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Possible and strange fix to cars "pulling left" constantly

A

Andyjdmteg

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Hitchin
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Accord Type S
Right this is a strange one but I know a few folks on here myself included when I had the accord report a constant and annoying pull to the left even after refreshing suspension / steering components / tyres etc and just lived with it. The current owner of my old beast, a good mate,"may" have stumbled on a fix. He noticed the pull after driving and buying the car but again just lived with it. In his ownership it's had new Michelin front tyres, tein coilovers, top mounts and upper wishbones with a four wheel alignment. The cars handling was admittedly improved after that lot as you can imagine but still had the pull to the left.
His previous car was a mg zt190 and this left hand pull was prevalent on that car too. The fix? Ensuring the car had a FULL tank of fuel when undergoing the four wheel alignment. Sure enough he's just had this done and I can confirm by driving the accord myself some 60miles that the pull has gone. I'm not an expert on steering or suspension geometry, not by a long shot but thought this was worth a mention to anyone else on here who simply "puts up with it". I hope this helps someone on here
 
Interesting find the fuel weight balance the car when wheel alignment is done

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It doesn't sound seriously suspension geometry to be dependent of fuel quantity...
If pulling to one side under acceleration/deceleration usually engine moves... (check engine suspension)
 
ok mate well I'm just reporting a find related to a known issue reported by a few owners, nothing seems to fix that pull even after swapping lots of steering/suspension parts. In the last 3000ish miles that car had new coilovers, drop links, wheel bearings, upper wishbones, top mounts, two new lower arms and some other stuff that I've probably forgotten about.
The issue dosnt affect everyone and the "full tank" thing could be a fluke, perhaps it was a case of simply having the alignment done by someone who knew what they were doing. All I can say is it fixed this car and is a known fix amongst the ZT owners, proof of which can be found on there forums apparently.
 
I have seen on 4 wheel geometry machines like the hunter system it actually specifies weights that should be added to each seat position and boot and tells the technician what fuel level should be before commencing the adjustments. So I believe what has been found could make a difference. I have only ever seen one company I used put the proper weights in the car prior to an adjustment, most other places just can't be bothered.........
 
So in the same regard, do these affected cars only pull to one side when they're full of fuel? -ie in a different condition to how they were set up?
 
My car had the pull no matter the fuel level. It wasn't dangerous but required constant correction and the sensation through the steering wheel was always present. It was annoying more than anything and did spoil the driving experience a bit.

Also worth mentioning it didn't just occur when braking/accelerating, it was always present and made motorway trips a pain in the proverbial.
 
If full tank is critical for proper wheel adjustment, what happens when car is under different load conditions? How 50kg at the rear of the car affect 1400kg body which is designed to carry 500kg distributed every time at different ways?
OK in practice is in practice, but what is explanation of that way of adjustment?
 
There's hardly any adjustment in an accord anyway.
In an estate anyway you've got toe front and rear, and that's pretty much it.
If it pulls to one side, something's knackered or bent.

Did your car have any aftermarket camber or castor adjustment through means of offset joints or adjustable tie rod's?
 
Nope not while I had it and don't think it has now either, only aftermarket bits are the coilovers I believe
 
Back in the olden days (1980's) the advice around VW car clubs to optimise your Golf or Scirocco's handling was to do a wheel alignment with the front seats occupied.
 
Just had a look on tolerance and the values for wheel alignment are done with no load however some cars data is with full tank petrol so it depends on what value the garage is using when they do alignment you need to ask them if it no load or full tank values, hope that helps.
 
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