Uneven steering effort and pulling after alignment
Discussion
In a gen 1 BRZ with stock suspension and had an alignment setup through a hunter alignment facility.
I made sure it was through a place with a good rep for doing these too.
I also opted for camber bolts so i could get equal camber on both sides as its non adjustable from factory.
From what i can see from the figures below it looks spot on? With zero toe up front.
(It wasnt too bad before the setup but was still off)
The seems to pull worse to the left now with quite a bit of uneven steering effort. Heavier to the right and very light to the left. Does anything below suggest this handling behaviour or am i possibly looking at worn steering components somewhere.
I made sure it was through a place with a good rep for doing these too.
I also opted for camber bolts so i could get equal camber on both sides as its non adjustable from factory.
From what i can see from the figures below it looks spot on? With zero toe up front.
(It wasnt too bad before the setup but was still off)
The seems to pull worse to the left now with quite a bit of uneven steering effort. Heavier to the right and very light to the left. Does anything below suggest this handling behaviour or am i possibly looking at worn steering components somewhere.
Steering rack ends adjusted in too far one side? Same number of exposed threads each rack end should rule this out.
Does the steering pull increase as speed increases, might point to a soft or worn suspension bush.
If none of the above suggestions bear fruit it can be interesting and informative to observe your car being driven from another vehicle, notice how it behaves over undulations and when crossing continuous white lines etc.
Does the steering pull increase as speed increases, might point to a soft or worn suspension bush.
If none of the above suggestions bear fruit it can be interesting and informative to observe your car being driven from another vehicle, notice how it behaves over undulations and when crossing continuous white lines etc.
Thats a good point to check actually. It feels more stable as speed increases but does seem a bit twitchy on the left side over small imperfections in the road. It just seems to have reluctance to turn in to the right like theres too much caster in that direction- even though the figures suggest otherwise.
Is it worth asking the garage for their opinion; especially if they are specialists in this area?
Another thing could be uneven tyre wear from previously poor geo making itself felt now things are plumb?
You could try swapping the fronts over to see if the pull transfers to the right maybe
Another thing could be uneven tyre wear from previously poor geo making itself felt now things are plumb?
You could try swapping the fronts over to see if the pull transfers to the right maybe
Thanks for advice on this one all. Ive posted this on a GT86 forum aswell but thought it's useful if anyone else finds the same.
So we are nearly there, much improvement after replacing the old Michelin PS4 tyres upfront with a pair of fresh PS5's.
I would say after fitting these the problem is about 85% gone! The tyre fitters were very worried that my rears were on about 3mm and said that I shouldn't have had an alignment carried with my tyres worn at this level. Im not sure how true this is but im sure when the rears are replaced then itll help even further. Of course they offered me a free alignment check when I do!
I didnt realise how worn the old ones were on the inner edges, the rest of the tyres looked ok but im guessing its the sporty set up of these cars that does this?
The wheel self returns to centre better now and once the tyres are up to temp the steering feels a lot more natural and not like it's been in an accident!
Understeer is absolutely gone! it turns in really well now and can feel some benefits from the additional camber.
There is still a bit of vagueness to the steering to the left and I can feel a notchyness that side slightly over small jolts in the road. I have a new drop link for that side that and will fit that - my local garage only replaced the drivers side when I had it investigated previously so wondering if that could be the culprit. It does look quite worn in comparison.
There is a pronounced knocking from the rear left shock now so I am wondering if that is also causing a looseness on left turns as the it is not controlling the body as well possibly?
So we are nearly there, much improvement after replacing the old Michelin PS4 tyres upfront with a pair of fresh PS5's.
I would say after fitting these the problem is about 85% gone! The tyre fitters were very worried that my rears were on about 3mm and said that I shouldn't have had an alignment carried with my tyres worn at this level. Im not sure how true this is but im sure when the rears are replaced then itll help even further. Of course they offered me a free alignment check when I do!
I didnt realise how worn the old ones were on the inner edges, the rest of the tyres looked ok but im guessing its the sporty set up of these cars that does this?
The wheel self returns to centre better now and once the tyres are up to temp the steering feels a lot more natural and not like it's been in an accident!
Understeer is absolutely gone! it turns in really well now and can feel some benefits from the additional camber.
There is still a bit of vagueness to the steering to the left and I can feel a notchyness that side slightly over small jolts in the road. I have a new drop link for that side that and will fit that - my local garage only replaced the drivers side when I had it investigated previously so wondering if that could be the culprit. It does look quite worn in comparison.
There is a pronounced knocking from the rear left shock now so I am wondering if that is also causing a looseness on left turns as the it is not controlling the body as well possibly?
AdamG_BRZ said:
Thanks for advice on this one all. Ive posted this on a GT86 forum aswell but thought it's useful if anyone else finds the same.
So we are nearly there, much improvement after replacing the old Michelin PS4 tyres upfront with a pair of fresh PS5's.
I would say after fitting these the problem is about 85% gone! The tyre fitters were very worried that my rears were on about 3mm and said that I shouldn't have had an alignment carried with my tyres worn at this level. Im not sure how true this is but im sure when the rears are replaced then itll help even further. Of course they offered me a free alignment check when I do!
I didnt realise how worn the old ones were on the inner edges, the rest of the tyres looked ok but im guessing its the sporty set up of these cars that does this?
The wheel self returns to centre better now and once the tyres are up to temp the steering feels a lot more natural and not like it's been in an accident!
Understeer is absolutely gone! it turns in really well now and can feel some benefits from the additional camber.
There is still a bit of vagueness to the steering to the left and I can feel a notchyness that side slightly over small jolts in the road. I have a new drop link for that side that and will fit that - my local garage only replaced the drivers side when I had it investigated previously so wondering if that could be the culprit. It does look quite worn in comparison.
There is a pronounced knocking from the rear left shock now so I am wondering if that is also causing a looseness on left turns as the it is not controlling the body as well possibly?
What they have said about alignment ref. tyre wear is utter b0ll0cks.So we are nearly there, much improvement after replacing the old Michelin PS4 tyres upfront with a pair of fresh PS5's.
I would say after fitting these the problem is about 85% gone! The tyre fitters were very worried that my rears were on about 3mm and said that I shouldn't have had an alignment carried with my tyres worn at this level. Im not sure how true this is but im sure when the rears are replaced then itll help even further. Of course they offered me a free alignment check when I do!
I didnt realise how worn the old ones were on the inner edges, the rest of the tyres looked ok but im guessing its the sporty set up of these cars that does this?
The wheel self returns to centre better now and once the tyres are up to temp the steering feels a lot more natural and not like it's been in an accident!
Understeer is absolutely gone! it turns in really well now and can feel some benefits from the additional camber.
There is still a bit of vagueness to the steering to the left and I can feel a notchyness that side slightly over small jolts in the road. I have a new drop link for that side that and will fit that - my local garage only replaced the drivers side when I had it investigated previously so wondering if that could be the culprit. It does look quite worn in comparison.
There is a pronounced knocking from the rear left shock now so I am wondering if that is also causing a looseness on left turns as the it is not controlling the body as well possibly?
ALL measurements are taken WRT the wheel rim, so HOW would a tyre wear change anything?
However if you also have uneven wear on the rears you MAY not feel the full benefit of a perfect alignment.
On top of that, if you do need to change major suspension components like shocks etc, then you should really get the alignment checked again then.
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