My SC is a moderate liberal!!!!

[mickey356]

History first - Turbo tie rods installed last spring. Rotas (17's) last summer. New ball joints last summer. Lowered the car this fall with a fellow pelican about 1/2" all around. The car was aligned.

After the lowering and alignment there was a slight pull to the right. The steering wheel was straight but when I let it go it drifted to the right (on a scale of 1-10 it pulled to about a 3). And I was getting a tad bit of bumpsteer. Also I had always dealt with the pass side front tire rubbing the inner well on lock to the right turning.

So I ordered a bumpsteer kit and a tire rub kit and had them installed. And of course, another alignement.

Bumpsteer is better. No more tire rub. But my car still drifts to the right. It's not horrible (maybe a 2 now) but it is annoying. The steering wheel is just a degree or two off so that the yellow "top" strip is every so slightly to the right. If I let go of the wheel and just coast it dirves straight. If I give a little gas it'll start drifting roght. If I hit a slight little bump while coasting it'll drift right. And I don't know if it's me but it seems to feel a littel easier to turn right than left. Tire pressure is good.
So is there something to make my car a centrist again?

[UrQuattro]

Could caster cause this problem? Also, did you cornerweight the car? That can cause problems like this. So can the heights at each corner, so if they aren't set up right, then it will pull to the left or right.

As far as getting the steering wheel dead on, all you have to do is adjust the tie rods. You won't lose your alignment, but turn the adjuster on one side just a little bit and keep track of exactly how much you turned it, then turn the other side the same amount in the same direction. The object being to move the center-point of the steering rack just a tiny bit so that your steering wheel is corrected.

Michael

[gestalt1]

could it possibly be a rear toe a little off? if the steering wheel is not pulling then maybe you are getting a little rear steer?

[gestalt1]

also, if it is steering to the right, wouldn't that make your SC more of a conservative? what are your SC's views on healthcare reform?

[Halm]

Corner balance. Had the exact same thing.

[mpetry]

My SC does the same thing, very slight, after a corner balance and alignment, but after driving it for a while I am convinced it is the crown of the road. On a banked curve to the left - it will pull to the left. So I quit worrying about it, I guess the front suspension is very sensitive and wants to track downhill.

[faverymi]

If it's drifting to the right wouldn't be a "moderate republican"

Or rather a disappointed liberal?

"Just saying..."

[jmitro]

pulling to the right would be a moderate conservative, eh?

corner (im)balance won't cause the car to pull right/left.

is the car pulling right on a road that is sloped to the right?

what exactly is your alignment? toe in? toe out? equal camber? equal caster? could it be a brake rotor dragging? frozen caliper? bad wheel bearing? tire pressure imbalance?

[Halm]

Originally Posted by jmitro

corner (im)balance won't cause the car to pull right/left.

Be careful about what you clearly do not know. My SC was doing exactly as described by the OP in almost the same circumstances. A corner balance corrected the problem. Simple as that.

[jmitro]

corner balance has nothing to do with making a car pull right/left. i've been corner balancing my racecar for years.

if you can explain to me the mechanics of why a few pounds difference from one side to the other can make it pull right/left, then I might believe you. if the ride heights were severely tweaked and thus alignment was tweaked, then I can believe that.

otherwise, don't give incorrect advice and I won't correct you

[drl911]

Don't overlook tire pressures as a possible culprit.

[mickey356]

Ooops! Yes, it would be a moderate conservative and not a moderate liberal. I got that mixed up cuz I'm so neutral and NEVER take a side

Anyway, back to this "moderate conservative" car of mine. I just got back from another 40-50 mile drive and it does have intermittent moments of neutral direction, so it's not constantly pulling or drifitng right. It will hold the line with light throttle but as soon as I accelerate it starts moving right (kinda like torque steer) regardless of the crown in the road (I was on either side of a 4 lanes) and it still seems to want to move right after little bumps.
I just told them to aligne it stock, nothing special.
I can live with the drifting and the wheel being a tad off for now but I'd hate to waste time and money ona corner balance if it's something as simple as a camber or toe adjustment.
Anyone recommend a good shop in the Wilmington Delaware area that could diagnose and do a corner balance? Thanks.
I can kive with the wheel being a tad off, I'll get to that whenever, and the drifting isn't

[Halm]

Very simple physics, my friend. If one of the front wheels is disproportionately weighted, the car will track to that side. . . Pretty much as if it was following the crown of the road.

Originally Posted by jmitro

corner balance has nothing to do with making a car pull right/left. i've been corner balancing my racecar for years.

if you can explain to me the mechanics of why a few pounds difference from one side to the other can make it pull right/left, then I might believe you. if the ride heights were severely tweaked and thus alignment was tweaked, then I can believe that.

otherwise, don't give incorrect advice and I won't correct you

[jmitro]

it's much more likely to be one of the causes I listed above than a corner balance issue.

corner balance is what one does to get a 50/50 cross weight so the car handles equally in both right/left turns on the racetrack.

I'm not sure a corner balance would be my first choice of fixes.

Halm....you're not understanding the concept of corner balancing at all.

[Alan Lindquist]

Tires are so critical. Our cars were engineered in a day when the tire composition and build were drastically different. Most of us have street cars with tires that over-control the suspension. And modifying the suspension can overcome this and deliver a much better driving experience. That's an opinion, not a fact.

Here's another opinion. I know VERY little about setting up a 911 to drive correctly. But my butt tells me what is going on and every time I change tires I notice a big difference. My rear right wears faster (primary drive/torque tire?) and both rears wear out before the fronts wear out. So I often find myself with a miss-matched set front to rear. That causes different dynamics depending on whether I just bought fronts or rears and it is VERY noticeable for 1,000 miles until the new tires are scrubbed then either I am accustomed or the car is adjusted.

Regarding tire pressure - I was using the standard pencil tool - the one we all grew up with. Stab it on and read it. Man - was that thing F'd up. I couldn't get two similar readings so I borrowed my neighbor's digital gauge. His son raced go-carts and the air pressure in those set-ups is critical, so he got the right tool. When I used it, exactly NONE of the four corners were even close to what the standard gauge was giving me.

So before doing something expensive, at least check your tire pressure with something you can trust. And consider wear pattern and tire age as well. Also, consider what pressure you want in the front and the back. There are some threads on the forum on what pressure you should be running front and back.

That's my "seat of the pants" opinion.

[Halm]

jmitro, I understand the concept of corner balance. Put down the bad banana peels and everything will become clear in the near future.

If you want to tell me that there was something other than corner balance that my wrench fixed when he said a corner balance corrected my pulling to one side, ok. We have something to argue about. The PO of my car was a highly industrious lad working with the help of a professional Porsche mechanic. That said there was a lot of half @ss stuff he did / left undone that took months to sort out.

But the fact remains that a highly respected wrench (Zuffenhaus, Charlotte, NC) aligned the car but it continue to pull to one side. He suggest a corner balance. So when I had other work done prior to to the cars first DE, I had him corner balance. The pull was gone.

So perhaps it is time for you top tell me specifically where I am wrong.

[jmitro]

Originally Posted by Halm

so perhaps it is time for you top tell me specifically where I am wrong.

come again?

the car becomes unweighted/unbalanced everytime you get in the car....does that make it pull to one side? no.

again, corner balancing is to correct severe load problems, or to make cross weight 50/50 so the car handles equally well at the limit in both right/left turns.

maybe your wrench understands what exactly the problem was, but until you get the specifics and know how to do the corner balance yourself, we'll agree to disagree .