Is my alignment off or is there some other issue?

[FC3L15B7]

Got an alignment at a reputable tuner friendly shop that works on a ton of cars. I had a previous alignment at pepboys which was all wrong and I got a refund for but only drove a few hundred miles on it.

After going to the new shop I got everything fixed and aligned (everything checked out on the report) but for some odd reason my car pulls ever so slightly left when I'm driving fast on highways and such. Going slow/medium in normal traffic my car drives perfectly straight, but as soon as I hit 80mph and if I leave my steering wheel untouched and centered, the car will gradually pull to the left. I notice that if I want to drive straight at highway speeds I need to slightly put some pressure on the wheel to turn right every now and then.

What could be the issue here? I don't think it's a tire issue because they are all brand new and barely driven on a bad alignment, and the alignment results all come back ok.

An alignment is not an exact measurement. There is a range it can be that is within tolerance, so it's still possible to pull a tiny bit. Most people wouldn't even notice.

If tires are in good shape as you say (new) and they are all the same tire pressure, be sure to try it at speed in the middle lane of a 3-lane highway to ensure it's not road crown causing it. A multilane highway crowns on both the innermost and outermost lanes, so if you're in the outside lane and it pulls a bit to the left, it's probably normal.

Regardless of whether it pulls a little or not, keep an eye on the tires. If you see the ribs beginning the feather laterally, you will need to see the shop again to correct a toe issue. Also find out if they did a front-alignment or a 4-wheel alignment. The fronts could be perfect and a rear could be out of toe.

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[FC3L15B7]

Hi all just an update, got my rear arms installed and had it dialed to the OEM specs, running -1.6 in the rears evenly. My steering is now perfect and can drive straight once again, didn't have to make any adjustments to my steering wheel after repositioning it.

My alignment guy and also a different mechanic both didn't believe that it would work, alignment guy said he's never seen it before and the mechanic said he didn't think it would work and that I would need front arms as well.

So incredibly happy that this all worked out, didn't even have to get another 4w alignment.

lol. I was just in the midst of a message that didn't get sent straight away when you updated.

 

[suhhh]

lol. I was just in the midst of a message that didn't get sent straight away when you updated.

Haha all good man, I genuinely appreciate your response too. I tried basically everything you stated in your response, there's this stretch of highway near me that's perfectly straight for 2-3 miles - I can't tell you how many times I drove up and down that thing lol

4w alignment was done initially, everything checked out and tires look still pretty good for now, was worried about un-even tire wear

 

[FC3L15B7]

Haha all good man, I genuinely appreciate your response too. I tried basically everything you stated in your response, there's this stretch of highway near me that's perfectly straight for 2-3 miles - I can't tell you how many times I drove up and down that thing lol

4w alignment was done initially, everything checked out and tires look still pretty good for now, was worried about un-even tire wear

You said you put rear arms and was aligned to factory spec, so in all likelihood, they made a boo boo on the rear alignment. Having said that, it happens sometimes - someone gets distracted and they miss something. It's not major, so you - or rather your car - lives to see another day.

 

[Doc_Mello]

Hi all just an update, got my rear arms installed and had it dialed to the OEM specs, running -1.6 in the rears evenly. My steering is now perfect and can drive straight once again, didn't have to make any adjustments to my steering wheel after repositioning it.

My alignment guy and also a different mechanic both didn't believe that it would work, alignment guy said he's never seen it before and the mechanic said he didn't think it would work and that I would need front arms as well.

So incredibly happy that this all worked out, didn't even have to get another 4w alignment.

Hey, so, your rear camber was adjusted to OEM, and that fixed your steering issue?

My perennial issue is that my car tracks straight on it’s own BUT the steering wheel is cocked about 2 degrees CW.

 

[tacthecat]

Tracking true is more important than the slight offset. Apparently the steering wheel wasn't set to 0 before they started the alignment check/adjust process. Live with it for now (mine was off about the same before the last adjustment) and make sure they are aware of the "problem" before they do the next alignment.

 

[nizarz]

Swap your two front tires around then see if it still happens. Best way to rule out tires. On a previous car I had the pull to the right. Had alignment done and everything checked out. Swapped my tires around and then it started going the other way. New tires, problem solved.

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