem very similar to yours, If I figure it out I'll let you know.

Does your car make any clunking sounds or anything when driving? Mine pulls to the right and every time I turn to the left it makes a clunking sound.

Thanks, I will post my results when I get the money for the tires. Luckily its not a daily driver.

No clunking noise here.

 

[ZoomZoomZoom]

If things don't work out I will go and see the alignment nazi. (Remember Seinfeld and the soup nazi). This guy can align and mod any combination of rims and suspension mods to the nines. If he can't fix it no one can. His starting price for a front wheel alignment on stock rims and suspension is $100. If you want the rear end aligned, stock rims and suspension add $80.00.. He works alone, and takes appointments only, no drive in's allowed. He must be doing something right because he only works Monday - Thursday 8:00 - 5:00pm. The shop looks like one of the shops on tv with spotless floors and shine on the tools. The downside is his personality. He's rude and short with his customers.

Gosh, wish we had an alignment nazi. I took my car back to the place that did the front end alignment. They were nice enough to tell me my tires were too worn for an alignment. Now I have new tires, and I realized I failed to ask for a 4 wheel alignment. Rear camber is off, noticeable difference between the two rear tires. Asked them if they could adjust this. Oh yes. Picked up the car that afternoon, wheels didn't look any different. Requested the report, and the before column had all the numbers, the after column was blank.
"That will be $79.99"
"Um, why is this after column blank?"
"Oh, sometimes the computer doesn't print those numbers out.."
<not buying THAT story>
"Can I talk to the mechanic please?"
"Sure, I'll go get him.."
Mechanic arrives.
"Oh, I couldn't adjust the camber, did adjust the toe-in."
"I specifically asked for the camber to be adjusted."
"Oh, its not off by enough to make any difference."
"I know, but I want it adjusted correctly. What was the problem?"
"I couldn't get it to move. May need a cam kit. I can put it back and work on it some more.."
<images of a man with a hammer hitting my car suddenly appear in my head>
"Um, no, thats all right. I will take it somewhere else. I have an issue with this bill however. I specifically asked to have the camber adjusted. If you couldn't do it, you should've just called."
Cashier answers, "no problem, don't worry about it."

And most people would've just payed the $79.

 

[IJ.]

Chances are if it's lowered in the rear he wouldn't be able to align it anyway.

These cars become a PITA when lowered as you can only get 1 thing correct or 2 things halfassed ie: Correct Camber or correct Toe or 50/50 incorrect on both.

I ran into this really early on and ended up legthening my lower transverse arms 15mm on both sides to get the adjusters back in the middle.

 

[ZoomZoomZoom]

Chances are if it's lowered in the rear he wouldn't be able to align it anyway.

These cars become a PITA when lowered as you can only get 1 thing correct or 2 things halfassed ie: Correct Camber or correct Toe or 50/50 incorrect on both.

I ran into this really early on and ended up legthening my lower transverse arms 15mm on both sides to get the adjusters back in the middle.

Oh, I know, and I told them that. But its obvious the camber is different between the rear tires. I'd like to get them matched so the tires wear at the same rate. Eventually, I would like to get the whole suspension corrected. I think its worth the trouble and $$.

So after this failed alignment trip I called Allen (mk3forme) on the phone. He didn't answer (luckily), so I ranted and raved into his voicemail for like 2 minutes, haha. :rant2: He wisely responded by email.

 

[Figit090]

Damn alignment nazi is expensive! but sounds like his work is great... Les Schwab just did mine and i can actually feel a difference as i drove away I think...
Car feels higher up in the rear and a tad bit more planted.
Maybe some of this feeling is my new tires (only my third time out with them) and some imagination at work trying to justify the 83 dollars I spent, but i dunno...feels better.

Good luck with those pulling issues. Couldn't be a jammed parking break on one side could it? I'm not sure how our setups work so i dont know if thats possible..or if it's a separate pad or if it squishes the main brake pad...which i'm curious about.

 

[adampecush]

"I couldn't get it to move. May need a cam kit. I can put it back and work on it some more.."

it seems alignment shops love to try push these things....Probably because they can charge $100 for a $5 bolt.

I'd say take the car to the alignment nazi...don't piss around with anything else.

 

[Poodles]

Yep, they push cam kits, too bad last I knew they don't make one for our cars...

 

[ZoomZoomZoom]

it seems alignment shops love to try push these things....Probably because they can charge $100 for a $5 bolt.

I'd say take the car to the alignment nazi...don't piss around with anything else.

I don't know if we have one in our area!!! Allen suggested a place, but I had taken my blue 87NA there a few years ago with steering pull issue (back when I was more ignorant). Specifically told them the problem, they aligned the front end and returned the car to me with the same issue. And the mechanic even drove it after the alignment! I was pissed. Took the car back, this time they found the problem - bad tire.

How does one find an alignment nazi? Yellow pages? google?

Yep, they push cam kits, too bad last I knew they don't make one for our cars...

Not to get off topic here, but what is the fix for my car then? "Its stuck" just doesn't strike me as the final answer. :3d_frown: