Pulling to the left

[teggsi]

Hi Guys I just bought a gsi 96 couple of months ago and the car pulls to the left. It somewhat feels like the wheel alignment is out but I had that done a few weeks ago. Now the only thing else i can think of is the rubber which are very unevenly worn out. the right tyre has 15% rubber and the left one is almost out. However just out of curiosity, could there be something else. The lady owner i bought the car off said she never had any accident and the paint on the car looks pretty clean as well.

I will be buying new rubber this weekend and have plans to put an exshuast in it as well but just want to cross check if the problem could be anything major before i spend money on it to make it fast. It also pulls to the left when i brake. This happens sometimes.

Anyfeed back will be helpful guys. Thanks

[wynode]

Might want to take it to a suspension place and have it checked out. Just because the owner says it hasn't been in an accident, doesn't mean it hasn't!

Did it pull to the left when you test drove it?

[teggsi]

It actually did pull to the left but the air was low that day in the left tyre so i blamed that. but i understand wht you saying.

[Hadean]

Consider this; roads are bevelled to assist water drainage to where the gutter is. Some cars steering exhibit more tendancy to pull to the left more than others.

[teggsi]

Consider this; roads are bevelled to assist water drainage to where the gutter is. Some cars steering exhibit more tendancy to pull to the left more than others.

-- Thats so true and i have been wondering if this could be a factor. You see the car doesnt pull all the time but does once in a while. My question is if its suspension related wouldnt it be pulling all the time and not occasionally

[fueltank]

drive it in an empty levelled carpark and see if it pulls to the left.
perhaps it's tram lining?

[Hadean]

I think if it is suspension related, it would pull all the time. No two roads are ever the same.

[sharik]

Its a Castor problem. If you got a wheel alignment, they should have not done it and would have given you a print out of the numbers of whats off and by how much.
Some alignement places will just rip you off since your there for a wheel alignment and thats what they do.
Did they give you a print out of the results?

[teggsi]

Sorry whats a 'castor problem' and damn right i didnt get no printout :x , however will take the car for its 5k servicing next weekend, and will try and have the alignment looked at as well. Obviously not going to the same place. Just need to be more alert i guess, i had the wheel alignment done the next morning i bought the car so was too eager i guess besides the lady owner had all different air pressure in all the wheels. One had like 40 and the other had 60. Amazed the tyre didnt pop.

[wynode]

And how would they adjust castor without fitting a castor kit?

[Javed]

My car does this and it pulls wherever the surafce wants it to go kinda thing, its like a force feedback steering wheel kinda. Found out my cars castor was WAY into the negative, and this also tells why the steering is so light on my car. It looks as if the car had hit a gutter front on or something shunting the sussy backwards, altho there is no visible damage whatsoever, nothing bent at all. pure mystery. My wheels also sit towards the rear of the wheel arch. What has to be done is a smash repair will pull the front sussy forward then cross check with wheel alignments speciailists till the castor is back into the positive. I just haven't been arsed forking out to do it, will do it sometime soon i guess tho.

[Hadean]

If you had a castor problem, you will feel it in the way the steering feels. Not how it tracks in a straight line on a flat road.

For example, you may feel the steering easier to turn to one side more than the other.

[sharik]

OK, i had a simmilar problem if not worse. Castor kit costs about $50 maybe cheaper, call up Whiteline they are based in Tulamarine and should help you out heaps. You cannot adjust the castor without the caster kit and its not as complicaded as what you might think. When you have bad caster, it means that one wheel is in front of the other and in your case im asuming its the left behind the right.
The caster kit has 2 bolts and about 20 washers or so, and they just replace the bolt on one the wheels and put washers in to align both wheels the same, but ofcource all of that has to be done at the alignment place since there is no way of knowing axactly how many washers to put in with the naked eye.
But what I would do first is get a print out of the results, which should have the following info: Camber, Toe, Castor and obviously for both front and rear axles. If your caster is more than a degre out then you gota get that kit, but i mean the people that put you onto that alignment machine should tell you what the problems are.
Another posiblity is your Camber out of wack, so your right wheel might be too -negative camber to the left one, and that can make your can go leftish. Just to warn you though, camber kits cost around $200+ due to the fact they are adjustable, and also would need to be fited at same place as castor.

[Javed]

sharik would that help me in my situation? I am out like 2 or 3 degrees :S

[sharik]

Hadean: yes thats true tha fact that steering might be easier on one side or the other, but i mean if he tells us that its pulling to the left then I would assume that he has tried many types of slopes, and still pulls to the left.
But his describtion matches what I had, so I mean im just trying to guide him on the right path. But just gota get those results first, i mean no one should charge you for wheel aligment if his camber or castor is out by so much that makes him pull to the left.

[sharik]

Javed: anything thats out by that much needs attention. Its just that it costs a bit of money to do it, so people just say F.....it. It cost me about $300 including labour, and that fixed it so money well spent i thought.

[Hadean]

don't u think it's strange that it happens only 'sometimes'?

