Wheel alignment

Right, I have a big problem with my car pulling to the left. It all started when I replaced the rear tyres. I noticed that it began pulling left, not extreme amounts but noticeable. The steering wheel was always slightly left of centre to achieve straight driving. I thought this weird as the front end was not touched.
Anyway I went to the garage today to have the alignment done and mentioned about the problem occurring since the rears were replaced. They said that should not happen and that something else must have knocked it out (which I am sure has not happened). They did the alignment and it was I drove home and it was terrible, about 3 times as much pull to the left as before, almost undrivable. I went back and they did it again, same result. They say it could be due to the front cambers being out and told me to go to a Main Dealer to get them looked at. They don't show that badly on the readouts.

How can this happen? Perfectly fine, buy new rears goes out a little, get the alignment done and it is terrible? Any help would be appreciated!

[simontaylor]

James, I havn't got the answer, but try a few simple checks, prhaps they did do something wrong at the back which is now causing the car to go left.

1. Are the tyres the same size, rotating the right way (if marked) and some tyres are maked "out-side wall". check the front too, perhaps the old set up was wrong at the back too, but now it is right, the overall is that the front is wrong now.

2. Stand well back from the side of the car, are all the wheels in the centre of the arches?

3. just get a tape measure out, do you have the same wheelbase on each side of the car?

4. jack up the car and spin the wheels, are they spinning true?

Sounds silly, bit these simple checks may help you to see/find something that is wrong.

Good luck.

Agree with what Simon says, so those checks...also, have you ever jacked up the rear of the car before you had the rear tyres changed?

On one of my old Alpines, jacking the car up for the first time at the rear, disturbed one of the rear bushes, so when the car was driven afterwards, it was all over the place, and pulling to one side. You may of had the front aligned, but the problem may be steering from the rear.

Check that the anti-roll bar bush hasnt come unhooked from the lower wishbone whilst jacking..

Also, sometimes the rear springs can fall slightly out of place, from being jacked up, altering the ride height and camber from one side to the other, this will alter the ride...

[stephendell]

Was it the same garage that fitted the tyres that did the alignment?

Was it a proper 4 wheel alignment drive on job with sensors on each wheel or a dodgy front wheel drive over type?

What did they do? Adjust the track rods at the front or add/remove shims at the back?

It's very possible that the garage don't know what they're doing, they might have turned the track rods the wrong way and made the problem worse. May be worth taking somewhere else for a second opinion if all else fails.

rear wheels must be aligned before front wheels - most cars can't have their rear wheels aligned but you can in a GTA by using different sizes of shims. One car I had pulled very hard to the left and appeared to have a history of wearing out front tyres which is unusual in the GTA. But when I put it on a proper electronic 4 wheel alignment system it was found that a rear wheel was out of alignment. A shim was removed then the steering wheel centred and the front wheels re aligned and it was a totally different car - no pull to the left and much better handling!

Hope this helps a bit

Thanks all for the advice. They only checked the front end but on computer/sensor equipment. They basically adjusted the track rods.

The car had not been jacked before other than at ARR when I took it there 3 months ago (before I replaced the tyres). My car is due back there in a couple of weeks for some work, replacing the anti roll bar bushes being part of it. Makes me think that maybe David could be right, when the tyres were replaced they dislodged one of the bushes as I know they were worn. I will do all the checks you have suggested and see how I get on.

Cheers
James

Do you know what settings the car supposedly has? From what I have read the GTA has a 2mm tow in on the front where the Turbo is supposed to have 2mm tow out. How much bump steer do you have at the front?

I admit I set my Turbo with tow in, as tow out can make turn in better, but can make the car nervous at speed. The rear should have 2.5mm toe in at each wheel. Total 5mm. I am very satisfied with the handling.

I found also that the bracket that the rear lower arm bolts to was broken, allowing the wheel to move around. I could not see the break until I removed the crud. It was where the bracket has a right angle bend to pick up the bolts to connect it to the engine cradle.

How worn are your front tyres? - when mine get very old (5 years +) they are distinctly worn on the inner edges.

I know my car is not alone in this wear pattern, and it never has a major effect on handling, but if the alignment has been tweaked it may exacerbate things. On worn tyres roads with a bad camber would cause it to pull.