John U

'94 ES
4 new KYB struts, 4 KYB mounts, 4 sway links, ball joints.
It drifts right and is kinda "squirley" or darty on roads it was fine on before hand????
The alignment shop checked it over again and everythings within spec's....I read the print out.
They swapped the front tires etc.
The tires are new and tracked perfect before the work.

Can the strut mount be bad but still align correct????
Any ideas???

Thanks,

92ES5sp

When you say it pulls right, you mean you physically let go of the steering wheel and it drifts? Or do you mean the wheel is off center when going straight? If its the latter, the tech might have incorrectly centered and locked the wheel before adjusting the toe.

As far as the squirly-ness, Are the new sway bar end links attached? Are they right? Id take it back to the shop and have them double check everything. Maybe a s.b. link is loose or something. Good luck

John U

Yes. Let go of the wheel and it drifts right.....even in the left lane. Two Techs have driven it and are at a loss. It's very sensitive now to road surface...I had the same determined drift to the ...left last night?????
I did all the work myself and the sway links are in place and tight.
TIA,
John

alaskaty

I have a very similar thing that has happened to my 98. After I got my struts/mounts/springs installed my car pulled tracked to the left (before hand it was straight). I got it aligned and it still tracked to the left. I'm going to have the alignment shop recheck it this weekend and see if there's anything off (the printout said it was within factory spec). I drive with my wheel turned to the right a few degrees off center to go straight, not a huge deal, but a little annoying.
Jason

John U

Alaskaty,
Anything found on your end? I do see in the manuals, caster and camber are non-adjustable on these cars.
JU

alaskaty

my friend an I noticed my two front springs weren't seated real well in the strut "cups" so we fixed that and it still pulls to the left. I'm going to take it in today or sometime soon to check the alignment. I'll keep you posted.

John U

My wife came home and said today it pulls to the left and is quite the hand full! She takes the same highway everyday, yesterday it was going right.
What can cause it to shift directions of a pull???
JU

alaskaty

You could try rotating your tires. I went to get mine realigned and it was still within factory specs, but it was obvious something was wrong when they drove it. They said it was due to the tires being new and one wasn't quite true. They switched the front left to the front right and now it pulls ever so lightly to the right (I'll probably put that one in back until it gets broken in) but it is way better than what it use to be.

smokesgtp

I know the third gens are just very sensitive to the crown of the road as well, a little annoyingly, I would imagine this is the same for second gen?. Many people mistake this for an alignment issue. Have the tires rebalanced too, I had a recent problem with my brand new goodyear assurance tripletreads after an alignment and it was just a balancing issue. although im sure you already tried that. Did you guys change the strut bearings as well? Sway bar end links definetly sounds logical too. Maybe even a worn control arm bushing, I had similar symptoms when mine was bad?

John U

Have the tires rebalanced too, I had a recent problem with my brand new goodyear assurance tripletreads
**I put new Assurance Comfortreads on it that ran out perfect before the new parts. Yes, the fronts were swapped and no change.

Did you guys change the strut bearings as well?
** Yes, KYB strut bearings on the front and mounts on all 4 corners. I'm wondering if they may be the source of the problem. Has anyone had problems with new front strut bearings or mounts causing a pull???

Sway bar end links definetly sounds logical too.
** Yes, New on all 4 corners.

Maybe even a worn control arm bushing, I had similar symptoms when mine was bad?
** Where is this little gem located?

smokesgtp

I believe it attaches to the lower ball joint. It's very basically the slanted arm under the wheel that attaches the wheel and brake assembly to the front subframe of the car itself, almost like an A arm, there are 2 rubber bushings on the frame side I believe? and the balljoint side has one I think. Jack up the car safely and see how much play is in the front wheel by attempting to shake the tire side to side and up and down firmly but not heman . There should be little to no movement. That and inside tire wear are indicators of worn bushings in my understanding, you have to replace the whole arm unfortunately unless you know someone with a special press and can actually obtain the bushings by themselves. If you don't have inside tire wear though then they can't be too bad. A worn one on mine ate through half the tread in about a two thousand miles on a set of fuzions I had.

John U

I did replace both ball joints too. The guys at the shop are not shy pointing out worn items and they are out of ideas!
JU

John U

Alaskaty,
Any success on your end?
JU

alaskaty

yeah, like i said previously,after I rotated the tires about 90% of the pull disappeared. It'll drift ever so slightly but it's WAY betty than it use to be.

llcoolpass

may have been radial pull

but even if the alignment is within range, even if imperfect like 99.9% of the time it is, that's not good enough. go for as close to the toe-in minimum as possible if you're having a darting issue. this will help you track forward better. also, have the alignment done with you sitting in the seat to have the static reading most accurate

if your one of your wheels has a wobble, when they do a digital alignment, that can cause equipment to loose accuracy, which often leads to these wacked out results