Well today kinda sucked for my wifes 1996 cavalier sedan (88k miles)
After I lend it to my brother for two days to use I drove it this morning and it was pulling hard to the left.
Then I took it in to Goodyear to get the tires balanced and rotated see if it would solve the problem. ($50)
After driving away it didn’t solve it, now the car pulls hard to the right (when braking and or accelerating)
I drove back to another Goodyear and told them my problem pulling to the left problem and that it was now pulling to the right after a balancing and rotation.
They checked the alignment and it was fine, drove it and still pulls to the right.
Rotated the left front tire to the back again to the rear and nothing, then we rotated the front right tire to back to the rear and nothing again.
They check and checked….nothing after 2.5 hours I went home. ($30)
I went home and checked with my brother and he said he never hit or curbed anything.
At this point I don’t know what is wrong with the car and while it was pulling to the left and now to the right.
I was told to check the tie rods and ball joints which I will do tomorrow, maybe something just gave away and needs replacing.
Anyone one else have any input? Thanks.
~1996 Cavalier LS 2.4L (auto)
When it pulls what are you doing?
braking, accelarating turning ?
It might not be the suspeion at all. alot of things can cause a car to pull
"
boobs now with Riboflabin"
Look up the recall #NHTSA 02V286000 in the following link
http://www.automallusa.net/1996/chevrolet/cavalier/recalls.html
Retainer tabs not crimped properly, allowing steering pinion shaft to move, ball bearings may fall out.
The car may be experiencing this problem
Contrary to what is said, about only affecting the steering one way, someone on this forum has found it was affected both ways.
Find out if this recall has been carried out on the car,if not, it should be done for free at the dealer--and very soon, for safety reasons.
Alont
if you brake or accelerate and let go of the steering wheel the car will go immediately to the right lane.
~1996 Cavalier LS 2.4L (auto)
stupid question, but have you checked the tire pressure??? tire pressures being off from left to right can cause a pull, which would make sense of the pull switching sides after a rotation. i would suspect the tires are the problem, but there are so many things that could be the problem im not about to t=start guessing at them all.
1997 RedR - ZedR
when you check the ball joints and tie rod ends check the bolts on the control arms. and check the wheel bearings.
guys i think i know but still not for sure, i think the tires are directional tires. meaning they only ment to spin one way, and as they are now they are not. 2 tires are facing backwards.
i will either have to flip the tires on the wheel and hope the tire aint damaged or get new tires.
~1996 Cavalier LS 2.4L (auto)
sounds like an easy one to me..as soon as i saw" it pulled left..now right" i said to myself..i bet he rotated the tires, before i even read it...i saw that you put the front on the rear then back again but you need to swap the fronts around..them being directional wont help the matter but you have a bad tire...this is a common sign of bad tire..a road force variation test MAY tell you which tire is bad but i always replace all said tires, since more than one could be bad...swap your front tires with each other and see if it doesnt drift the other way again
so did the place that did your alignment put the tires on the wrong side?
you also shouldnt have to check the tie rod ends or ball joints since those need to be checked when doing an alignment
I agree with whitegoose. Sounds like its your tire pressure. Out of all the things you listed that were checked the simplest one was overlooked(i assume). It is a tire problem cuz it pulls in different directions when you rotate the tires.
