996 MY02 pulling left after wheel alignment (advice needed)

Hi all After a new set of wheels from Chris at Excel wheels all my problems were solved, I had been having issues with vibrations in the car caused at 80mph plus and the long and the short of it was that two of my wheels had flat spots! New set from Chris and problem solved! The car went to mercury in Brentwood prior to the wheel change where it was fully aligned etc (at a cost of £200) only to find the actual problem lay in the wheels being flat spotted! Recently I went to Germany for the weekend, left my car in short stay at Gatwick an on the way home felt like it as pulling left! Took it to my trusty local German auto specialist German Engineering in Westcliff who checked it over and said everything seemed fine, no play in the steering rack, wheel bearings perfect etc etc! They recommended taking it to Elite wheels in Rainham! This is what their dagnostic said: £160 for laser alignment and cambre adjustment (apparently it was really out later the car was returned (they had also rebalanced the wheels and in the process taken a load of paint off when removing the weights! Not great as they have only been on the car two months), this was the result: However, I still feel the car pulls left! I am sure it isn't just the caber of the road, I know they feel every imperfection in the road but I still feel like she is pulling left and the wheel wants to sit slightly off straight anticlockwise permanently! Any suggestions? I am tempted to take it to my local place in Southend who have laser alignment equipment as Elite is an hour each way for me and I am really unimpressed with their lack of care last time Any advice would be appreciated Cheers Tom

Find a quiet stretch of straight road (perhaps on a Sunday on an industrial estate) which has a good amount of camber. Drive slowly along the crown of the road (10-5mph) and take your hands off the wheel. It should track straight. Then turn around an do it in the opposite direction. It should show up whether it is really pulling, and which way. It may be that the new settings make it very sensitive to road camber. I would try the test above, and if it is pulling, get it checked. If it isn't pulling in the test, maybe you need to get some adjustments made to make it less sensitive. (I can't read the front axle settings, by the way).

Thanks Richard I have tried your suggestion already in the centre of the road on a flat road it seems to go bang straight, likewise in the centre of the road with a camber either side again bang straight it just seems to be super twitchy i.e. the steering wheel seems to move with every road imperfection even at low speed and on normal left on side of the road where there is an obvious left camber it seems to want to track left continually and the steering wheel want to sit of centre anti clockwise! My other worry is that it was aligned etc at Mercury prior to the wheel change and has done less that 2000 easy miles since so why would it suddenly be out again? Although as I said the wheels were changed by Chris at Excel to resolve the vibration at speed issue caused by the previous set being flat spotted Thanks for the advice Cheers Tom

Richard On a side note what sort of adjustment would you recommend to make it less sensitive as she does feel super twitchy, which I may be mistaking as her being out of alignment. As I said I have tried your test and she does seem to track straight, I am now wondering if there is something that can be adjusted to make it less sensitive? Thanks as ever Tom

Better pics: Before: After:

The geo looks ok. I've seen this happen to someone before, they took their car to be realigned only to be told one of their tyre pressures was way off. Check your tyre pressures, see if that helps. Nearside front might be low.

I've seen that due to worn components. Did you have them all checked? Otherwise no matter how many times you have the geo done it'll always be off. Thx

Thanks for the advice chaps, the car has only done 36K so wouldnt have thought too much is worn out, they had it up on the ramps for an hour checking over it and couldn't see anything wrong

Check the tyre pressures this morning and fronts were 30 and 31 and rears 40 so I have put them all up to factory settings again Will give it a run tonight and see if it makes a difference Cheers Tom

In guessing you have 18's on then as 17's are 36 all round.

Yep, 18" 5 spoke MY02's

The settings are almost spot on factory settings for standard M029 suspension. If it tracks straight on the crest of the road, then I think you need to look somewhere other than alignment. Had there been a lot of negative camber, I might have suggested reducing it a bit. Or having a word with someone who really knows ther onions, like Chris Franklin. I think you'll find that raising the fronts to 36psi will help. Also, if the tyres aren't directional, try swapping the front wheels left and right, to see if it pulls the other way.

You could always try a bit more front toe-in; that will help the wander at the expense of a bit more tyre wear. Also, rubber suspension bushes will age regardless of mileage. If they've been on for 10 years they will be getting tired.

My turbo has 36k on it too, but now has Powerflex bushes all round, as the old ones had started to delaminate. You don't need to have loads of miles. Rubber perishes with age don't forget.

What would it cost me to powerflex up the car all round (including fitting)?? Cheers Tom

I have a whole power bush kit going unused mechanic didn't want to put them on too much work

Brilliant, I may be very interested, I've sent you a PM, what would you want for them? Any one and idea of cost of fitting? Thanks Tom