vietazntsx

i've been having an alignment problem since i've got the car...every dealer I bring it to would tell me that it is a crown issue and that the alignment is fine. Finally got so fustrated and brought it to another service dealer and got some results...they performed a 4wheel alignment setting all specs - was told alignment was still off for right rear camber, update control arm coming out shortly from acura, they will call me when parts comes in...hope this will help others with the same issue.

TinkyWinky

This issue has baffled me also.

So let me get this straight. What you are saying is that the car should track in a straight line regardless of the crown in the road? And the result of that is the rear camber is not being specified correctly?

I really hope you're correct, because my left arm is getting rather tired when driving in the passing lane.

Dan Martin

If your car tracks straight on a level road then your alignment is fine. If it drifts to the left when you're in the left lane on a highway, that's fine too.

When was the last time you heard someone complaining that the car pulls to the right? Is it just a coincidence that the alignments are always off to the left?

You can have an alignment done that will compensate for the drift to the left when you're in the left lane but that will cause premature tire wear and the car won't track straight on a flat road.

vietazntsx

dan is correct, but with my car regardless of right/left crown, car would pull left and even when the road is level.

kurt_bradley

If your alignment is within spec after being updated and reset, deal with the pull of highway crowning. This will cause your car's suspension geometry to work properly when kept within factory specs. You don't want to have it tweaked to make the feel of road crowning cancelled out. You'd destroy tires faster than you can imagine.

plee9

so it is not just me drifting to the left when driving on highway? that is good to hear. I payed $120 to get alignment done and still I have the problem. I noticed that if I move to first or send lane I dont drift anymore. I just have a question though. is there a milage when I should replace my tire? i know the penny rule but i am wondering when i should replace my tire cuz i find it slippery in winter.

vietazntsx

Just got the call from acura service today, part just came in, they will replace it next week!!!!

AndreaBCFD

I have same exact issue..did they finally fix it??? Mine is going in Tuesday for the 4th time...it is pissing me off!!

04Carbon6

Do you have the part number for the part that they replaced? I really need to get that fixed. I have the same problem. My right rear camber is at -2.3 degrees, and my left is still out of spec at -1.6 degrees. Thanks

Alin10123

$120????
Dude! I think you got ripped! Even at the stealership here an alignment is only likr $80 i think.

Jims

I had exactly the same allignment problem from the very start. Car would pull left even on level surface. Took it to the dealer I purchased it from (Hopkins in Redwood City CA) and guess what they told me. It's a problem with one of the tires and I had to sort it out with the tire manufacturer. I couldn't believe my ears. Never going back to those SOBs for anything.

bartender23ck

I had the same issue, took my 2005 TSX for like 4 alignments and they finally found out a bunch of cars came with short right rear control arms. They replaced mine and say the alignment is back in spec. I am not convience so when I get a chance Im going to make the dealer give me another alignment test to make sure the car is where it should be

chrislacey

I also have an alignment issue on my new 05 TSX. When I step on the gas - the steering wheel pulls to the left. When I let off the gas, I immediately feel a slight pull to the right.

The pull is very minimal - but very annoying...requiring extra strength to keep the car going straight.

Do you think that this has to do with the same issue as above? Does anyone else experience this?

Thanks,
-Chris

SWRT

Well if you never went back to that dealer again they'd probably be relieved. I bet they're real tired of misinformed 'enthusiasts' telling them they don't know what they are talking about.

Here are the facts fella's:

-Your alignment is symetrical, there is no setting to compensate for road crown. If you are biasing your toe or camber you are going to cause many more problems.

-Your tires are the #1 influence when your car is pulling to one side. 80% of the time, the tires are the problem. There are many forces generated by the tire, even when it is rolling straight. Wonder why pulls tend to be more to the left? Because all DOT tires have a left biased PRCF (plysteer residual cornering force), THIS compensates for road crown. No matter how you mount the tire, its always got about a 5-10kg force pushing you left. On top of that you have tire conicity, conicity is the cone shape of the tire. It can be in either direction. That is why dearships are told to rotate tires when a customer complains of a pull, more the half the time this fixes the problem.


Just because we are enthusiasts and we visit web forums doesn't mean we know more than dealerships. Dealers are advised by service engineers and service engineers are advised by the product engineers at the factory. When a dealership says they need to order you new tires listen to them.

-SWRT
Steering/Suspension Engineer

Jims

I'm not in the habit of telling mechanics how they should be doing their job, nor was this what the whole thing was about. It's very simple - I've driven many cars in my life and can tell when something doesn't feel right with the steering. I'm not an "enthusiast", just someone who has to drive 35 miles to work and 35 miles back. A steering that keeps pulling to one side starts to not only annoy after a while, it starts to make itself felt on your arms and shoulders - no matter what the manufacturer's specifications for the thing are. And regardless of all this, as I made clear in my post, the source of my discontent with the dealer was that they had just sold me a brand new car, which they themselves established has a faulty tire (in their words). And they want me to go to the tire manufacturer about it?! Am I dealing with Acura or Kia here? I've had service 100 times better with Mazda. And nowhere near the condescending attitude. I don't care how many "enthusiasts" they get wasting their time, they are in the business of serving customers which they seem to have forgotten.

