Steering issue - suspension bushes or rack?

[MTerry]

If you braked and the pull came back, have you looked to see if the brake caliper on that side is hanging up? I've had problems with sticking brake calipers for years. I almost always have at least one trying to drag. In the front, look at the pads. Are they wearing evenly or on an angle? If they're angled, you have one piston sticking. If they're even, check to see if they're wearing at the same rate as the ones on the other side, maybe both pistons are sticking. I used to go through a set of right rear pads every 20,000 miles. The left rears went over 50,000.

[Diesel-do-nicely]

Originally Posted by Dr. Rog

Hi folks,

My "new" car pulls to the left. When I bought it it felt like it was only a little, so I was confident the problem was just tracking.

After a quick trip to my local tyre and tracking place the problem was still there, so I inspected the brakes and ended up damaging then replacing the calliper bellows.

The pull to the left was still there and now rather irritating. The car seems to self centre with the steering wheel 10 degrees to the left, so today I took it back to Headley Tyres who did it again for only £10 (more than fair after several months). They thought the left wheel was toeing in, which they corrected and the right was camber in, which they cannot. They weren't very impressed with the state of my bushes.

I pulled away from the garage, along the first straight to a T junction, hands off wheel the car went straight. Braked and pulled away and the pull was back!!!.

I think something is moving, or the rack is unbalanced. Any ideas??

I worked with VW GTI's for road and sometimes track use for many years.
The same basics apply : Drive the car on a straight deserted road, straddle the centre so the camber of the tarmac is negated. Apply a piece of tape to the steering wheel at 12'o'clock.

Jack up the front so the wheels are just clear of the road (level ground)
Centre the steering wheel with the applied tape at 12'o'clock.
Get a 900mm spirit level and tape 2 small lego bricks to it so that when the level touches the wheelrims the tyre does'nt touch it.
Check and see if both sides are the same, (mark the vertical bubble with a sharpie).
Use the evenly worn tyre as a reference.
Have a assistant apply the brakes and then remove the wheels.
Use a welding rod bent to a v shape to measure the castor on that wheel.
Check down the front of both strut legs. They should be exactly the same.
The bottom ball joint on some aftermarket items is not a tight fit in the strut allowing the lower arm to affect camber through overly large bolt hole clearance.
The strut tops do wear, never evenly as we go only one way round roundabouts.
Check the strut piston arms beneath the rubber bellows for bending and uneven wear.
This can affect castor, as can the top/hat bushes on the track control arms, and the anti roll bar bushes (when driving)
Re bushing the whole lot is cheap and takes a couple of hours. MAKE SURE all the old rubbish is scraped out of the lower arm tapers where the new top hat bushes sit. Always use LEMFRODER or BILSTIEN parts,
Check that the track rod ends are equally fitted, measure the threads.
Lotts of basic stuff, just use common sense, it usually works for me!

[Dr. Rog]

Originally Posted by MTerry

If you braked and the pull came back, have you looked to see if the brake caliper on that side is hanging up? I've had problems with sticking brake calipers for years. I almost always have at least one trying to drag. In the front, look at the pads. Are they wearing evenly or on an angle? If they're angled, you have one piston sticking. If they're even, check to see if they're wearing at the same rate as the ones on the other side, maybe both pistons are sticking. I used to go through a set of right rear pads every 20,000 miles. The left rears went over 50,000.

Having replaced the seals I hope not. I photoed the wear on the piston (bug* all) but that camera doesn't work on this computer.

When I first touched it the inner pad (this is the left side) was thinner than the outer. I assumed it was sticking but the bellows fell apart in my hand so I stripped and cleaned it and put it all back. The car brakes very evenly by the way, it just steers in a circle.

To say I was disappointed that that wasn't enough is an understatement.

[Dr. Rog]

Thanks for all the advice.

My back has been bad and the weather worse so I will be a while getting this sorted. I hope no-one feels unappreciated whilst I continue to fail to log success.