Steering leaning left - cause: new sway bars or wheels??

[TofuDragon]

The other morning I noticed that my steering was off-center (had to keep the wheel turned to the left a bit in order to drive straight)... I hadn't noticed when it started happening, but I do know that it was driving straight last week.

I'm not sure what the cause could be. Any ideas? Recent changes to the car are:

- I had installed Pfadt sport sway bars about 3 weeks ago. Steering was okay for 2 weeks afterwards. The other night I decided to put lock-tite on the rear bar bolts because I noticed that they were loosening. This was done the night before I noticed the steering off center... but would adjustment of the rear bar affect the steering straightness?

- I had recently (within ~2.5 weeks ago) put replacement wheels/tires that I bought from a forum member. The same 20" stockers, just with newer tires with more tread. Maybe the wheels needed to be rebalanced?

- About 2 nights ago I took a 90% right turn too sharp and slammed the right rear wheel into the curb. The wheel now has some deep road rash. Think the wheel may have been tweaked somehow to affect the steering? It doesn't look off on visual inspection.

Anyway, I'm just wondering what everyone's thoughts were on what I should do first to correct this. I'm thinking of first trying a wheel balancing, then if that doesn't work, getting an alignment. If those don't work, then I was thinking of springing for the Pfadt endlinks (I have the stock endlinks on there now).

[bannonm]

Originally Posted by TofuDragon

- About 2 nights ago I took a 90% right turn too sharp and slammed the right rear wheel into the curb. .

There's your problem. Alignment is probably off. Try another wheel but I would bet that's not the problem.

[TofuDragon]

Yeah, I actually tried swapping with another spare wheel/tire I had last night, and the problem's still there. So hopefully going to get the alignment fixed will do it. I'll do that first then.

[PfadtRacing]

Originally Posted by TofuDragon

- About 2 nights ago I took a 90% right turn too sharp and slammed the right rear wheel into the curb. The wheel now has some deep road rash. Think the wheel may have been tweaked somehow to affect the steering? It doesn't look off on visual inspection.

This. Your sway bar systems will have an effect on steering response, but since they don't have a direct effect on the alignment of the car they won't make it pull one direction or another. Bannonm is correct, it's very likely a rear toe issue that is requiring you to compensate with steering wheel angle to keep the car going straight.

Get the alignment taken care of and go have some more fun!

[TofuDragon]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I went to get the car realigned during my lunch break and it drives straight and true again. Turns out the right-rear strut was very slightly bent from that curb hit. The alignment folks were able to compensate for it by adjusting some other connections, and realigning the rear and front. $175, but money well spent to fix this. I'll watch out for those curbs much more closely, that's for sure!

Oh, and I hope that I didn't imply that Pfadt sways were the cause with the thread title. I was just clueless about diagnosing this issue and it just so happens I recently installed the bars... which, by the way, have become just about my favorite upgrade to the car. And seeing how you guys at Pfadt look out for people on the forums, I would say sport sways are one of the best value for money upgrades.

[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by TofuDragon

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I went to get the car realigned during my lunch break and it drives straight and true again. Turns out the right-rear strut was very slightly bent from that curb hit. The alignment folks were able to compensate for it by adjusting some other connections, and realigning the rear and front. $175, but money well spent to fix this. I'll watch out for those curbs much more closely, that's for sure!

Take a look at this picture. The silver canister shows the rear strut mounting point in the lower control arm. If the strut is bent it would mean the lower control arm is bent. That would take a a tremendous amount of force.



A bent arm will not articulate as designed. The bent arm will create uneven loads most likely causing a failure from flexing at the bend. A lateral impact would most likely result in a bent toe link. Please double check with the alignment shop to see what was bent.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by TofuDragon

Turns out the right-rear strut was very slightly bent from that curb hit.

Do you mean the RR upright/hub carrier?

If it's anything like the steering knuckle on a double-A-arm front suspension such as what's on the Corvettes or the 4th Gen F-bodies it is entirely possible for it to have bent without damaging the control arm.


Norm

[TofuDragon]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

Do you mean the RR upright/hub carrier?

If it's anything like the steering knuckle on a double-A-arm front suspension such as what's on the Corvettes or the 4th Gen F-bodies it is entirely possible for it to have bent without damaging the control arm.


Norm

I'm not too familiar with suspension, but the alignment folks pointed to the area inside of the spring on the RR, and even I could tell that it was ever so slightly bent. He also said that the control arm had been pushed a bit from its normal position.

They made the needed adjustments to the RR area as well as the rest of the alignment to compensate, and the car drives just fine again, no issues.