Hi all.
I've just had 2 new tyres fitted to the front and had the tracking sorted, I replaced the wishbones, droplinks and ARB bushes. The car still pulls to the left, despite just having the tracking fixed, the garage used laser equipment.
Is there anything else that would cause this?

Cheers

 

twisted chassis, excessive set back, was the front tyres on turning plates whilst the tracking was set? was the steering wheel clamped in the straight ahead position?

 

How could I tell if the chassis was twisted?
I don't know what you mean by "excessive set back".

And yes, the tyres were on turning plates and the steering wheel was clamped straight while the guy sorted the tracking.

 

Did you get a print out of the geo after it was done? If you have put it up

 

Didn't get a print out.

 

Was it proper 4wheel alignment? What car is it aswell

 

Its a mk4 fiesta.
No, I just had the front wheels sorted, it looked like they used the rear wheels to help align the front, it looked like a wheel clamp, that had a ruler on, and the one on the front had a laser which pointed to the rear one.

 

Your rear axle bushes might be worn and that can cause them to pull.

 

I'm pretty sure they are worn and I have some replacements, I just need to get round to fitting them. Cheers.

 

dont know about where you are but the natural camber of the road's around here are slightly biased to the left so driving on the road can be not a true way of testing

 

How about in a big car park, would that be a suitable testing ground?

 

Have you checked tyre pressures. Dude

 

Ideal mate, you just need 1 lane you can drive either way on the same bit. May not be that but its something else to tick off the list.

 

Its alot better if im in a car park, but it still slightly does it. If I go over a slightly dipped bit of road, it pulls even more, If I reverse out my drive and steer so I'm along the curb, the steering wheel pulls itself in on itself, it feels like its folding up on itself, if that makes sense?

 

Check the brakes, could be the opposite slider sticking?

 

Pretty sure they are fine, I replaced them the other day and they seemeed fine, I will have a look any way.

 

I'm thinking it could be the brakes now.
Before I replaced the brakes, (disks and pads) one of the pads was cracked badly on the drivers side, which was my reason for changing them. I heard it rubbing which is how I found it was cracked after taking it all apart.
Come to think of it, I span the wheel when the old brakes were on and there seemed to be a bit of resistance, the wheel slowed down rather quickly.

If I accelerate reasonably hard, (this is when I notice it most), holding the steering wheel straight the car will start pulling to the left side, and the steering wheel isnt moving.

So I do think it is the brake on the drivers side now.
I was able to press the piston back in when I changed the pad, so I assume the piston hasnt seized? How can I tell if the sliders have seized? Is it an easy fix or would I need a new caliper? I was able to unscrew the bolts when I changed the pads and the whole caliper and frame moved fine.

Definately think its a brake problem though.

 

Drive in the middle of a road on the white lines and see what its like then.

 

Urm, if it is your brakes then just take the caliper off and see if the sliders move back & forth, even if they do, I'd recommend a bit of copper slip on em.

If they don't, take the caliper bracket off and try pressing it in with a vice.
If that doesn't work then it might be that you need a new caliper bracket.

Thanks,
Tom

 

Cheers Vann, I shall give that a go tomorrow.
I've tried driving in the middle of the road, it still seems to pull over to the left, but not as much if I'm on the left side of the road.

Cheers

 

So today I took apart the calipers on both sides and put some copper grease on the sliding pins, and they are both moving easily now, but one of the pins on the drivers side was seizing in there, it moved with alot of force, And it was affecting the disk.
I still have the problem of it going to the left side, If I drive on the right lane of the dual carriage way, it is fine, steering stays straight, maybe a little tiny bit of wondering off to the left, but hardly noticable at all.
If I drive over a slightly uneven road surface, the steering will pull to the left.
My power steering feels very sensitive as well, I dont know if it supposed to be that way or not. I have checked the fluid level and that is fine. I notice it more while driving over about 50mph, but if i move the steering wheel say 10mm either side, I can feel the car swaying a little.
I don't know what else to try.

Could having the brake problem have knocked the tracking out again?
Or is there something else that I need to do?

Cheers

 

hi mate try swaping the wheels from side two side and see if it pulls to the uther side. i think when u swap them will cure your problem

 

I wouldn't have thought it would put the tracking out again.
Best thing to do now is go back to where you got the tracking done, tell em it's pulling to the left & that you want a printout.

 

On the brakes being a possible cause, if the right side was binding it would pull to the right. Think about being on a sledge, if you want to turn left you dig your left heel in to the snow, slowing down the left side.

Anyway, it's not the brakes. First thing that comes to my mind is what size wheels you have. Bigger wheels will obviously change the suspension geometry which can lead to tram lining. If the car does have a different size wheel to standard then the factory settings won't apply. Another thing is I can't see how those laser wheel aligners can be all that accurate as they contact on the tyre side wall which is never uniform and even.

One last thing, when you took it to the garage did you ask them to fix the problem or to do a wheel alignment?

 

If it pulled under braking then your theory would be correct indeed.
The fact it pulls left under load would indicate that the offside caliper was sticking, if you think about it, the inside wheel has the same traction but isn't being held back by the brakes sticking so therefore the more throttle applied, hate harder the wheels spin but the offside can't because it's being held back.

 

Thanks for all your replies.

When I took the car to the garage, I just wanted the tracking done and 2 new tyres on the front. The tracking was already out due to worn ball joints / wishbone bushes, so I replaced them and then went to the garage to get the tracking sorted.
The wheel size is 13" which is standard size and has never changed.

Since greasing the slide bolts on the calipers, the brakes seem to be working better now, and don't hold onto the wheel as much when I spin it like it did before I greased the bolts.

Maybe there is a suspension problem?
I need to fit new rear subframe bushes which may be contributing to the problem, I'm unsure.
When I go over bumps I hear almost like a hiss from the front suspension, only if its a bad bump though.
I still get the odd thud through the front sometimes when going over certain bumps, maybe suspension mounts are worn ?
I did a quick spring check on the front springs and they seemed fine.

What else to try?

 

Been out again today.
Driving in the left hand land of a dual carriage way, and it was slanted reasonable steep towards the centre of the road, the steering stayed perfectly straight and didn't veer or wonder off to the left.