68 Barracuda. I recently swapped out the passenger lower control arm bushing (PITA) and noticed a bad pull to the right after re-installing all of the suspension components. Everything was reassembled back to pre-tear down spec (at least I thought?). I had an alignment done about 2-3 weeks prior and drove straight down the road. Took it back in for an alignment thinking that I may have have marked my tubular upper controller arm or tie rod sleeve incorrectly when re-installing. Tech made a couple small adjustments to no avail and still had same bad pull. Put it back on the lift and noticed a couple things. Seems like calipers are sticking a bit (worst on passenger side) and I have correct brake hoses on the way. Play in idler arm, which is only a year old. I assume these issues were present prior to replacing the lower control arm bushing so not too sure what would be causing this drastic pull all of the sudden.
Bad Pull to The Right
- Thread starter Mcfarlrm
- Start date
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Did you let the calipers hang on the hoses. You may have a bad hose not letting the pressure return. Or a bad caliper sticking after you pushed it back. Wrong strut rod bushings could come into play. Just some things to check to help you figure it out. You did use rubber bushings?
Calipers were propped up. Fingers crossed it's just the hoses and I have the correct ones on order since the original ones were not correct for the calipers. I haven't done anything with the strut rod bushings, which are rubber and look okay and I used rubber for the control arm. There is visible play in the idler arm, which is causing play in the tire. I am also rotating my front tires to rule out radial pull.
Lower control arm nut tightened to spec AFTER ride height and full weight on suspension?
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
is the pull constant, at a specific speed, after a specific set of actions or only exhibits when on the brakes?
Inertia
Well-Known Member
Did you happen to get a printout from the alignment shop, usually has before/after #s.
That'd help determine if they're using the old factory specs, or modern radial tire specs .
Did you get the strut rod hardware ( washers/bushings) on the way it came off, should be same as the drivers side.
Pull to right indicates less caster on the right side (the wheel is farther towards rear) if cambers are near equal.
The vehicle went straight before you messed with the suspension, correct ?
That'd help determine if they're using the old factory specs, or modern radial tire specs .
Did you get the strut rod hardware ( washers/bushings) on the way it came off, should be same as the drivers side.
Pull to right indicates less caster on the right side (the wheel is farther towards rear) if cambers are near equal.
The vehicle went straight before you messed with the suspension, correct ?
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Control arm nut tightened after rolling off lift. Pull is constant at any speed and braking does exacerbate the issue a bit. Drove straight down the road before working on the suspension. Strut rods went back on just as they came off. I'm doing the brake lines and checking for radial pull tonight. Idler arm to follow if that doesn't work.
Sounds like something moved during tightening or he set the caster negative vs positive on the right side. Guy made that mistake on my Bee and it would go around a right hand bend on it's own at 60mph.
That or you have some severe pad drag on the right wheel..
Haha. Yeah. If the brake lines, checking for radial pull, or idler arm don't fix the issue, I'll take it back to my alignment guy. If that doesn't work, starting from square one and pulling the suspension apart and starting over.
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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Before you do anything;
I used to be an alignment tech in a tire shop.
I have seen tires create their own pull, with no visible reason for it.
I know it's a longshot, but Swap the frontwheels, side for side, and see if the pull follows the wheels. While the wheels are off, check to see that they are the same width and both have the same backspace.
Honestly
I don't think this is your problem, but I learned early on to always check.
What I do think,
is that you have a Caster/Camber mismatch, side for side, and the brake test sorta points to it. If you have recently installed new Moog UCA bolts, I can practically guarantee the UCA adjustment has slipped.
>>There was a time, 20 or so years ago, that those bolts were not made right, in as much as; there was not enough threading on them, and when I thought the nuts were torqued right, the nuts were simply bottomed on the threads, with very little actual clamping force being transmitted to the chassis. The cure was to install hardened washers to put the nuts back into a good working range. I installed two per bolt, one on each end, and problem solved.
I have no idea if Moog ever corrected that.
Loose and/or worn normal-wear parts do not cause a pull by themselves. They might, I say might, allow an already existing pull to be exacerbated.
