this sucks, i just got an alignment done and my car is still pulling to the right. What is worng? Could it be the tires/wheels have been mis-balanced? I know a brake isnt sticking cause it sometimes veers left. Should i go back to the tire place and tell them to rebalace them?

 

...several things.

Tires out of balance would typically cause a shimmy, or pulse through the steering wheel at about 55-60 mph. Probably not the problem here. Wouldn't typically cause a pull to one side or the other.

Does the car track straight except under braking? Then it pulls? If so, I would have a look at the braking system if the alignment is ok.

Most alignment racks do a "before and after" to show that the alignment is correct after the work is done. Did they give you that printout? If so, take a look and be sure the "after" is in spec (spec s/b printed on the output too). If not, go back and have them put it back on the rack and check the settings. Usually they'll have a 30day guarantee or something.

Did you have them do front wheel, thrust or four wheel alignment? I don't think a 4 wheel is applicable for the Max because it is not an independent rear (still waiting on Haynes from Amazon), but if you just had a front wheel, something could be wrong in the way the rear wheels track behind the fronts and this could cause a problem. Has the car ever been in an accident?

Sometimes there are problems with tires that can cause funny pull-like things to happen. Do any of your tires (especially the fronts) exhibit any unusual wear, especially from one side to the other? If so, you might be in the market for a new set of tires AND a diag of what's causing the wear (bent suspension parts, brakes, bad struts...)

Have you hit anything recently, including potholes? If so, there could be something bent in the front end (control arm perhaps) that woulld cause a pull. However, if the alignment guy didn't have 4 beers at lunch, typically they would catch bent parts because the alignment is pretty hard to get right if things are all bent up or if there are new shiny marks on the control arm from bashing it into something.

Oh, it could be worn steering rack or a (really) loose wheel bearing too

Let us know what you find out...

 

First let me say thanks for the informative post.

1. No no bad vibrations just pulling to the right, every once in a while left.

2. Acutally is the exact opposite, if i give it gas it pulls harder, under breaking or in neautral(i have 5spd) is stays pretty much strait, maybe a little to the right.

3.. Yes they did give me print out, here is what it states:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...32589525mbjAng

4. Yeah it says 4 wheel on the work order(thrust alignment was the same price) Would the tec of done anything differnet if i said told him make sure its "thrust alignment", anyway no my car has never been in an accident.

5. Brand New Tires

6. I havent even kissed a parking lot stop with my tire, plsu like you said the tech shoudl have found something during alignment if any bent part which i dont think(hope) it is.

Here is a little background:

I had stock steel wheels on--->balance perfect, no pulling.---->Got new wheels/tires----->pulling---->alignment--->still pulling-----> rotated rr with fr---->pulls less but still pulls------>????

 

tourque steer!! I think that's all you've got going here. Key is that you said it happens on acceleration rather than under braking. TS is pretty normal in a FWD car that has some power. The change in tires probably made it more pronounced, but I'd bet it was always there.

I have a 98 SE and have to pay attention if I get on it from a stop or at a slow speed. Without proper focus, one might (quickly) drive off into the toolies. The condition is made worse if you don't have an LSD and the road surface is different under one wheel -- gravel, grooves in the road, whatever. It'll pull one way or (then) the other kinda hard. DK what the rest of the list thinks, but I think this is pretty normal stuff for the Max. I never thought much of it.

If it doesn't do it on punchdown over, say 30 mph, I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, it will cause you to hone your driving skills

 

Yup, torque steer and tires is whats causing your wondering. What kind of tires are you running? Give us the name, size, type, ect.

The numbers on your alignment are within spec. I'd have the shop pull a little more negative camber, but it's nothing to go back for. I run about -.8 degrees camber. Keeps the car from wondering. Your camber at -.1 and -.3 are very close to ZERO. At Zero camber your car will follow crowns in the road. Our cars are prone to that expecially if your running a Z rated low profile tire. Pulling a little more negative camber helps correct that.

 

I always run a little more toe (negative) to get the car to track straighter. A little more toe causes the wheels to want to return to center more quickly: looking down from the top of the car with front being up, toe in: /\, neutral: ||, toe out: \/ A neutral toe, even a tad of toe out perhaps, causes the car to turn in better and take a better set once in a turn but the downside is that it can cause a nasty case of the ******* on the straights and under hard braking because the front of the car wants to go in two different directions.

I adjust the camber (more negative) to allow the car to handle better in turns as this is the adjustment that puts the tire more "in" at the top. Looking from the front or back of the car: negative camber: /\, neutral: ||, positive \/ (see: old VW bug). The upside with more camber is better handling. The downside is increased wear on the inside ribs of the tires and uneven heating of the tread.

Caster is the adjustment that essentially sets the angle between the axle and the top of the strut tower -- at the extreme, think shopping cart wheel versus the front of a motorcycle.

Car manufacturers consider all kinds of things in determining factory settings -- fuel economy, tire wear, handling, etc., and usually have what would be considered to be "compromise" setting rather than optimal settings for better handling, fuel economy, tire wear or whatever. As an example, all the factory settings in combination might do all of these things at 70%, but none at 100% or 0%. Change one factory sstting so that you get 100% (maximize handling by making the camber more negative) and you usually lose something elsewhere (tire wear suffers for example). I would guess that they use linear programming to get to the "optimal" result based on what they feel the best combination is (read: market survey).

All that being said, njmaxseltd, is your comment about camber based on the fact that camber acts differently for FWD rather than RWD cars? Just curious. I'd like to hear more because all my experience is with RWD cars.

 

Nice post Emoore!

All of what your saying is true. Nissan specs on camber are -1 to 0. At -.8 I'm within specs. My toe is 1mm in. I suffer no excessive tire ware but do have increased center tracking, less wondering and perhaps a little bit more of an edge on handling. Guys that run with camber close to zero all report the wondering and sloppy front end feel. The shop that set my car up recommended that to me. He sets up a lot of performance cars for on and off road compitition. I trusted him and believe me, he was right! He also told me when running "Z" rated tires to get both left and right camber within .1 degree or you may get a pull on the Maxima. I'm running Z rated 17" tires and my car tracks perfectly straight, doesn't wonder, gives me great road feel and my tires look perfect. I would recommend to anybody on here to pull as much EVEN negative camber, up to factory specs as you can get on your 4th gen maxima. It makes them track excellent.

 

njmaxseltd

Sounds like you have found a great place to do alignments. Which is hard in NJ. Which brings me to my question...who did/does your alignments?

Thanks
95max

 

On Rt 17 south, up here on the border of HoHoKus & Ridgewood there is a place called Precision Tire and Alignment. He's just after the Park and Ride. He knows his stuff!