Well, what did I bend?

[BSD]

Just loaded up my tune from Trifecta and spent the last hour driving the piss out of my Sonic. (Like everyone says, tune == :banana Anywho, once I had my share of speeding I started heading home when I noticed my car is now slightly pulling to the left. I'm usually quite perceptive (about my car anyway) and have a hard time believing it was doing this leaving home without me noticing. Any theories what I broke?

Luckly, I have Eibachs going in on Saturday so a realignment was pretty much in the cards anyway.

 

[sx sonic]

It wasn't the road or wind by chance?

 

[BSD]

Almost no wind tonight.
As for the road, now that you mention it, it could be a possibility. I was on a 4 lane that has very slight curves to it but it can give the illusion of going stratight. On the other hand, looking at google maps at the road it curves to the left so it doesn't add up.


I'll have to do a more through test tomorrow, in all honesty I was (am) fairly exhausted from work while I was driving around. (Otherwise I imagine I'd still be out there flooring it right now.:banana: )

 

[Preloader]

Are you sure it wasn't torque steer from all dat boost?

Maybe you're being a little OCD. Alignment generally won't change unless the steering rack bolts have been loosened or the ball joints on the LCAs have worn badly. Doubtful those have happened so soon.

And honestly, lowering coils won't require an alignment. You can get it checked for a piece of mind. It may cause a barely tangible amount of toe-in, which actually isn't much cause for concern.

Are you having a shop install the coils? It would be awesome if they could give you before and after alignment specs from the coil swap, before they adjust anything.

It would either confirm I'm right, or that I'm full of sh¡t.

 

[Maddmatts]

Maybe it's as simple as uneven tire-wear. If you were pushing hard on highways then you were probably doing so with mostly right-hand turns (on/off-ramps) which puts added stress on the left-side tires.

 

[mitdr774]

Are you sure it wasn't torque steer from all dat boost?

Maybe you're being a little OCD. Alignment generally won't change unless the steering rack bolts have been loosened or the ball joints on the LCAs have worn badly. Doubtful those have happened so soon.

And honestly, lowering coils won't require an alignment. You can get it checked for a piece of mind. It may cause a barely tangible amount of toe-in, which actually isn't much cause for concern.

Are you having a shop install the coils? It would be awesome if they could give you before and after alignment specs from the coil swap, before they adjust anything.

It would either confirm I'm right, or that I'm full of sh¡t.

Based on my own experiences a 1.4" drop coupled with the struts not going back in in the exact same position left the alignment way off. The camber change alone was enough to throw the toe off. It wasnt a huge change, but it was enough that tire wear would be an issue and the steering wheel was not even close to centered anymore.

 

[Preloader]

I guess results may vary. I have about 10k miles on my BFGs post-lowering and pre-aligning and I have no signs of uneven wear..... NONE. The tread still look new. And my steering wheel stayed where it was, which was ever so slightly off from the factory.

An alignment never hurts, I just didn't need one very badly.

 

[mitdr774]

You must have gotten lucky and lined the struts up just right when you reassembled. I tend to max out the adjustment on mine and go for the most negative camber I can get without modification. Even with stock suspension repairs I always found that the alignment was off after strut removal and reinstallation, due to the slop in the holes in the strut and knuckle. If the control arm comes out you can count on needing an alignment for sure.

 

[Preloader]

There is absolutely no slop in my strut to spindle holes. It's hard to even get the bolts in.

 

[BSD]

Thanks guys, I installed the springs over the weekend. It seemed to help but It still barely pulls. I'll probably have it checked later this week for piece of mind. I'm definitely OCD when it comes to my car.

On an unrelated note, putting everything back together I failed to notice that the driver's side tophat has bearings in the top as I was loading it into the spring compressor. I'm sure you can ascertain as to what occurred next. I managed to find 2 out of 3 bearings however I ended up using another, smaller one that I found on the shop floor. It fit in the filling slot, however there was some slack. Should I be concerned? What is the purpose of this damn thing anyway?

 

[Insanika]

Thanks guys, I installed the springs over the weekend. It seemed to help but It still barely pulls. I'll probably have it checked later this week for piece of mind. I'm definitely OCD when it comes to my car.

On an unrelated note, putting everything back together I failed to notice that the driver's side tophat has bearings in the top as I was loading it into the spring compressor. I'm sure you can ascertain as to what occurred next. I managed to find 2 out of 3 bearings however I ended up using another, smaller one that I found on the shop floor. It fit in the filling slot, however there was some slack. Should I be concerned? What is the purpose of this damn thing anyway?

My drivers side came apart too.. The passenger side stayed together, seems I saw somewhere to be careful of that but I forgot to be.

I wondered the purpose too..

 

[mitdr774]

There is absolutely no slop in my strut to spindle holes. It's hard to even get the bolts in.

Mine slid right back in and had some slop. I already assume I have a bastard car since most parts I get are not direct fit like they seem to be for so many others.

 

[sx sonic]

There is absolutely no slop in my strut to spindle holes. It's hard to even get the bolts in.

Same here. However I had a good bit of leeway with the top hats. They were only self centering to a small degree. I played around to find true center and then tightened them down. I didn't think I could get as close with weight on the tires so I did it with the car supported.

Tire wear is marginally more towards the inside edges from a slight camber increase but the steering wheel center and car drift are the same.

 

[mitdr774]

Tire wear is due to toe, not camber. Excessive camber could do it, but it would be a whole lot more than you will get without modification. Just because the wheel is centered and everything feels the same does not mean its all good. Your toe in is probably out of spec if you are seeing wear. You lowered the car, this results in the steering linkage changing position from a slight downward angle to a more level one. This pushes the arm on the knuckle outward slightly, causing slight toe in change. Since both sides move the same amount the wheel will remain in about the same orientation and vehicle pull will remain about the same.

 

[sx sonic]

Tire wear is due to toe, not camber. Excessive camber could do it, but it would be a whole lot more than you will get without modification. Just because the wheel is centered and everything feels the same does not mean its all good. Your toe in is probably out of spec if you are seeing wear. You lowered the car, this results in the steering linkage changing position from a slight downward angle to a more level one. This pushes the arm on the knuckle outward slightly, causing slight toe in change. Since both sides move the same amount the wheel will remain in about the same orientation and vehicle pull will remain about the same.

I know , done a number of alignments my self. I suppose I should have said toe is most likely acceptable because the tires are least worn on the outside, more worn in the middle, and most worn on the inside with very little feathering.

Honestly the wear wasn't bad and at a cursory glance looks completely even. Not bad for 15k mi w/o a rotate. I'd like to get it aligned but can't justify spending in money at the moment unless absolutely necessary. Also I'm confident everything will still print out in the green. Makes me miss working in the shop, free alignments and easy lift access.

 

[mitdr774]

I am in the same boat. 7 years of working on my own stuff when work was slow, and the past 6 years of no shop access have sucked. I always set my alignment as close to -2* camber as I could and minimal toe in. 20k miles on Falken Azenis 615 tires and no uneven wear.

I miss working in a dealer sometimes.

 

[Preloader]

I'm definitely OCD when it comes to my car.

I ended up using another, smaller one that I found on the shop floor.

 

[BSD]

My drivers side came apart too.. The passenger side stayed together, seems I saw somewhere to be careful of that but I forgot to be.

I wondered the purpose too..

Heh, yeah I did exactly the same thing......read in some thread to be aware about it then I forgot five seconds later. :blankface:

Oh, don't get me wrong, It seriously bugs me but I couldn't think of a better idea at the time. It was a temporary solution, when winter sets in it will be on the to-do list.

 

[MPFab]

My drivers side came apart too.. The passenger side stayed together, seems I saw somewhere to be careful of that but I forgot to be.

I wondered the purpose too..

The bearing allows the strut hat to be in a fixed position while allowing the strut body to turn without binding under load.

 

[ahtoxa]

OP, drive around some more another day. On certain roads that seem flat to me my car does a left pull. Alignment sheets have confirmed nothing is amiss and on other roads it doesn't do it. I'm like you and I'm very perceptive with my car. Sometimes it can get a little OCD, like me.