car wheel alignment permanently stuffed?

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Batman

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#59591 7-Apr-2010 17:06

i own a 98 diamante and since 2 years ago the front wheels are pulling to the left. steering has become neutral at about 30 degrees right turn. no accidents that in 5 years that i've owned it.

front left tyre is wearing off about 4-5x the rate of the right front. mainly the outer edge/third. after realignment only lasts a few weeks/months.

any ideas? i'm thinking - new (old) car

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#315816 7-Apr-2010 17:17

could be anything:

worn shock, bent steering arm, worn bushes, if your car has a front LSD might be stuck and only spinning one side?

I think a new car might be in order too :) otherwise you could a bit trying to resolve the issue

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#315921 7-Apr-2010 21:36

yeah could be anything -

make it 10x the wear vs the right front actually.

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#315935 7-Apr-2010 21:54

It's not worth ditching the car, after all it's only 12 years old. I guess you could sell it, but I couldn't sell something that faulty without telling the prospective buyer. Start off with the basics, and move on from there, in other words go to a garage and start asking questions.

This is the hardest part for me, as some mechanics don't seem that smart.

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#315944 7-Apr-2010 22:06

nah if i do sell it the new buyer will know. perhaps i should go back to the alignment/tyre place and start the questioning

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#315956 7-Apr-2010 22:31

Has it had aftermarket suspention stuff put on it?

If the wheel is not straight when it is going straight then it has not being alligned. That is one of the things they correct when alligning.

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#315958 7-Apr-2010 22:34

it was corrected but lasted only a few weeks then it went left again.
no suspension mod
has been fine for the 1st 3 years of ownership

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#315996 7-Apr-2010 23:49

Well then something may be loose with too much play to cause that. Get it all looked at by a competent place and they may find that several bushings etc are too worn. Its an old car and that's about the age when major suspension components are becoming hard and needing replacement.

Could just be rack ends, or the whole arm is flapping around like its about to fall off.

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#316070 8-Apr-2010 10:06

Just to hijack the thread, if one's shock absorbers (both at front), go err eek err eek over speed bumps, is that a sign they are 100% shot, or do shocks "dry" out and make that noise because they need lubed or something? They are not super soft or hard otherwise.

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#316077 8-Apr-2010 10:25

I would check your tyre pressure for the uneven wear across the tyre - but if you do mostly around town driving the front left tyre wears much much quicker than all the other tyres - and the outside edge (foot path side) .
I tend not to go out of town much and every front wheel drive car I have ever had pretty much eats the front left tyre. It does get scrubbed pretty hard on left hand turns.

I had an 82 Mitsi Mirage once that developed a terrible pull to the left on acceleration. I took it to a tyre place and they mucked about with it - told me that the left and right side of the car didnt line up with the right (apparently cars a rarely symmetrical)- they started to muck about with the steering. Finally they gave up and suggested I took it to a chassis straightener. I wondered how it could have developed this issue seeing as I had owned it for a couple of years (without it pulling to the left) - I had never had a crash and I couldn't see any evidence that it had ever had a previous ding. To cut a long story short the chassis straightener rang me about 10 minutes after I dropped the car off and said they had swapped the front tyres around and now it was pulling to the right. Yes - its was tyre wear that was causing it. This car didnt have power steering though - that could mask the feel of it pulling to the left and right a bit.

I have a 2002 Aussie built Diamante - its been pretty good to own - if its not causing you other issues it would be a shame it chuck it away - my pick is you just need a new tyre (or try swapping the tyres around).

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#316083 8-Apr-2010 10:32

IlDuce: Just to hijack the thread, if one's shock absorbers (both at front), go err eek err eek over speed bumps, is that a sign they are 100% shot, or do shocks "dry" out and make that noise because they need lubed or something? They are not super soft or hard otherwise.

If they have as you say "dryed out" it is likely that the hydralic fluid has leaked out.

A good test is to park the car on a level surface and bounce you weight up and down on each corner in order and observe the response from the shocks. if one appears to behave differently it is a good bet the shock is stuffed.

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#316092 8-Apr-2010 10:40

IlDuce: Just to hijack the thread, if one's shock absorbers (both at front), go err eek err eek over speed bumps, is that a sign they are 100% shot, or do shocks "dry" out and make that noise because they need lubed or something? They are not super soft or hard otherwise.

It could just be the rubber mounts top and bottom causing that sound. Just spray some crc or similar on it to see if it goes away. It might pay to check the actual mount bolts nuts are tight.

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#316128 8-Apr-2010 11:17

riahon:
IlDuce: Just to hijack the thread, if one's shock absorbers (both at front), go err eek err eek over speed bumps, is that a sign they are 100% shot, or do shocks "dry" out and make that noise because they need lubed or something? They are not super soft or hard otherwise.

It could just be the rubber mounts top and bottom causing that sound. Just spray some crc or similar on it to see if it goes away. It might pay to check the actual mount bolts nuts are tight.

Yeah this is true, it's most probably the rubber mounts, usually at the bottom of the strut tower, they might have been replaced with Nolathane bushings or Nylon bushings which usually make this noise. Otherwise the current rubber OEM bushes might be failing, chuck some silicone glide spray in them and if it shuts them up, then that's the issue :)

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#316140 8-Apr-2010 11:38

I noticed on rainy days when they must be wet, there is no noise whatsoever from them.

As for bushes, the factory bushes on parts of the suspension look stuffed, they are compressed, split, small pieces missing, and definitely appear to me to be in need of replacement (but must not be a WOF issue, as they never fail or get a mention?).

Are nolathane bushings all a certain colour like orange or something (so they can be easily distinguished from factory bushes)? Anyone know how expensive they are to purchase, ie If I decided to replace every bush in the steering/suspension, $100, $200, etc?

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#316292 8-Apr-2010 18:22

I have a 96 Jap import Diamante and had to replace the control arm bushes last warrant. There were 2 sets in the back and one in the front and the parts were about $275. Not too sure how many other ones there are. It did stop my suspension squeaking when driving over speed bumps though.

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#316301 8-Apr-2010 18:42

IlDuce: I noticed on rainy days when they must be wet, there is no noise whatsoever from them.

As for bushes, the factory bushes on parts of the suspension look stuffed, they are compressed, split, small pieces missing, and definitely appear to me to be in need of replacement (but must not be a WOF issue, as they never fail or get a mention?).

Are nolathane bushings all a certain colour like orange or something (so they can be easily distinguished from factory bushes)? Anyone know how expensive they are to purchase, ie If I decided to replace every bush in the steering/suspension, $100, $200, etc?

most bushes aren't a Wof issue that I know of, it's usually mechanical issues such as tie-rod ends and shocks which are WoF issues

Nolathane are blue mostly, but can be:

Whiteline which are commonly used here since they come from Australia are yellow
Koni are orange
KYB are red

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