Slight Pull To The Left

[black2kmax]

To start with I bought my car already lowered. I never had a chance to talk to the previous owner but here is what I know. The car is lowered using Steeda Spring, CC plates, Stock Struts/springs and bumpsteer kit. When I bought it it had 17" Bullits with 275's on the front and 315's on the back. I installed a set of 18" FR500's with 275/35/18's. I took it in for an alignment and ever since it has had a slight pull to the left. It has been back about a half a dozen times and they swear everything is right. The car is funny because it will track straight for a while then it will just start pulling. I am not sure it it is after a slight bump which could indicate that the car still has a bump steer issue. To cloud things up more the tires were used and the technician said it could be a problem with them. However, they try rotating the tires and it was still showing the same symptoms.

Do you guys have any ideas?

I am thinking either I have a crappy alignment or there is something wrong with the suspension. Suppose that the cheapest way to get some piece of mind is to take it to another shop. At first the first shop was telling me that my car was not adjustable for caster and camber. When I picked it up I printed out the description of my CC plates and showed him. He claimed to adjust everything the 2nd time. Of course it took 4 more tries after that before I gave up.

[j rick kirby]

When it starts pulling is it continuous or just a jerk and then is ok?

[black2kmax]

Continuous for sure. No sudden pull just a slight drift left.

[SHAKEN]

I used this method for checking and installing my Steeda 3 bolt caster camber plates http://www.modularfords.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=89009. I believe there is a typo in the distance measured on the rear rims. I used 5mm not 3mm on the front and rear measurement on the the rear rims for the front toe. When I finished I ended up with 0 camber on the front passenger side. The driver side was -.8 and the toe was 2mm toe in. The Caster was set as much postive on both side as the adjustments allowed. I could not get anymore negitive camber on the passenger side with the plates setup for general use. and since it still fall into spec and after test drive I was happy with the results. My biggest hurdle was keeping the steering wheel straight while adjusting the toe. I ended up using my seatbelt wrapping it around the lower opening of the steering wheel. as far as bump steer this site shows both http://bio.fsu.edu/~heath/mustang/alignment/ .

[black2kmax]

Thanks Shaken. I think that this may beyond my modest abilities. I may end up taking it in to a decent shop and having them check it out. Of course the pull is so slight and the tires seem to be wearing fine so I may just leave it alone for now. I am thinking about putting on some new shocks in struts in the near future so I will probably just wait until then.

[KEVINC66]

When I put my 275's on, I was warned by a few of the members on this registry that the alignment would be ok,not perfect.I guess when you install larger size tires and rims,the geometry of the front end is changed.The car was'nt designed for 275's,it was designed for 245's.Just my 2 cents.....................................Kevin.

[black2kmax]

Yeah I kind of figured that bigger is not always better. But it sure does look good. Funny thing is that when I bought it it had 275's up front and 315's in the back. I don't remember it pulling before.

[KEVINC66]

Funny thing is when I got aligned,I thought is was pulling also,to the left also.Then when I drove on another road,it was true.I had my rack and tierod ends replaced,got it aligned again(By another shop,I moved 645 miles away,thats why).It was good for a week and it began to not really pull,just drift to the left.Just remember when you start messing around with the original design of your car,it's not gonna be exactly right.Like you said before,monitor your tire wear,if it looks normal.I would live with it.Just my opinion.....................................Kevin.

[mpk1996]

you guys sure the alignment shop didn't set it up to drive straight on a crowned road? some will set it up like that so when you are driving on a 2 lane road that is crowned (a lot are to help shed water) that the car drives stright and doesn't go right with the crown. I know when i took mine to get aligned, i was very specific with what i wanted (even telling them the caster/camber/toe in that i wanted) and that i wanted it aligned straight.