AChangeOfSeasons

Update please???

Did this part fix the "pull to the left" problem????

I've got the same problem and dealership is resisting doing anything about it.

K24tunr

Are any of you getting vibration in the steering wheel? My car has like 500 miles on it and when I am on the highway I get vibration, so I'm not sure if its the alignment or the wheels need to be balanced.

AChangeOfSeasons

K24tunr,

No vibration here....just a steady pull....even on smooth, flat roads without a large crown.

Even in the right lanes of a 5 lane highway where the crown is to the right, it pulls left.

Vibration may be some other issue than alignment. Tires, wheel weights, rotors, etc...

AChangeOfSeasons

Vietazntsx, did this fix the problem????


Update for me:

I've had my car in twice for the pull-to-the-left problem and my dealership has acknowledged I'm not the only one with this problem.

It's also more of a highway speed issue. Car will not seem to pull when doing 35 on a surface road. Get on the highway, crank her up to 70 (or more) and the pulling is there.

They've call Acura Corporate and opened a technical line case for me.

So....I'm now on the list for an updated rear control arm due to the constant pulling to the left.

Apparently it's an '05 not an '04 problem.

Slowly, Acura Corporate is adding up the number of complaints and working on an update, or so I'm told.

Until then, free tire rotations and if my tires are worn uneven, free tires when they update the control arm. woohoo!

Until then, I'll keep turning right to go straight...

AChangeOfSeasons

Well.....Acura *overnighted* another right rear control arm to my dealership! Sheesh! They must be anxious to fix it!

I have a Friday appointment to get the new control arm installed and yet another four wheel alignment performed.

I'll see if I can snag a part number while I'm at it.

It seems, from the limited response in this thread, that maybe I'm in the minority and most everyone with an '05 doesn't have this problem.

The fact that Acura is so responsive to this makes me think they know more than a little something about it and hope that people don't notice/complain about it.

Oh well........we'll see after Friday how the car tracks.

Bill Hook

Changing camber can also fix this tendency to ride the crown. Check tirerack for info on "cross-camber." IIRC, there should be more negative camber on the right side than the left, but no more than a quarter degree difference between sides to avoid too much pull on roads with less crown. I've also heard that roads get more crown east of the Mississippi to slough off the greater rainfall, so this would be worthy of consideration depending on if you lived in TN, Western WA vs. KS, AZ.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

Could you find out if this is the upper or lower control arm?

RX8

Yeah, I have all of 400 miles on my TSX, and it's pulling to the left on the highway now. It's not as bad when I'm in the right lane, of course, but it still pulls left even when I'm in the right lane. I'm going to check tire pressure tonight to see if it's off (I didn't do so when I got the car home). I'd be VERY interested to hear about the new control arm(s)... I hate to take the car in for service work already, especially if it's 2 trips (one for diagnosis and one for a new part installation), but I guess if it would fix this, it may be worthwhile.

Fortunately I've quelled most of the interior rattles, so that's a step in the right direction.

curik_euro

After dropping with pro kits, my rear was -0.5 and right was about -2.5. I guess the factory specs for hondas and acuras are just not right. I wonder if buying camber kit will fix this problem.

moda_way

Yes, a camber kit will fix this.

I think the mistake ppl may be believing that every car is checked from the factory prior to delivery. Fact is, it would be impossible to do this. Honda builds the car around a toleranced jig. Now, if you have an issue with the car's alignment prior to doing a drop, then yeah, take it in and have them align it.

Once you put any drop on the car, it is anyone's guess where it will end up depending upon how much the OEM alignment was using the tolerance.

When I dropped mine, albeit after I installed the Ingalls kit on the rear, I was 2-3x on toe and almost 2x the upper spec of the camber. Now my fronts are -0.3 and 0.3, so I want to get a Ingalls kit for the front too, but those numbers are not that far out of spec at all.

AChangeOfSeasons

It's an UPPER control arm and it's being installed as I type!

Service manager was surprised Acura reacted with an overnight shipment as there's currently no "official" word from Acura about this problem.

Crossing my fingers for the fix to work.

Today's loaner 2005 TSX pulls pretty hard left also.

Maybe it's just the New England TSX's with this problem?

moda_way

Sounds like there is a quality issue in the assembly of that section or the part itself. It was shipped so fast b/c Honda is probably aware of it.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

That's interesting as the rear upper control arm has same p/n for both left and right. So how is one longer than the other?

moda_way

That is very strange. I don't recall if upper has an adjustment. I'm thinking it doesn't; only the lowers do. I'm not completely familiar with the 5-point geometry and how it all interplays with one another.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

Stock upper/lower control arms don't have adjustments unless one installs a SPC upper or Ingalls lower camber kit. That's probably the most effective way to fix all these reported alignment problems.

AChangeOfSeasons

New upper control arm installed and the car still pulls to the left.

Maybe it's time to look into an aftermarket solution like JTso has alluded to.