Took my car to have tracking sorted today, but the bloke told me it was nigh on perfect... the second garage to have told me this.

Its NOT the road camber, as I've had suggested to me numerous times...

The steering wheel is slightly clockwise past 12 oclock if going in a straight line, but as soon as i let go it drifts slowly to the left, with the steering adjusting itself to 12 oclock.

Brakes are fine and tyre pressures are equal.

Cant think what it could be except rear wheels, which look fine, although they haven't been checked an i dont see a reason why theyd be out of line...

I would check your bushes. :)

I asked about it before and when you brake/decelerate you go to the left, when accelerating it should pull to the right. (right hand drive vehicles)

Someone else said its so you dont end up in the central reservation when you fall asleep at the wheel, dont know how true that is sounds a bit urban myth like to me.

Edited 13 February, 200917 yr by Cymro

^^^i would have thought central reservation was a whole lot better than the pavement!

Max, the bushes were changed for Powerflex items only a few weeks ago. Its been pulling like this for ages, its just now that I've got round to investigating it!

Edited 13 February, 200917 yr by Tom66

I asked about it before and when you brake/decelerate you go to the left, when accelerating it should pull to the right. (right hand drive vehicles)

Someone else said its so you dont end up in the central reservation when you fall asleep at the wheel, dont know how true that is sounds a bit urban myth like to me.

yeah thats a bit of a myth. all cars pull to the left because of the camber of the road. if you drive on the other side it should pull right. and on a totally flat road it shouldnt pull at all.

sounds like the camber of the wheels to me. i know youve had the tracking checked but what about the camber? any funny wear on you tires?

Not particularly. However this COULD be it. IF the driver side was more -ve cambered than the passenger side, then there would be more rubber/friction on the road passenger side, causing it to pull left, yes? Maybe onto a winner here.

Yeah, it does sound a little odd but I was always told that cars are built to pull slightly to the left so you dont hit oncoming traffic if you fall asleep. It does sound a little daft when you think about it though.

I suppose if all wheels are spinning freely all you can do is check the bushes and wheel bearings.

Has it always done it?

Aye have done Tom, like i said i changed all the bushes a few weeks back, and wheel bearings are sweet. Its always done it since i lowered it! Not much, but just enough to piss me off!

I'm gonna investigate the camber tomorrow.

road camber

Did you have the camber setup after lowering it then or not? Could easily be the problem.

No, I was under the impression that only the tracking could be adjusted on standard cars?

camber could be out, may seem a silly questions - but is the tyre pumped up? is the brake binding?(check front and back on the same side) pulling will be caused by a drag on the wheels.

No, I was under the impression that only the tracking could be adjusted on standard cars?

on my coilies the holes where it bolts to the hub are elongated so there is some camber adjustment.

enough that when i had some wheel bearings done a while back the garage (i dont use it anymore!) slapped it back togeter with -2degrees on the drivers side, and +1degree on the passenger side! it did similar to what your describing. cant remember what way it veered, but it was a fecking nightmare!

putting standard stuff on my old car for my bro, I've noticed there is still a feair bit of adjustment even on standard shocks.

get you tracking done and see what its like after.

Tracking is done mate, like i said, and its perfect.

But ill take a look at the lower struts on my coilies tomorrow, and see if theres some adjustment.

ARB alignment

Rear wheel misaligned

CV joint on the way out causing torque steer (the Camry had this, I used to call it auto-overtake, you booted it in lane one of the motorway and it put you in lane 3 )

been in a smash?

Had a fiddle this morning (then had a fiddle with my car ), and indeed there is fair bit of camber adjustment available on the strut mounts. So i set them up best i could by eye, lining them up with the rear wheel, slightly negatively set.

After a few test drives and more fiddling it seemed to be driving in a straight line, but the tracking was miles out just by looking. So took it to the local tyre place and it was indeed toeing in 0.5 inch each sideAnd they sorted it for nowt! Chuffed.