silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

Ok, maybe somebody here has had the same problem and can help me out.

I changed my springs back to the stock ones from Goldlines and had my alignment done today but when I take corners the steering wheel, when released, doean't go back to center, it stays off to the left and the car pulls to the left. Once the car is going straight, tho, it continues to go straight without pulling. Can it be that the alignment was done wrong? It didn't have this problem before. I'm hoping I didn't mess something up when I changed the springs but I've done it so many times that I doubt I did.

Help?!?!

Oh, and it feels like the steering wheel is harder to turn for some reason.

robbclark1

iTrader: (8)

Did you index the springs back with the shocks?

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

Come again? Index the spring as in line the dots up with the bracket for the tie rod end? Or, do you mean that it hits the stop. I don't know what indexing means.

The left one lines up the dots and the bracket but the right one is on the opposite side of the assembly because it wouldn't line up. I had to take it apart to get them to stop making noises when I turned.

flotsamm

iTrader: (1)

When indexing, your suppose to line up the top mount arrow with the upper spring perch arrow. Then those two arrows need to be lined up with the hole on the lower spring perch. Here's a couple of pics of what I mean:

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

yes, I did that. However, the car pulls to the left. I correct myself, tho, because it's all the time. Maybe the guy aligned it wrong? I'm going back tomorrow at lunch to have someone else look at it.

Please keep the info coming as I have no idea why it decided to do this. Maybe the guy at Pepboys forgot to tighten something.

jttegx

iTrader: (3)

sorry for going off topic and hi-jack your thread but flotsamm... does the same go for skunk2 coilovers? i hear that clanking noise all the time when turning the wheel.
please let me know.
thanks

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

If you hear a clunking noise then you aren't aligning the two top arrows with the center of where the bolts go through that attach it to the axel.

jttegx

iTrader: (3)

thought so.. =|

thanks!

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

Here is something weird: when I turn right, the car pulls to the right after I straighten it out; when I turn left, the car pulls to the left after I straighten the car out. Maybe when it got aligned they left something lose? I'm going to have to go back there tonight and see what the deal is.

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

Well, I went back to Pepboys and the alignment was dead-on. Could it be unevenly worn tires? I'm going to rotate the tires tomorrow after work and check if that makes a difference. If it doesn't then I will probably throw my arms in the air and go trade her in.

flotsamm

iTrader: (1)

Yeah tires can make it pull to one side, I had this happen before. I had a bubble on the top of the tread about 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. When I got a certain speed it would pull to the right. That was a pain in the *** to diagnose but I found it.

On my Civic, it would pull to the left a small amount making me have to hold the wheel after a few seconds. One day as I was reinstalling the passenger strut after putting on some coil wrap, I remembered to preload the suspension before tightening the pinch bolts and top strut nuts. I did this to the drivers side the week before after installing coil wrap. Anyway, after preloading the strut with a floor jack it corrected the left pull and made my steering wheel centered again. Weird huh? But it worked and was the only thing I did differently from the other times I took out my struts.

Remember if you preload the strut to put the floor jack behind the ball joint and not on the flat part of the control arm. If you put it on the flat part, you could end up bending the arm. Then jack it up just enough to move everything up an inch or two and tighten the bolts up.

pbfoot

iTrader: (2)

sounds like you lost power steering. thats what makes your steering wheel return back to center. and if you say its harder to turn now, thats another sign. maybe they did something and disengaged the PS, or maybe when they aligned the wheels the pressure in the PS went too low. im not exactly sure how PS works, but it doesnt sound like something w/ the springs.

go to honda and ask them to check it out. i wouldnt mention anything about changing springs, just say you went for an alignment at pep boys and now this happens. unless youre not under warantee anymore, then it doesnt matter either way.

Zzyzx

Caster is what makes your steering wheel return to center. But if the Steering rack is damaged it could also cause the steering to not center.

Info on alignments (Camber Castor Toe)

pbfoot

iTrader: (2)

ooooooooooh...thats good info!! thanks zzyzx! so i was wrong then.

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

Well, the car is aligned completely within specs. I saw it on the computer screen and on the printout I got. The car isn't under warranty anymore so I will have to foot the bill on whatever I do.

I never preloaded the springs and I went through 4 switches of struts/springs before this time. I had it aligned all 4 times before and it never pulled. Should I loosen the top bolts, preload it, and then tighten them? Would that help? I was thinking of taking it all out again and putting it all back in and seeing if maybe that would help.

Would the way the spring sits in the strut affect it? I don't know if the spring has to face a certain direction but I do know that the arrows all line up on the top mount and the strut. I hope this gets resolved quickly because it is pissing me off!

Zzyzx

are you still on stock shocks? if you are they may be damaged and Binding, that would cause some wierd handling problems....

flotsamm

iTrader: (1)

I never preloaded mine before either until recently also. I didnt think it made much of a difference until I started thinking that the extra play in the pinch bolts should be taken out. Well that and my Helms manual say to do this also.. doh. To preload it correctly, you want to loosen both the top nuts and the pinch bolts. Preload with your floor jack, then tighten all five down.

