Front End Alignment Issues
 

Struggling through front end alignment issues.
I had the whole car aligned last fall and it continued to pull to the left. When on the lift and under 1/2 load the wheels made a grinding sound when turning to the left. It was suspected that the rack was worn. So I inspected the rack and found no grease and some wear. I replaced it with a good used rack and saw a slight improvement, but hard to tell with the toe all screwed up.

I took the car in and had the alignment redone and it still pulls to the left. It appeard that the drivers front strut was sticking and causing the intermittent pull.

I replced the front struts with a new set of HD Bilsteins, but am still feeling the left pull.

Any guesses?
Here's what has been done in the last year.

New T-bars
New Bilstein HD struts
Upgraded stiffer sway bars
All new suspension bushings
New turbo tie rods

Getting very frustrated.

John

Tires? When does it pull? All the time? Under acceleration/deacceleration using the throttle? Braking? Jim

All the time. I've rotated the tires as well as put on another set. I've rebuilt the brakes and changed pads also.

John

I wonder if bad ball joints could cause that?

Joe

What about corner weighting?

Or, try measuring from the pavement to the center of the wheel arches. How do they compare r/l?


Paul

Ball joints seem ok, but not really sure how to test under load. I've played with the ride height a little with little difference. I have the drivers side set about 1/8" high so when the driver is loaded they should be about the same.

JOhn

I'm not 100% sure but I think if you push in on the tire alternately @ the top and bottom, while the car is just sitting on pavement and you get movement, then the wheel bearings need to be looked at. If you push @ 3 and 9 o'clock and get movement, then it would be ball joints.



Paul

Had a slightly bent spindle on my right strut that made my alignment impossible on a 69 911T. Frame shop straightened it out? Was wearing that tire out faster on that corner also. Perhaps on of the senior front end guys know of a way of measuring the spindle against the strut. Or compare one side against the other.

Thanks for all the input. I have recently also cleaned and repacked the wheel bearing so there are no issues there. I'm beginning to think something is bent, but I don't know where or how to begin to look for it.

John

If something was bent, then wouldn't the alignment catch it?

Joe

John,

Did you change your torsion bars or did you change your
ride height ?

Did you finally install the 1986 Carrera sway bars?

Steve Alarcon

Did you corner balance after replacing the torsion bars?

If the CB is off, it will pull even if it is properly aligned. If you didn't measure and adjust the CB after replacing those parts, you can bet it's off - maybe substantially.

Was the noise problem solved? From your description it sounds like the steering colume U jonts. Lube or replace them.

Chuck, et al,
I have a similar problem described in this thread, wondering if you think it too might be a CB problem?

Recently had ride heights adjusted. Before the height adjustment, the back left height was lower than all of the others (maybe 2" or so), but it drove straight as an arrow. It was raised and all corners were leveled to near factory spec. but no scales were involved. I leave the shop and "whammo": look out volvo on the right....

CB problem? What is really happening here? Is the right front wheel disproportionately weighted (too "heavy")? Car's going in storage for a few yrs after which time there are suspension upgrades in the her future so I want to hold off on a CB for now - is there anything I can do myself in the meantime ito get some relief???

Schleg, if the height was altered without regard for corner weights you can bet that is the problem. Proper corner weights are really important, especially when stiffer torsion bars have been fit.

Setting the height without scales is anologous to setting the alignment by eye. In both cases the results are sure to be substantially off and will have a negative impact on handling this is similar in magnatude.

Chuck, Thanks much. That's the most definitive answer I've heard yet, and it makes perfect sense.

Scales for the home
 

One more thing. Does anyone have a good recommendation for scales (for Corner balancing) that the avg DIYer can afford/use for a daily driver?