Front Alignment pulling to the side ???

[Andrew21]

Hey, i recently just put a set of 17" rims on my EG Civic (205/40/R17)
As soon as i put these on, (from the 14" stockers) the steering pulls to the right when driving.. I noticed on that on some roads, it pulls hard especially when braking to a slow stop ?.. I thought a wheel alignment would fix this, took the car down to the tyre shop, came back and the mechanic said that on my honda civic you cant adjust it ?? He said a wheel alignment probably wouldnt fix my proplem, and that i'd probably have to get a full pedders setup ( with new control arm and shit ) WTF ? is this the case or does this bloke not know what he's talking about ?

Do you think it could be something to do with the tyres ? As the front two have some wear on the inner side due to previous owners camber ?

Thanks

Andrew...

[SiReal]

yes that is the case. the wider the tyre, the more veering will happen. It happened to me and i had no way of fixing it, even after a S-spec alignment, (normal and under load align). apparently its normal. I even had brand new tyres and the car wasnt lowered.

[[T][L]]

same as here..
i think is normal

[SiReal]

Perhaps something to do to minimise the veering could be to correctly inflate and match the tyre pressure. Good luck with it. It sucks, butu ahve to live with it =)

[Andrew21]

thanks for the responses guys, ahh shit... ahwell its not that bad i suppose..

What do u guys inflate you 17" 205/40/R17 tyres too ? 32psi ??

[SiReal]

I'm not sure mate, I dont have that car anymore, so i cant remember! I'm sure plenty of forum members will be able to assist.

[TKO]

well but i use the same set up as 205/40/R17. I dont have this problem. my steering dead straight. So i dont think it is normal it veering to one side.

[FloodSim]

thanks for the responses guys, ahh shit... ahwell its not that bad i suppose..

What do u guys inflate you 17" 205/40/R17 tyres too ? 32psi ??


I run 17" 215/40/ZR17's on my car @ 36psi. I was told that i should inflate to at least 36psi cause of the low profile.

[VTC-8OY]

dats BS ive i had 17's with 205/40/r17 on me eg plus lowered for bout almost 3 yrs now, n dun have no problems, maybe try getting wheel balance too if u havent already. tyre pressure i put in my tyres is 44psi, go look at the tyre n read what it should be.

[Menzy]

i would have to say get your camber checked ... maybe you have hit a gutter or somthing ... double check it, i have a few friends that had the same problem and when checked their camber is bent to the left/right hand side if you let your steering wheel go does it just turn left/right or stay middle straight .. and try this on a smooth road too ;)

Good luck

[bennjamin]

a proper wheel alignment shoudl help - the front and rear toe might be out of whack from any previous curb hits or big bumps etc - also when i took ur front tyres off the inner worn patch didnt help ~

[Vivski]

I'm no techie so dont quote me, but immediately from reading your post I'd think two things... tyre pressure and toe out.

I have 195/55/15s and have them at about 38psi. I think yours are even lower profile so you'll probably need more pressure. You can generally feel it... if the steering isn't very responsive, try a bit more pressure. Also, of course have even pressure left-right. When my mate bought his car he thought the alignment was stuffed 'cos it was pulling way to the right... as it turned out his right rear tyre was only 17psi, lol.

Also, as bennjamin said the toe might be off. You'll notice it especially when you brake, the wheels try to stop and the body tries to keep going... so the wheels point out a bit (which makes them eager to turn)... mix that with an uneven surface and the car will pull a bit.
That could be exaggerated by your alignment being a bit out from curb hits or.... and someone can correct me if I'm wrong.... tired (old/worn) bushes.

If the car's pulling on smooth flat road and your tyres are at the right pressures then it's probably something you want to look at. As you probably wont get the best life out of your tyres... though you'll get good turn-in!

But as I said I'm no mechanic so someone will no doubt come and correct me.

[Limbo]

Mate take it to another place that does electronic 4 wheel alignment.
If you haven'y lowered it then there shouldn't be any problem unless you've knocked something bent.

[Andrew21]

thanks 4 all the suggestions guys, yeh i just had ben lower it with whiteline 'flatouts' ,, handles great.. just this steering issue is a pain in the ass.. i might just take it down to the tyre place and get them to do wheel alignment anyway... + inflate all tyres to around 36psi... let you know how it goes...

[Kandy]

When I got directional tires (is that what they're called? They only rotate back and front on the same side when rotating) on my car, they pull alot depending on the dips and angles on the road... Maybe the roads you're driving on are all sloped to the right... haha