Car pulling to left after bumps but wheel alignment fine

Three weeks ago my car was always pulling ever so slightly to the left. I took it to a wheel alignment who put the car reg in but my car didn't come up automatically. We had to select Nissan/almera/00-06/1.5 petrol, then there were 4 items. two mathed my vin, one for r15 wheels and one for r16 wheels. Now when I look to buy tyres online and I put my car reg in they always come up with r15 but since I have bought mine it had r16 so he selected r16.

He found that the rear was perfect (although unadjustable).

When this pic came up:

Wheel_Alignment_display_01.jpg


the bottom left was out by a lot, and the bottom right was within normal range. The correct figure was 0.07 and he adjusted both to meet that figure (although the front left wheel had to be adjusted over and over cos it seemed like it was reverting every time he removed the spanner.

One of the other top left images (sorry, i forgot which) was to the extreme of the normal, green range, and he said it didn't need adjusting.

Now, when I took it back to the road it was better but after a bump, it does still steer ever so slightly to the left when I remove my hands from the steering wheel.

I went back and he got a mechanic to look at any other issues who said it seemed fine and the tracking was out (he did drive and replicate the fault).

The original guy is going to look at it again but I wanted to know what you guys think the issue is because I think the images will come back ok.

I've read this thread: http://www.almeraownersclub.com/thr...ot-caused-by-incorrect-wheel-alignment.47195/

And will ask him about the following:

the wheel alignment's wrong
the tyres are pulling it left
the lhf negative camber is not enough
the lhf castor angle is less than the rhs
tyre pressures
suspension snap
brakes/wheel bearings grabbing
front cv's on there way out

The tyres are brand new (steering issues happened after hitting a pothole at 40 before my new tryes were put in) and when I slow down to a stop I usually hear a regular sound as if there is a bulge on the tyre catching on to something everytime it goes round.

Sorry I've written so much, I just wanted to give as much info as possible in order to give a clear picture.

THANK YOU!
 
get a crowbar or large flat type screwdriver jack up the car, place crowbar between hub (rear of disc) and pull down on wishbone you should hear a clunk noise (thats the ball joint showing wear) or feel for play from there, if no play or noise then its fine if the other side has then change both (ideally)
take a look at this how to
 
Last edited:
Well had alignment rechecked and all is fine there (well it would be because the wheel is held tight with a tool). Another mechanic did the string method around the wheels and found a gap of about 1cm. He said it's a wheel alignment issue. Had another mechanic drive around in it who said that the steering wheel turning about 5 degrees anti clockwise (only when the steering is not held) after every bump is normal because our roads are camber.

Does that also happen to you guys?

The wheel alignment guy also checked the ball joints and found no play.
 
go to a multi-storey car park ie somewhere flat, if the car drivers and brakes in a straight line the setup is fine. yes camber in the road can make the wheel offset when driving in a straight line
 
If you hit a large pothole it could be something bent? Strut...wishbone ? Misaligned subframe? Suspension components are fairly soft these days and it doesn't take much.
 
go to a multi-storey car park ie somewhere flat, if the car drivers and brakes in a straight line the setup is fine. yes camber in the road can make the wheel offset when driving in a straight line

Guys, when the road is flat, the car is fine, it is only after bumps that the wheel jumps 5 degrees anticlockwise.

It's like the wheels are keeping the car straight coz they are on the road, but when the wheel gets some air the wheel moves to what it thinks is its neutral position which is 5 degrees anti clockwise.
 
post up your wheel alignment settings. the picture you posted in the first post is too small to read . any setback (front or rear) or any thrust angle?
 
I've had this same issue for almost a year now. At first I thought it was wheel alignment. My local garage tried to fix it with alignment but it made no difference, although the alignment was out. I have also had the brakes balanced on a recent MoT, still no difference.

If I hold the wheel firmly centred the car holds a straight line, but if I relax or take my hands off (even on opposite camber, ie wrong side of the road) the wheel will turn off centre and steer to the left. The effect is more dramatic if the road is bumpy or pot holed whilst braking softly.
When I am driving normally and holding the wheel the car drives ok but I am always feeling the wheel wanting to rotate anticlockwise. I know most cars do steer away to the left for safety reason but mine feels a little to persistent.

I thought it could be cvs but they look fine.
 
I had this exact issue. It's uneven wear on your front tyres. Change them and it should solve it. Getting tracking done again after wouldn't go astray either.

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk
 
I had this exact issue. It's uneven wear on your front tyres. Change them and it should solve it. Getting tracking done again after wouldn't go astray either.

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk
The tyres are BRAND NEW falken all weathers. had them fitted professionally a few weeks before rechecking alignment. Sorry, I can't post up the settings because I trusted what I saw on the screen in front of me (I saw everything). The bottom wo images were set back to 0.07, and the suspension images were off centre (but wtill within limits) and the mechanic said they were not adjustable on my car anyway.

I also had my pressure rechecked.

I drove in France since starting this thread and it /seemed/ to not do it but I think I was more worrying about driving on the other side, than letting go of the steering!
 
I drove in France since starting this thread and it /seemed/ to not do it but I think I was more worrying about driving on the other side, than letting go of the steering!

The opposite road camber would be compensating.
 
The machine in the place u got your tracking done could have been out of calibration. Im a place local to me they needed a new one for months and kept tracking peoples cars even though they would be putting them out of alignment. They refunded anyone who complained until they eventually got a new set up.

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top Bottom