Tha Max is pulling hard to the right! Not UNBEARABLY bad, but its definitely noticeable and sucks. I know my wheels are 100% balanced correctly cause i sat there while they were getting done on a brand new top of the line machine. Also, I know its not my rims either cause they are brand new.

I haven't gotten an alignment in like 2 years, could that be it possibly? If I didn't need an alignment, what else could is possibly be? any feedback would be appreciated guys! Thanks as always!

 

in my case it was a ball joint and loose steering

 

How did you get it fixed and what did it cost and where at?

 

Unbalanced tires wouldnt really affect steering in the way you describe it. Unbalanced tires would create a wobbly effect causing tires to chatter or make the steering wheel vibrate. You need an alignment. 2 years means nothing, what matters is mileage, types of roads you have gone over, wheels, etc... The worse the roads the more they will shake up your suspension components. While getting an aligment tell them to check the ball joints and rest of the suspension up front. Bad ball joints may cause bad alignment and expect to pay about $25 per ball joint plus labor. Get an alignment first and have them check the suspension... check your axles while your there.

 

Can balljoints even be replaced on 4th+ gen Maximas without replacing the entire control arm?

 

A good alignment tech will check all of the steering system parts/linkages for excessive wear automatically.

 

Yes they come right off the control arm once you take off the pin/clamp holding it in. The new ones go right in as well...

Yes but we all know how lazy they can be...

 

i only get pulls from the wheel during hard acceleration....torque steer...

 

yeah you might want to get an alignment first before you take your car apart.

 

My car has a slight pull to the right when I let go of the steering wheel. This means camber adjustment is off. The right side has more positive camber. Have the front-toe checked as well.

 

If they're not new, you might have a broken or shifted belt. This will cause steering 'drag' like you wouldn't believe. If the tires are new, look to previous posts... good info.

 

That's why I said a good tech. The lazy ones usually get canned because they don't point out needed repairs and the customer satisfaction index is very low.

 

Mine was the same way in September. It was pulling to the left tho, but HARD. Like I could be goin 5 mph and it pulled harder than most people's car who complain about pullin to a certain side when they go 70 mph. They put it up and on both front wheels the inside sections from the tire's midpoint was almost completely bald, but perfect original stock thread on the outside sections (Picture holding hands with a girl and your inner left leg was 2 inches shorter than your right and her inner right leg was 2 inches shorter than her left...lolol it would be a horrible sight when trying to walk together).

So I needed to buy 2 brand new tires and got the whole ordeal done. That's how bad my alignment was, because in July I just had the wheels balanced, but not aligned cuz the guy was b*tchin about closin up and leavin for the day, which means my last alignment was still less than a year old from early January. So yeah, easpecially if you haven't gotten one in 2 years def. go and get it aligned first before anything else.

 

Well I took the Max to get an alignment and the camber was a couple degrees off and the toe in was also off slightly. My car STILL pulls to the right, but not nearly as bad. Since I originally purchased the max in 99, she has always pulled to the right slightly, the same amount as now. I want to get this problem fixed!

The guy at Tire Kingdom showed me underneath my car that the bushing in the lower right control arm is bad....it seems that CV joint grease got on it (from a long time ago) and has eaten away at some of the bushing. He says this could possibly be my problem of pulling...what do you guys think? Possible problem fix?

Also, he said you can't replace just that bushing, you have to buy the entire control arm assembly, which is probably a load of sh*t, but I dunno, maybe you guys might know more than me.

Any opinions/thoughts on what I should do and on what has happened so far?

 

If your front tires don't show any sign of wear described by Max Mutes below, then your mechanic could be right. At the same time, he's wrong. He's trying to get some money off of you! Energy Suspension makes bushings for us. It's called ES3111 Front control arm set 1995-1999 Maxima.

Did you get a good look at the bushings? Can you describe them to us?

 

I just had my car dropped on D2 coilovers, and bought rims as well (SSR integral A2s) and i have the worst alignment ever. i have to hold my steering wheel about 30 degrees to the left to keep it going straight. if i let go of my steering wheel it just flys off to the right. do you think an alignment woudl completely fix that problem? i was also advised to get my wheels balanced. every so often when i make a slight right turn, i can hear my left/front wheel squealing even going at 5-10mph. any idea why? thanks in advance.

 

The crucial adjustments are toe and camber (read the stickies). Have them checked and corrected. If you still get pulling after alignment, then its probably the lower control arm bushings. Pretty common for old cars like ours. Look into Energy Suspension bushings (link above). Also, it's always recommended to get the tires balanced after mounting them on wheels.

 

not to sound really dumb but if it is just a slight pull to the right it might just be the fact that roads are crowned so for water runoff. I mean you can look at the bushings etc but when a road is crowned no matter what it will go right a little bit. Now if it does it on the highway where it is fairly flat then you might have a problem. But I just dont want you chasing something that might not be your cars fault.

Also if you are really picky I know the places we go we usually have to bring it back a second time to have them make it right becuase they usually dont get it right the first time. They ended up having to rotate the tires to get it right and change things a little further once they realized I was really picky about alignment.

 

Haha I wish it was that simple...you are right but it is definitely not my problem. I travel on the highways every day for work and my car still pulls to the right bad all the time, and its not torque steer.

 

Could having bad bushings cause my car to pull this bad?

Also, my rear right shock is slightly more compressed than my rear left one, something I noticed the other night...So the rear left of my car is a little higher than the rear right of my car. Could this cause the pulling?

 

Its either bad bushings, bad tires, bent suspension component on that side. Your best bet is to visually inspect the bushings yourself. If they look off-round or are sticking out on either side, then they are probably shot. Do the same with tires, if the insides are worn out, that could be your problem. If all looks ok, take your car to a suspension specialist and have them inspect for bent parts. Of course, road conditions affect it too. But it should be momentarily until you get on a different road.