[Psyklops]

I am of the opinion that $300 to get an adjustable front end is actually not bad...being able to dial in custom caster, camber and toe settings for the track is really quite desirable. Whiteline actually supply recommended settings for road and track for their kits. That will be happening to my EG just before I take it to Sandown or The Island. :D

[sharik]

Its really upto you the driver, if you think its still ok to drive and your happy and it dosent hinder much performance or whatever then I guess its not worth it. But its really upto the driver as I said.
In my opinion, yes I do think its strange that it happends sometimes and for me, that would give me more of an urgency to get it checked out and posibly fixed.

[FR33K]

i had that problem....
got my brake hoses changed.. fixed the problem...
they were blocked or something

[wynode]

sharik would that help me in my situation? I am out like 2 or 3 degrees :S

What the hell?

This is not your thread. Please make a new one as its not fair to the original thread starter.

[teggsi]

Man the response is awsome and must say my mind is just buzzing with big ideas. Wouldnt mind a whiteline kit if need be. Guys you all have given your integeras a good run does the steering shake on high speed. After 120km/hr my steering has a funny shake and feel. Even my 86 corolla feels more stable at that speed and i expect hondas to have a much better handling. Now its not too rugged but not clean if you all know what i mean. I like things to be in place and wouldnt mind paying extra to get things fixed. As i said earlier I would like to add more power to the car but see it point less if the handling will let me down.

[Psyklops]

If your steering is shaking, check the balance weights on your wheels..sounds like one may have come off... ;)

[teggsi]

yup will get new tyres on saturday will get wheel balance done as well. Thanks for the tip

[Jus-10]

Wheel alignments are the biggest scam going!

Sounds like you need to go somewhere a bit more reputable and find someone you feel comfortable with and explain your problems to.

If all else fails get the guy to actually go for a drive around the block (with you in the car of course) so he can experience it himself.

It's very hard to know what it is without looking at it and experiencing it first hand. I'd say most of the potential problems have been listed here. I would say it's nothing major, but get it sorted before you get new rubber otherwise you will chew through that the tyre on the problem wheel.

[Javed]

sharik would that help me in my situation? I am out like 2 or 3 degrees :S

What the hell?

This is not your thread. Please make a new one as its not fair to the original thread starter.

Mate, for your reference, my question was dealt with by 1 reply, and was directed at a single person, it was not a hijack. I never meant it to be. Also, if i made a new thread what are the odds that you would bitch about me not searching because there is already a thread about this exact problem? I would say pretty high. So I would appreciate it if you could ease up a bit ey? We are all friends here!

Sorry teggsi, let me know how you go with it as i am very interested in the outcome!

[SLIK_TEG]

hey bro, how about u check ur control arm, coz if the car had hit a gutter at speed, the it woulda bent it! Just a suggestion!

[jay-bee'z]

i had a drive of a 98 gsi yesterday in qld..private sale....had been regualary serviced at the same place everytime, 1 owner, and it did the same thing, pulled to the left like the whole time you had to kinda steer it slighty to the right to make it drive straight...just some FYI for you, sounds like a common problem

[teggsi]

[QUOTE="jay-beewell bro you've hit the nail right on the head, exactly what i felt and so true you have to steer to the right every now and then to keep it staright. not too much but enough to annoy me. well i had new tyres put in last weekend and well the problem has decreased by 90% but im sure it will go back to normal once the rubber has worn out unevenly again. will give car for servicing and the guy will also run wheel alignment and give print out to detemine a fix. Shouls be interesting. But rubber makes so much difference its unbelievable. And guys no more shake on high speed, must hace been wheel balance. Will keep you posted on the progress.

[teggsi]

ok guys i took my car for servicing and had wheel alignment checked as well. On the report it showed that the alignment is out by .2% and could have been caused by an accident or major pothole. anyways the guy said that i will need camber kit to fix the problem and said that in hondas ill need to change the arm as well. he quoted a rough figure of $400 fitted.

Now thats a pretty high figure and i was just wondering if there was other options. I know a whiteline kit wont go with the integra or will it. And will a kit such as the whiteline allow me to ajust the alignment or will i still need the camber kit regardless? Lastly, any suggestions as to which part, model will be best for my car. Im not sure if i can divert the thread like this but any help will be appreciated.

[joneblaze]

You can get a proper alignment done at Whiteline in Minto in Sydney, and grab a camber kit from them if need be.
www.whiteline.com.au

[teggsi]

ok fair enough i can get a proper alignment done at whiteline but my question was, i have already identified that i need camber kit to fix the problem and therefore which model or brand will be best and how much? also i was curious if getting a whiteline kit or similar for integra give me the option to align the wheels or will i still need camber kit on top of it

[teggsi]

ok i enquired with whiteline and apparently whiteline dont do camber kit for front wheel of Integras. My camber problem is in the front so thats a bummer. Hey jonblaze www.whiteline.com.au is pretty cool. thanks. Anyone got any other models or ideas where i can get one. Thanks.

[jay-bee'z]

hey man im interested to know how ur going with this problem. Cause well im facin down the barrel of buying a gsi with the same problem (pulling the left). would u suggest i buy it, or are you still having trouble fixing your problem??

holla back
~1~