dlew133

I've got a 2001 Tuarus. My son hit a high curb with the passenger side front tire hard enough that he broke the wheel. I had to replace the wheel. Since that happened, the car pulls significantly toward the right. I had the car aligned twice and it still pulls. I had the tires rebalanced and rotated into several positions and still pulls to the right. Last weekend, I took the car to my mechanic and he did not see anything wrong. He thought new tires might make the car drive ok. I took the car to the dealer today. He checked it over. He put it on the lift and checked the front end suspension. He took the car to the front end machine and checked front end specs. All specs were close to or within factory specs. Camber should be 1.1. The left was 1.2 and the right was .9. He did not believe the variance would cause the car to pull so badly. He found the rear coil springs broken, loose front sway bar links and loose driver's front wheel bearing.
The dealer didn't find anything damaged under the car. He suggested that I try 4 new tires and replace the rear springs. He did not believe the sway bar links or wheel bearing is affecting the steering problem.

Would 4 new tires and replacing the rear coil springs solve the pulling? I question that since one tire is new, 2 are in pretty good shape and the 4th should probably be replaced. As I said, the tires were rebalanced and rotated into several different positions.

I'll get the new tires and try that. Any suggestions as to a good tire for the car?

Any ideas what I should be looking for?

Bert

When they aligned it I wonder how much adjustment had to be done the first time. Something could have been bent and setting the alignment just put everything in specs but a bent part may have the rack and pinion running in a different position. If you moved the tires around to different locations and the pull stayed the same, it seems like new tires wouldn't help. Maybe they could find another car with similar tires and switch them as a test. If you need tires anyway go ahead and get them, but if they are usable yet try that switch first. Those tires were on the car before he hit the curb so you'd think they should be the same after the alignment.

tomw

The camber being off would make the car very subject to the crown in the road. With a crown, the car would pull in either direction more readily. In other words, more subject to a high crown affecting the steering. Does it pull on the flattest - from side to side - road?
Make sure that the front tires are as close in diameter as you can. The differential will 'walk' around all the time if they are different, and the torque will be a bit different because of the diameter difference.
From the description of the damage, I would be looking at the strut bushing and mount where it connects to the engine cradle. If you got a good rearward punch on the wheel, it transferred a pretty good hit to the bushing and bracket. It could have pushed the cradle back a bit so it is no longer square to the rest of the vehicle. When they install the engine/transmission on the cradle, they use four(?) alignment holes to get things square. If it got a good enough whack, it could be moved.
I think you need to take it to a body shop and have them check the bits for being in the right spot. They can hang weights and use a laser to measure all the correct points and they can show you on a printout where your car came in, and what, if any, pulling they had to do, and how it came out when done. It won't be free, but a good body shop that has a newish frame puller can do it for about 1/2-1 hours labor time. Drive it on, clamp it down, hang the reflectors from the specified spots, measure. Printout. Not a whole lot of flim flammery in this one.
tom

dlew133

After moving the tires around one was worse than the others. That one I'll replace.

Tom, in answer to your question, the car pulls to the right regardless of the road pitch. I'm going to take your advice and look for a good collision shop. Maybe they can come up with something.

Thanks guy for your input.