Need some ideas on why my car is pulling to the left on acceleration and right when I let off the gas. It is a very noticeable pull especially on highway speeds although I can get the car to drive in a straight line if I give it the right amount of gas. There is only a slight vibration at around 80MPH and also when I'm slowing down there is slight vibrations. The steering wheel doesn't mingle side to side just very minor vibration. I have checked under the car for any loose bolts or torn bushings. The CV axles are fairly new and the only thing I noticed is on the passenger side there is a metal ring that goes on the CV axle itself closer to the transmission. Could that have anything to do with it? Any help is appreciated

 

PS the metal ring is loose just dancing on the axle...sort of like a loose ring on your finger

 

have you checked your tire air pressure? what about alignment? rotate tires?

 

That "ring' is the band that holds the CV boot in place and it should not be loose. It may be able to be re crimped but it sounds like you might have a CV joint binding up. Your describing what my car used to do and it would come and go. Passenger side axle was bad but looked fine.

 

Tire pressures are 37 up front and 32 in the rears. Alignment was done 3 months ago so it should be in check. I will be posting a pic of the "ring"

 

 

I think that its part of the half shaft if I'm not mistaken

 

That's the half shaft. Looks like the dampener came apart...? That wouldn't make the car pull left or right, maybe some vibration. Turn your wheels extreme right and then left as far as the wheel will go while moving slowly. If that doesn't help then take off in first and snatch second gear trying to spin wheels. See if the the problem changes at all.

 

LOL that just might make the axles explode

 

No change in turning or wheel spins trust me I would know
I will be taking it into Sears to get it checked out tomorrow, will update just in case someone else is experiencing this problem

 

Taking a car to Sears? Sorry but that's actually funny

 

Whats wrong with sears auto center? They have a very nice garage. Maybe not where your from? Besides, that's where I had the alignment done and it was still under warranty. Turns out the alignment was off for some reason. Still pulling but less noticeable. Tire pressures are good. What should I look for next...

 

Did they tell you what the loose metal ring was?

So does it pull when you are at cruising speed with the clutch in?
Or just when accelerating or decelerating?

As for Sears... Well they've had it in the air, worked on it, realigned it(???) and test drove it at least twice (I would guess). Yet your still having an issue. Did the pros at Sears give you their opinion of what they thought it could be?

Try a couple of hard throttle reverses and see if that changes anything.

 

I had a reputable shop take a look at the front end. They were under the car for a good 20 minutes and found no bad bushings or torn boots. As for the ring they said it was important... It will pull right when the clutch is in. I'm taking it back to Sears this weekend to see if they can figure it out...

 

Wasn't*****

 

Maybe one of the axles are fucked internally?

These cars love chewing axles

 

Sorry for ur bad luck but...

I will bet they could have found the problem if they were more thorough, pulling on things, checking for play, checking for proper clearances.

For example that picture u showed with the axle off to one side, did they not figure out why it's doing that? It looks as if the wheel is actually not centred in the wheel well. Maybe your caster is out. Maybe a radius rod bushing is going.

Check ur wheels when the car is parked on a flat surface, with the e brak on!

Put ur foot on the wheel and push and let go and push and let go... Look for play. The wheel should not budge a millimetre. Do this on the front side and back side of each front wheel. When my radius rod went it caused weird symptoms.

Also... How was ur alignment off all of a sudden? That does not happen unless u have a problem with ur car or the person working on your car.

I'm honestly thinking it's the caster.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by the wheel not being centered. Maybe its the angle of the pic but that looks fine and someone would of definitely noticed if it was messed up. I just tried the test with the car on the floor and my front left wheel moves. I checked the bushing to the radius rod seems a little loose. New bushings coming in so I hope that's my problem all along. Thanks for the advise!

 

Yea the radius rod is burried in the subframe it's very hard visually see anything. You have to remove the radius rod to put in the new bushing because one piece goes on each side.

Also note.. Different bushings are different hardnesses. If you use two different bushings you will have one wheel pulled further forward than the other, or one further back than the other. So make sure you have the same in each side... I e buy it from acura if you are only doing one. If u are doing both then just make sure they are the same brand etc.

I had a caster issue due to an accident my car got in to. The only way to pull the caster forward... To pull the wheel forward in the wheel well is to change the bushing out to a larger bushing.. One that compresses less under load. That is how I i got my caster a full 1.0 forward.

Also to remove the radius rod you need to remove the upper control arm ball joint, then you should have just enough clearance past the axle to get a socket onto the bolts. Cause those 19 mm bolts in the lower control arm are on there! Make sure the socket is all the way on and u don't strip it or ur going to be having some extra fun. You will almost certainly need a breaker bar to get them off.

I must have removed the radius rod three times on my car so thankfully your talking to someone who is very familiar with that part of the CL.

When you install the new bushing, note there is a front and a rear. Make sure you set the bushings in the subframe I used a long flat head and some patience to make sure it was in there. Cause if u pinch the bushing, when you tighten it up it may not seat tightly and thus will affect your caster.

Fyi caster is supposed to be on the alignment sheet. So I'd check to see if it was different on the first time u brought it to sear vs the second time they tweaked ur alignment.

Good luck. And it's all about removing those two 19mm bolts. Once you know that is possible the whole process will go smoothly. Tighten everything back up all the way... It will stop compressing once uve snugged it all up cause there is a metal Sleeve inside the bushing which the radius rod goes through and the bolt will literally bottom out on the sleeve. It is also recommended you get a new self locking bolt so it doesn't loosen up on you...

Which happened to me.

Good luck pal, hopefully that is your fix

 

Thanks for the write up man real good stuff. As for the caster it was unchanged at 3.1 and 3.0 in the front...the rear is at 0.2 and 0.0...it looks like the toe was way off though. I ordered some Energy suspension bushings and should be putting them on Saturday. Appreciate the help and I will report back soon