The springs should only sit one way in the lower perch. As long as the end of the coil is butted up against the lower perch's spring stop, you should be fine. For the top perch, I used some mild soap(Dawn dish washing liquid) and lubed the rubber isolator first to help seat the spring into the isolator and with indexing. Once I was happy with everything being lined up, I removed my compressors evenly so the strut bearing wouldnt shift around.

The arrows are pointing towards the knuckle mounting area(or the hole on the lower perch or the wheel) right? I only ask since you said you had them pointing towards the tie rod ends..

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

No, they aren't pointing towards the tie rod ends, sorry if I said that. They point towards where the strut mounts to the axl. They don't pop so I know they are indxed right.

ZZYZX: I didn't have a problem when I had the Koni's in the front but now they are being a little bitch. Do you really think it might have something to do with the stock struts?

GaryC17

Flotsamm, Even if they are indexed properly, they will still pop. But I didn't preload the springs before tightening everything down. The guys at the shop will NEVER do it too. So I figured why should I. I guess end of the day, it's about living with the noise or just staying stock.

Silverdevil, did you set your alignment (toe + camber) to factory specs ? Maybe you want to post the settings they are at now or scan a printout here. If you have some dude who could lend you his tires, just the fronts, you might know if it's a tire problem. Increase your tire pressure to 220kpa and see if it's the same. If you are having too much Toe out, this problem will occur.

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

Gary, I think you hit on what I was thinking. It might be that when they adjusted the toe during alignment that they left the bolt or whatever a little lose and now it toes in and out and that's why it will pull to whatever side I turned to last. The thing is, after driving straight for a while, the car will actually drive straight as an arrow without pulling to either side. That's why I think it has to be something lose because it's not always to the same side and it doesn't happen all the time.

I'm going to rotate my tires this afternoon and then we'll see if that makes a difference.

Does anyone have a pic of the nut or whatever that adjusts the toe on our cars? If you do, or can describe it, please do so and I'll check it this afternoon.

GaryC17

The toe shouldn't run much even if it isn't tight. Also there will be soft clicking sounds as you drive if the toe adjustment lock nut is only hand tight or loose. Check to see if your CV joint boots or any rubber boots are broken. This includes the ball joint at the end of the tie rod. Try shaking your lower arm after removing the tire to see if any of your bushings are worn. The nut which you refer to is located on the tie rod behind the tie rod ball joint when viewed from the fender. The ~80cm-1m long gold colour looking metal rod that attaches to the strut arm is the tie rod.

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

So, the tie rod determins toe? If that's the case then I know it's not lose because I checked it recently. Someone said in another thread it might be binding struts. Maybe because I just packed the bearings they aren't turning right. Maybe I should buy some new ones and test it out.

flotsamm

iTrader: (1)

Yeah the tie rods are what you adjust when setting toe in the front. Could be the strut bearings arent working as well as they should making it harder for the steering wheel to come back to center.

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

^^ exactly what I was thinking. I'll have to change them when I return from vacation in two weeks and then update the thread as required. I'll let ya'll know.

VNlilMAN

iTrader: (7)

rack and pinion maybe?

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

I doubt it's the rack and pinion because it came right after a strut change (Konis to OEM). I'm going to change those bearings on Thursday and if it doesn't solve my problem then I'm going to go trade Vicky in for an 05 Corolla XRS or a Mazda3 S.

flotsamm

iTrader: (1)

This is related to the popping noises..

I might be wrong in my post above about indexing. My Helms manual says that your suppose to line up the arrows on the top mount and upper perch with the knuckle mounting area(or hole on lower perch). I did this, and I still had some popping and what sounded like coil bind. After installing some Progress springs on my nepews RSX today, I noticed that the knuckle mounting area wasnt lined up with the arrows, but instead with the paint marks(see above pics, the yellow paint marks is what I'm referring to). So I installed them using the paint marks and he has no problems with popping. This got me curious so when I got home today I redid my struts using the paint marks also and now it doesnt pop, but I still had a little coil binding noise when turning right. So maybe try it on your also when you replace your bearings. Also out of curiousity, when you did the rear springs did you make sure that the dot on the mount was facing inwards? Not sure if that has anything to do with our steering, but ya never know..

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

I did not make sure the dot on the rears was facing inwards, no. I don't think that would have anything to do with the steering since it's not always pulling in the same dirrection.

When I replace the bearings I'm going to check the indexing again, obviously, but I'm not experiencing any popping sounds right now so I doubt that has anything to do with it.

slowvic

I would try rotating the tires first. I work on cars for a living and tires cause alot of problems that feel like alignment problems. Tires can cause a pull.

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

I've thought of the tires as well. I might just do that today and then see what happens.