My steering seems to pull form side to side at times. For 30 secinds of so it may pull to the left then it may pull to the right for a while. then sometimes it seems to pull harder one way or the other. what should I check or is this just an alinement problem.

 

Sounds like it could be tie rod ends that are wore out , or lower control arm bushings are shot. To check the tie rod end jack up one side of the car and have the steering locked (key out) and see if there is any play back and forth on the tire that is off the ground from right to left if you have movment then more the likely tie rod end it might be har dto notice but just sit there and go back and forth with it. As for the bushings you just need to get under the car and see if they are shot you should be able to tell no problem.

 

TIme to get some stronger polyurethane bushings as you're putting down around double the hp figures than what they prolly can handle. I suggest getting your front realigned and get your wheels balanced. IF that doesn't work LSD tranny as torque distrubution may not be 50/50.

 

LCA bushings are probably bad

 

How much do those cost?

 

it's normally the front one which run $10 ea.

 

Also, torque steeer on lowered max's is pretty bad. Torque steer comes from when the tie rods sit at a sharp angle from the steering rack to the steering knuckles, so they have no travel left. When you hit a bump and that corner of the susp. moves up, the tie rod has no movement left, so it pulls the steering that way.

The symptoms are very simmilar to what you've described.

But yeah, def. check the front lower control arm bushings, there's something in the stickies about that isn't there?

 

yo whats up. i still cannot post my own thread so i figured i'd put my question under this topic since it related to steering. i have a 1990 nissan maxima currently with a cold air intake in it, everything else is stock. but i have some money and i think i want to add a front/rear sway bar and a strut brace in my car, would that make my suspension much better until i get some more money for decent tires and an exhaust? i dunno help would be great! thanks guys

 

Tires come first! without them you are dead

 

That's bump steer dude, not torque steer.

 

sway bars and a FSTB will run you about $300.
that's the price of a good set of tires on your stock rims.

 

I can get a set of used tires for like $60 with like 75% thread left and they are mounted and balanced for free with a 30 day warrantee on them. They aren't the best tires (ponteza's or michelin's at best but they come from stock car's that were in accidents). Look for used tire dealers if you're lookin to upgrade your rims aneways.

 

More like a little of both, the wider tires and FF drivetrain will cause the tracking/torque steer, and if there are bumps/ruts/undulations in the road, the bump steer joins the party when the car is lowered. IMHO. (the roads in charlotte suck like nothern roads)

 

Check all four wheels for free rotation. I had this problem a few years ago, took it to two places that checked the alignment and didn't find anything wrong. Turned out to be the parking brake was adjusted too tight and one of the rear brakes was dragging, causing the car to pull to one side.

 

This is torque steer


This is bump steer


Trust me the roads in Charlotte have NOTHING on our roads. I've driven through charlotte.

 

I had a similar problem, turned out to be ball joints

 

check the LCA bushings yet?

 

Yes you are correct your pimpness...in the most technical of ways. What i described is bumpsteer in the real world. Lowerd Max, no tie rod travel left, hit a bump, suspension moves, pulls steering with it without your input.

Like i said before, a wider wheel/tire combo with a wider offset makes the tracking problem worse. The change in the tire/wheel combo changes some of the susp. geometry, like scrub radius i believe.

 

I care not for your science...I've driven all manner of lowered cars, and 3G Maximas are some of the worst driving lowered cars. They track all over the road and do one of those "steer" things. But I still love her though.