My steering feels realllllly "washy" on the freeway . Like it wants to steer itself .
I am on coilovers, camber front and rear, rear sway, strut tower bar, and lower front tie bar .
Now it felt okay when I first went low , now it just feels horible and quite dangerous .

I have not had an alignment .

I don't wanna pay 140$ for it to feel similar as when I took it in to be aligned.

Any suggestions guys ? I really just wanna ditch the cl right now . I drove 700 miles in it today and my arm is sore from trying to keep it on the road .

 

 

That's not very helpful but thanks . I asked is the alignment worth it as in why go get one just to find out your car is still boned .

 

You must love to kill tires Mike, Do you and us a favor and go to your local firestone and get a lifetime alignment. I got it on the tl and worth every penny. I believe it was around $200.

 

I tried Oscar they don't wanna cause of how low I am I'm seriously bummed towards the cl right now . My mufflers just showed up in the mail and I could care less to put the, on a car thats not safe on the highway

 

This is how you get them, raise the car up, buy the lifetime alignment, let them align it, lower it, come back in a few days and do it all over again.

Don't give up its all part of modding........

 

Mike, call local NTB's and see which one might have an in ground alignment rack, rather than elevated ones at most shops. I ran into same, too low. Also fwiw, Firestone wouldn't touch my car due to modifications. NTB also offers a warranty so you can stop in for checks and correction. We have 10+ NTBs in the area, but only 2 have in ground alignment racks so call ahead first and ask.

 

You need an alignment and you can't align it at stock height then lower it, toe changes as ride height changes. It probably feels really twitchy. You need some toe in to make the car want to go in a straight line. Also the front steering/suspension components and bushing flex enough where if you aligned the tires perfectly straight, just the friction of the tires on the road will cause the tires to toe out.

If you don't want to pay for an alignment, at least adjust it yourself. It'll be better and safer than what it is now. Drive onto a flat level surface at least 20 feet with the steering wheel straight. Tie a string to the back wheel and line it up to the front. With the string should barely touch the rear part of the front tire there should be a slight gap, less than 1mm, between the front part of the tire and the string.

To adjust, loosen the jam nuts on the tierod and turn the adjuster. Then recheck.

Also check your radius rod bushings and nuts. If they are worn or loose, it'll cause the tires to toe out.

 

I agree with the others. Suck it up and Get an alignment.

 

Have you checked your tire wear ?
If you thought it drove ok for awhile with no alignment now it's drives differnt. Tires might be worn too. on the insides.
When I had my car slammed it went threw upper ball joints like crazy.

 

Man you paid 200? Geez, when I got the lifetime alignment I ended up paying only 149, i must have gotten it early

 

check inside tire wear. also, you might want to check the bushings that hold the steering rack to the cross member. if they are weak or ruined, the rack slops around. it would probably make some pretty bad noise if it were doing that though.

oh, and make friends with guys that work at tire shops.

 

One of my best friends is asistant manager for discount tire

I have good tread wear and mileage in the front but the rear tires are feathered .

 

well discount tire doesn't do alignments. gotta make more friends. being a pac man is a wonderful thing.

 

It gets me tires and installation for a good $ . But yeah good point .

 

Yeah they just keep raising the price.

Best advice aside from getting an alignment.

 

I BET IT IS A LOOSE RADIUS ROD BUSHING... happened to me on my car 2xs!!

lift vehicle up and see if u can move wheels front to back at all...

hopefully that all it is chief

 

I have a tires plus by me that has an in ground alignment rack and you can drive on that thing with the frame a few mm off the ground. I agree with the others call a few places somebody has probably got an in ground alignment rack. Also check suspension parts like others said. Ball joints, tie rods, radius rods, end links, etc. Also if you got to a lot of the places you can ask if they can do a better deal on what they quote you, it works for me every time.

 

What do you mean front to back ? If you're asking if i can make it steer all the way and right by pukking in the wheels yes . I think they spin forwards and reverse too ?

Well I got some "new wheels" up front and it helped a little but its still there something is still off ....

 

He's talking about left hand at 9:00,right hand at 3:00 on your tire and shake to the left and the right just like checking tierods.
You can also place your hands one at 12 and one at 6 and shake from the top to the botom to check balljoints.
Both fronts off the ground of course.
These are the first things to do to check for play in worn pieces.
You can do the same with the back.
Usally if a radius rod bushing is done, once the wheels are off the ground you will be able to move the radius rod from the screw side facing the front of the car.

 

I think I understand what you're saying . I'll try that .

 

Tie-rods (mostly outer ones) will wear from aggressive turns at speeds above 20mph and will warp stock tie-rods fast. Once they're bad, they need to be replaced or they'll start ruining your alignment and tires.

Inner tie-rods will wear too but they affect alignment more than anything. If you feel any wobble at high speeds (above 65mph), they'll need to be replaced.

If you're talking about the car rolling a little, its probably time to replace the sway bar bushings. Stock ones are rubber and designed to wear out. If you want tighter turning consider some polyurethane bushings that won't flex on harder cornering.

Easy way to check if tie rods are starting to go bad is to find a flat surface like a parking lot. Put the steering wheel straight and and put the car in Reverse. Let the move at idle speed (while you're in it) and see if you feel the car wobble. Or you can go through the hassle of taking them off to inspect. Either works.

 

Alignment first. You'll need one sooner or later.

 

I put the car on jacks yesterday and messed with it , seems fine . Found a place to do my alignment , they're gonna lower the car equal , camber , toe .

 

I've recently experience a lot of "floatyness" and poor handling while driving. I know what the problem is in my case. I changed the LCA bushings and stripped out the bolts that attach the radius rod to LCA on passenger side. So there is a lot of movement back and forth on the passenger side tire which causes the car to pull left during acceleration. So today I'm going to the junkyard to get a new LCA/radius rod/bolts. On the drivers side there is no movement when I kick or push the tire with my foot. But on the passenger side you can clearly see movement backward and forward.

What I'm getting at is maybe your radius rod is loose? or the radius rod bushings need to be tightened down. Also there is a "popping" from the passenger side during acceleration from the radius rod.

 

I never relied sorry guys . My rear toe was crazy off, so when I went to turn it was wanting to turn for me cause both tires in the rear were facing out .