Carerra Pulls to the right

[klondike15]

I have a 1987 Carerra Coupe with 150k miles that I am restoring back to mostly original specs. As part of the restoration I replaced just about every front suspension component, including turbo tie rods, new standard ball joints, sway bar bushings, standard bilstein struts. I also went with poly bronze bushings, low friction control arm mounts, and a strut brace. The torsion bars were ok. The tires are 1 yr old with 4k miles. The corner balance is decent. I have had it aligned in two different shops and it still pulls to the right. It will change lanes to the right within 100-200 yards, depending on the crown of the road. It almost does better under braking, and I have new SS brake lines, pads, and fresh brake fluid. My mechanic loved installing the control arms, he was fascinated with how easily they moved compared to rubber mounts. He did comment that when he tightened the front control arm mounting bracket bolt that the condensor protective bar bolts through the right control arm bound up and wouldn't rotate freely, so he shimmed the bracket with a couple of washers until the control arm rotated freely. The alignment guy thought it could be the tires, my mechanic thinks I shouldn't use such a high performance component on a street car since race cars don't worry too much about a pull issue. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[steve911T]

First thing, replace the tires or just to double check if it is, swap them. If pulling gone, replace. Good luck. Steve

[lindbhr]

I had the same problem. New torsion bars had been installed and one was binding. Still not sure how this happens, but now the car does not pull.

[msublett]

I had the same problem except mine was pulling to the left. Turned out to be a loose right rear wheel bearing.

[rsa]

your front right pads may me dragging. Sometimes this happens with all the work you did on them. Pistons may not be retracking all the way in. Would also explain that it is better under braking.

[cliyde]

Having the exact same problem as you with all new suspension refresh: Turbo tie rods, ball joints, Bilsteins struts, torsion bars, and Polybronze Bearings. Car was professionally aligned and corner balanced by reputable P-car shop. Checked for caliper drag and there was some. Calipers were exercised which helped, but didn't correct the problem. Checked front wheel bearings adjustments, all within spec. Out of ideas, other than to recheck alignment. Any updates or luck in your search?

Originally Posted by klondike15

I have a 1987 Carerra Coupe with 150k miles that I am restoring back to mostly original specs. As part of the restoration I replaced just about every front suspension component, including turbo tie rods, new standard ball joints, sway bar bushings, standard bilstein struts. [/img]

[Superman]

FWIW, my car is perfectly aligned and it pulls to the right. As it turns out, it is not properly corner balanced. it is not imbalanced by much. (LF + RR) - (RF + LR) = 180 lbs.

[Mattcamp]

+1 Tires.

[AL Z]

I had a similar issue with my last 74 911 after I had a shop in louisville install rear adjustable torsion plates from elephant racing. After over a month and several trips back to the shop and twice to the alignment shop. The shop finally listen, to what I was telling them from the start. That the severe pull was initiating from the rear of the car. They finally looked at the install and found out that the right torsion bar was preloaded when they installed the plates, making the car pull severly to the right.
Needles to say, I would never go back to that shop again.
Hope this helps.
AL Z

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by Mattcamp

+1 Tires.

If they are not directionals, swap side to side (front & rear) and see what happened (hopefully pulling to the left)

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by klondike15

i.................. I also went with poly bronze bushings, low friction control arm mounts, and a strut bracegood choices.
he did comment that when he tightened the front control arm mounting bracket bolt that the condensor protective bar bolts through the right control arm bound up and wouldn't rotate freely, so he shimmed the bracket with a couple of washers until the control arm rotated freely.i don't like what i'm reading. The purpose of the low friction alignment washers is to alleviate this problem.
the alignment guy thought it could be the tires, very well could be
my mechanic thinks i shouldn't use such a high performance component on a street car since race cars don't worry too much about a pull issue.say what?? Race cars want to be better than street cars in this aspect.

hth

[johnsjmc]

The crown of the road comment caught my attention. If on a multi lane highway and you are in the left lane with a crown to the left Does it drift left there?. What are the actual readouts from the alignment shop ?