williaty
04-05-2007, 11:19 PM
Last week, I had the car in for an alignment because I had disassembled the rear lateral link and had added camber bolts to the front end. Since the alignment, the car has been acting somewhat odd. Settings were changed from:
Front-
Camber: -1.0
Toe: 0
Rear-
Camber: -1.5
Toe: 0
To:
Front-
Camber: -2.25
Toe: 0
Rear-
Camber: -1.5
Toe: 0
For the first few days, I wasn't really sure what was going on. I thought maybe there was a slight pull to the left, but at the same time, the car would often track perfectly straight. If the road had a LOT of crown, sometimes it would even pull to the right. During the next few days, I became more sure the car was pulling to the left most of the time. Then, yesterday and today, the car has really been confusing me. About 1/3rd of the time, the car tracks perfectly straight. About 1/3rd of the time, the car pulls VERY GENTLY to the left. The last 1/3rd of the time, the car has a suicidal death wish to go to the left as fast and hard as possible.
When the car is in the hardcore-left-death-mode, the steering wheel itself will try to twist HARD to the left. If you let go of the wheel, it will snap about 15 degrees left of center and stay there, causing the car to instantly jump out of the lane. If you force the wheel to the right of center and then let the wheel go, it will again snap to about 15 degrees left of center, only MUCH quicker. Wobbling the wheel back and forth, it is clearly MUCH, MUCH easier to turn the wheel to the left (even past the 15 degree left of center point it's trying to reach) than it is to turn it to the right at all. The thing is, 1/4 mile later, this might all be over, or it might persist for a mile before disappearing and then coming back without warning.
On Edit: Prior to the alignment, and continuing since then, there's been a creaking/popping noise from the front end. I've posted about it on here, but have never been able to resolve it. No idea if these are related.
What in the name of electrified elephants is wrong with my car?!?!
Thanks,
Ty
Front-
Camber: -1.0
Toe: 0
Rear-
Camber: -1.5
Toe: 0
To:
Front-
Camber: -2.25
Toe: 0
Rear-
Camber: -1.5
Toe: 0
For the first few days, I wasn't really sure what was going on. I thought maybe there was a slight pull to the left, but at the same time, the car would often track perfectly straight. If the road had a LOT of crown, sometimes it would even pull to the right. During the next few days, I became more sure the car was pulling to the left most of the time. Then, yesterday and today, the car has really been confusing me. About 1/3rd of the time, the car tracks perfectly straight. About 1/3rd of the time, the car pulls VERY GENTLY to the left. The last 1/3rd of the time, the car has a suicidal death wish to go to the left as fast and hard as possible.
When the car is in the hardcore-left-death-mode, the steering wheel itself will try to twist HARD to the left. If you let go of the wheel, it will snap about 15 degrees left of center and stay there, causing the car to instantly jump out of the lane. If you force the wheel to the right of center and then let the wheel go, it will again snap to about 15 degrees left of center, only MUCH quicker. Wobbling the wheel back and forth, it is clearly MUCH, MUCH easier to turn the wheel to the left (even past the 15 degree left of center point it's trying to reach) than it is to turn it to the right at all. The thing is, 1/4 mile later, this might all be over, or it might persist for a mile before disappearing and then coming back without warning.
On Edit: Prior to the alignment, and continuing since then, there's been a creaking/popping noise from the front end. I've posted about it on here, but have never been able to resolve it. No idea if these are related.
What in the name of electrified elephants is wrong with my car?!?!
Thanks,
Ty