SOLVED: Car pulls left after alignment

[OsirisPalko]

Howdy,

Trying to chase down some suspension gremlins. I was due for tie rods and ball joints, so I picked up some moog inners, honda OEM outers, and SCP static ball joints. Install went OK. Got the car aligned at my local honda dealership, they gave me a big stink about "modifications" but it's literally oem and auto part store parts..

It took them about three hours to align it, and while now it tracks straight, it pulls to the left pretty good - it isn't a "this is within spec" pull, if I floor it I have to hold the wheel so I don't swerve into oncoming traffic.

The stealership says the spec sheet is fine except my passenger rear toe is negative and they can't fix it (or don't know how). I'm tearing my hair out over this, after having to wait for backordered parts twice (one of the outer tie rods came in defective).

I'm going in tomorrow morning to either have them re-do the alignment or get a refund so I can take it to something like town fair tire.. what should I check in the meantime? I rotated all four tires already, I checked my tie rod outers (can the castle nut be TOO tight?), I checked for brakes sticking, I checked tire air pressure.. I'm not sure what else to check. I am about to throw on my all seasons onto all four to double-check that multiple of my summer sports arn't tire pulling..

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[OsirisPalko]

Here's the before and after

 

[OsirisPalko]

Been reading on the forum, going to try a relearn of the EPS by disconnecting the battery for some time. I don't hear or feel any mechanical issues. When I hold the wheel straight, everything is fine, but when I let go of the wheel it definitely pulls.

It seems to be different between when the clutch is engaged, but I don't think it's torque steer related since it also does this while coasting.

 

[BABY NSX]

Hmmmm. Sorry to hear of these issues. So after the alignment it pulls left now? But you said it tracks straight so I’m confused.

I’m not sure what angles are actually adjustable on the car but it’s weird that you thrust angle is bigger after the alignment was done. Also why did it take 3 hours for a dealer to do an alignment on a car they should be familiar with?

You can try to swap the front tires and see if that makes a difference to rule out bad tires but I don’t think it’ll make a difference but worth a try.

Also what year is your car? How many miles? Weird that you needed ball joints and tie rods.

 

[OsirisPalko]

Hmmmm. Sorry to hear of these issues. So after the alignment it pulls left now? But you said it tracks straight so I’m confused.

I’m not sure what angles are actually adjustable on the car but it’s weird that you thrust angle is bigger after the alignment was done. Also why did it take 3 hours for a dealer to do an alignment on a car they should be familiar with?

You can try to swap the front tires and see if that makes a difference to rule out bad tires but I don’t think it’ll make a difference but worth a try.

Also what year is your car? How many miles? Weird that you needed ball joints and tie rods.

Hey there - after installing new inner and outer tie rods + ball joints, the car was out of alignment as expected, pulled hard to the right. I don't mind tearing up my summer sports, I'm due to rotate them anyway. Replaced because it's a 43 month old (2017), 76k mile, daily driver that commutes to Boston. This is actually my third set of ball joints. I drive the car like it's a beater.

Got my alignment earlier this morning, spec sheet looked good, car pulled to the left now instead of the right. Seemed to be a common theme in threads I've seen on the forum. In short my dealership sucks. It's just camber and toe. I don't know enough about thrust angle but from wear and tear I need rear toe arms to be able to adjust my rear passenger toe into spec.

I tried the tire rotation, I listed all my prior troubleshooting above. I actually solved it earlier, the electronic power steering needed to be calibrated.. they didn't do that at the stealership lol. Park with straight wheel, d/c battery for 30 mins, relearn idle and when you start to drive it'll relearn steering angle.

 

[calonzo]

I actually solved it earlier, the electronic power steering needed to be calibrated.. they didn't do that at the stealership lol. Park with straight wheel, d/c battery for 30 mins, relearn idle and when you start to drive it'll relearn steering angle.

Great. Thanks for letting us know!

 

[BABY NSX]

Hey there - after installing new inner and outer tie rods + ball joints, the car was out of alignment as expected, pulled hard to the right. I don't mind tearing up my summer sports, I'm due to rotate them anyway. Replaced because it's a 43 month old (2017), 76k mile, daily driver that commutes to Boston. This is actually my third set of ball joints. I drive the car like it's a beater.

Got my alignment earlier this morning, spec sheet looked good, car pulled to the left now instead of the right. Seemed to be a common theme in threads I've seen on the forum. In short my dealership sucks. It's just camber and toe. I don't know enough about thrust angle but from wear and tear I need rear toe arms to be able to adjust my rear passenger toe into spec.

I tried the tire rotation, I listed all my prior troubleshooting above. I actually solved it earlier, the electronic power steering needed to be calibrated.. they didn't do that at the stealership lol. Park with straight wheel, d/c battery for 30 mins, relearn idle and when you start to drive it'll relearn steering angle.

Good info! Didn’t know about the steering calibration! Thanks!

 

[OsirisPalko]

Good info! Didn’t know about the steering calibration! Thanks!

When you use datalogs with ktuner, steering angle is a recordable data point if your canbus options are set correctly. Not sure for hondata since I don't have that tuning solution.

 

[BABY NSX]

When you use datalogs with ktuner, steering angle is a recordable data point if your canbus options are set correctly. Not sure for hondata since I don't have that tuning solution.

Very cool! I don’t have either tuner so I have no clue, hahaha!

 

[razz]

I tried the tire rotation, I listed all my prior troubleshooting above. I actually solved it earlier, the electronic power steering needed to be calibrated.. they didn't do that at the stealership lol. Park with straight wheel, d/c battery for 30 mins, relearn idle and when you start to drive it'll relearn steering angle.

What us d/c matters for 30 min mean? Disconnect the battery?

My 2017 civic was hit in the front driver side wheel. Alignment was done, yet it still pulls to the right. The car has no caster adjustment, what could it be?

 

[sbace_hamb]

What us d/c matters for 30 min mean? Disconnect the battery?

My 2017 civic was hit in the front driver side wheel. Alignment was done, yet it still pulls to the right. The car has no caster adjustment, what could it be?

Has your frame/subframe been inspected? If you took an impact, got an alignment, and it still pulls, you likely have something bent. But yes, "d/c" means "disconnect"

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