I had the left ball joint and bushings replaced on the front of my sunfire. I took it in for an alignment and when I got it back it pulled to the left. I called the shop I took it to and they had me bring it back to them. When I picked it up the second time there was no change it still pulled to the left. The shop said they found nothing wrong with my car. So I took it to a different shop and when I picked it up yesterday it's still doing the same thing. I've tried a different set of tires thinking that was the problem but no change has anyone had this problem?

Did they give you a print out? If so, tell me what your toe settings where for the front after the second shop aligned it.

Yeah. I'll bet the toe is off too. I've had problems with places screwing up the toe.

On my GrandAM I seriously think the shop was trying to screw me. Cause I brought it in after doing struts. And they found the toe was off. I wasn't as smart as I am now, and had them fix it. It's never been straight again since. It was 100% perfect before they did anything, now it pulls just a touch. But they said it was probably in the suspension, cause their machine was good.

Not to say that's what's happening here, but you never know. These days, if I didn't screw the toe up myself, I tell them to leave it alone, I like it the way it is. The only way, normally, to scerw up the toe is to take off/put on the rack&pin end links. *bjo

I hate to tell you guys this, but unless his toe is severly off, and i'm talking bad enough that he can actually see it, it's not a toe problem. Toe does not cause a pull. On our cars camber is going to be the biggest problem when it comes to a pull. And since there is no adjustment from the factory that is why they are unable to fix it. You'll have to have camber kits installed to correct your problem. This advice is coming from four years of experience with aligning every car out there multiple times. I'm almost 100% positive this is what you'll have to do.

The first place I took it to said all he had to do was adjust the toe. When I took it to the second place he said the toe was way off..... So a camber kit should take care of this priblem?

Camber and caster is what makes the car pull to one side.
If toe is adjusted improperly, the steering wheel will be off center and you will have excessive tire wear.


My Car

I have the same problem after i lowered my car and had it aligned... Are they saposed to align it to the stock hight?

Quote:

I have the same problem after i lowered my car and had it aligned... Are they saposed to align it to the stock hight?

yea it should be aligned to the stock specs as if you were riding at normal height

OK, this morning when I got home from work I called the guy who did the alignment on monday. I told him it was still pulling to the left and he said that my rear wheels need to be shimmed. It's going to cost $75 unless he snapa a bolt or something then it'll be more......Why would my rear wheels need shimmed when it's the fron that got worked on? What do you guys think???

Get a printout from the guy. Then let us know.


My Car

The rear will very seldom cause a pull on our cars. It's a solid rear axle for hells sake, the only thing he can change is toe and camber, which in the rear will only help tire wear. On a solid rear axle the only way it will cause a major push/pull is if the thrust angle is way out of wack. I want to know what your camber and caster specs are for the front only. That's all i need to know and then i can tell you exactly what needs to be done.

Here's what I have......
Front
camber L -0.03 R -0.05

cross camber 0.02

caster L 3.9 R 3.8

Toe L -0.17 R -0.11

total toe -0.28

Rear
camber L -0.03 R -0.03

cross camber 0.0

Toe L -0.15 R -0.020

total toe -0.35

thrust angle 0.03

I forgot .the cross caster is 0.0.....

Those specs look perfect. The alignment should definately not be causing the pull. There's probably something else going on here. Is the pull only under acceleration?

Check the wear on your tires and your air pressures as well.

No, when I'm driving I let go of the wheel and it drifts to the left...I dont have to fight it to keep it strait. The tires look fine I just had the tiers put on twoo weeks ago.. It was doing it with the other set of tires as well. I've checked the pressures in both sets of tires....

I've had a few people tell me to get the rear end alignment done....I don't know what to do.

You can get it aligned, but i'll bet it doesn't solve the problem. If it were my car this is what i would do, first i would cross the front tires and drive it and see if it fixes the problem at all. Now you might have directional tires, but i don't care. Just switch them and go for a quick drive. The reason for this is so that we can eliminate the possibility of it being a radial pull. And if it still pulls left after crossing them, i would take it back to the alignment shop and tell them you want your left from camber set at -1 degrees. That should be enough offset to make up for the pull.

Drive slowly though an open parking lot, Turn your wheel slowly and consistantly from lockup left to lockup right and back again. See if you notice any inconsistancies in the resistance (besides any obvious problems with the parking lot).

If't it's inconsistant: It's possible you have a small problem with the power steering causing it to exert pressure to the left. It's not dangerous, and really shouldn't get much worse.

It could still be other problems too...

Well it's raining here right now so switching the tires will have to wait.

weather here has been crap!!! My car still pulled to the left with the other set of tires I had. Also it's alway pulled left when I hit the brakes even with new brake calipers....The pull while braking could be part of what ever this problem is?

It's sounds to me like you have more of a brake problem than an alignment problem. with what you just said i would say you have a brake caliper hanging up. Could be caused by redidual pressure somewhere in the brake system. Id start by making sure the master cylinder isn't to full of fluid. From there i'd look for any damaged or crushed brakes lines.

I'll have to check that out......Thanks Todd...