In my experience, a straight ahead pull not caused by brakes, tires, or a heavily crowned road, was always a Caster/Camber, side to side, mismatch.
In fact,
>One time; on a certain K-car, I remember doing two alignments before I figured out that the driver was over 400 pounds, and his wife about half that; and the pull was worse when the wife was not in the car, which facts were never revealed to me from the front desk. After I discovered that, we installed the heaviest duty strut springs available, all 'round, and the final alignment was done with over 200 pounds of ballast on the driver's seat. The customer was very pleased, and I never saw the car again.
There were many times that I had to dial in an intentional caster-pull to compensate for things like that, including a certain heavily-crowned, local hiway.
>One time, after having redone an alignment twice, and the car burned off a set of tires in short order each time, I found out he was an Motorhome delivery guy, and was flat-towing his car behind it, for thousands of miles per week. I redid the alignment to spec and told him to get a dolly and get those front tires off the road,dammit. Guy comes back several weeks later, towing his fold-up custom dolly, with a happy ending.
>One time; well you get the idea................
I used to be an alignment tech in a tire shop.
I have seen tires create their own pull, with no visible reason for it.
I know it's a longshot, but Swap the frontwheels, side for side, and see if the pull follows the wheels. While the wheels are off, check to see that they are the same width and both have the same backspace.
Honestly
I don't think this is your problem, but I learned early on to always check.
What I do think,
is that you have a Caster/Camber mismatch, side for side, and the brake test sorta points to it. If you have recently installed new Moog UCA bolts, I can practically guarantee the UCA adjustment has slipped.
>>There was a time, 20 or so years ago, that those bolts were not made right, in as much as; there was not enough threading on them, and when I thought the nuts were torqued right, the nuts were simply bottomed on the threads, with very little actual clamping force being transmitted to the chassis. The cure was to install hardened washers to put the nuts back into a good working range. I installed two per bolt, one on each end, and problem solved.
I have no idea if Moog ever corrected that.
Loose and/or worn normal-wear parts do not cause a pull by themselves. They might, I say might, allow an already existing pull to be exacerbated.
In my experience, a straight ahead pull not caused by brakes, tires, or a heavily crowned road, was always a Caster/Camber, side to side, mismatch.
In fact,
>One time; on a certain K-car, I remember doing two alignments before I figured out that the driver was over 400 pounds, and his wife about half that; and the pull was worse when the wife was not in the car, which facts were never revealed to me from the front desk. After I discovered that, we installed the heaviest duty strut springs available, all 'round, and the final alignment was done with over 200 pounds of ballast on the driver's seat. The customer was very pleased, and I never saw the car again.
There were many times that I had to dial in an intentional caster-pull to compensate for things like that, including a certain heavily-crowned, local hiway.
>One time, after having redone an alignment twice, and the car burned off a set of tires in short order each time, I found out he was an Motorhome delivery guy, and was flat-towing his car behind it, for thousands of miles per week. I redid the alignment to spec and told him to get a dolly and get those front tires off the road,dammit. Guy comes back several weeks later, towing his fold-up custom dolly, with a happy ending.
>One time; well you get the idea................
Inertia
Well-Known Member
Ask your alignment guy if he can get a little more caster while he's there,
Here's a chart for modern tires, it looks like he's heading that way, or perhaps even aware, cuz factory caster was 0* to -1*.
Here's a chart for modern tires, it looks like he's heading that way, or perhaps even aware, cuz factory caster was 0* to -1*.
Inertia
Well-Known Member
The front wheels on a shopping buggy have negative caster, you've seen how straight they track .
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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Are you talking about the pitman arm that is supposed to be bolted to the steering box? how the dickens can that happen?
did the nut fall off?
did the arm fall off?
did the steering box fall off?
did the Engine flip over?
did the frame break?
Check the upper control arm cam bolts to see if they have shifted.
For the clunk during braking, check the strut rod anchor points.
did the nut fall off?
did the arm fall off?
did the steering box fall off?
did the Engine flip over?
did the frame break?
Check the upper control arm cam bolts to see if they have shifted.
For the clunk during braking, check the strut rod anchor points.
Correct. Play in idler and now pitman hitting exhaust. Looks like my Sat is now fully booked lol.
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