Long story short, I ran into a center highway median divider and my car pulls to the left when I hold the wheel straight... If I take my hand off the wheel, the steering wheel bears slightly to the right and eventually the car pulls to the right...

Firestone inspected the car and could find no damage other than cosmetics...

I have had the front end aligned for the third time today since the accident has occured, all thankfully under warranty however even after purchasing new tires (my old ones were bald) this problem still occurs... ..Im going to have it alligned at a different shop tomorrow with the suspicion of just MAYBE the alignment rack was bad.. ...but is there anything else that could cause this? Bad struts?? Because tires are expensive and the last thing I need is uneven tire wear...

 

what were the camber and caster readings. you might have bent a spindle to

 

Right Front Camber : 0.0
Right Front Caster : 3.8
Right Front Toe : 0.03

Left Front Camber : 0.0
Left Front Caster : 4.4
Left Front Toe : 0.01

 

your right caster is to low. you need to have caster on the right side .5 higher than the left side. you are following the crown in the road.

 

Im just curious, whats the crown in the road? and do you think an alaignment shop will just willingly set them to my specs while its under warranty?

 

with the caster being lower on the right, the car will drift in that direction.

the crown of the road is how it slants to the right. this is to drain rain water off. with all alignment angles equal, the car will drift to the right because of this. so, just like hott95z28 said, have them set the caster about .5 higher on the right versus the left. this is used to offset the pull from the road crown.

 

if they want to resolve the concern, yes they will. if they have issue with it, you can have them call me. i run my own alignment/suspension shop. or what the hell, come on down here to florida and get away from the fires.

 

Awsome, it makes 1000% sense too because as soon as I let go of the wheel the car takes a dive for the right hand shoulder...

If I should run into a problem can I get your shops number for reference? Im going to have this done tomorrow morning seeing as though I work in the evenings...

 

pm sent.

 

Okay now firestone's giving me the run around... They say that they absolutely must have that tool to adjust the caster and Im trying to convince them that they do not but they refuse to work on it without that tool... ...Im beginning to believe most shops will say the same, how much is this tool going to cost me?

 

there is a tool that makes it much easier it is like a u with a adjuster in the middle. you need to tell them to give you your money back if they can not fix it right. then call other shops to see who has the tool.. not all shops have this tool.

 

rockauto dot com has the tool. It's like $30-40 for it.
Doug

 

I took it to firestone and they realligned it and after proving they didn't fix the problem, I got a refund... The car still pulls to the right however... Before this, the steering wheel was cocked to the right while going straight and when I let go, the car dived to the right, and when I straightened it out, the car dived left... ...After my most recent alaignment, The wheel is cocked slightly to the left to go straight, if I let go, the car dives to the right, If I straighten it out, it also dives to the right... Firestone told me that I most likely am going to need to take it to a dealership to have it fixxed correctly...

ALSO - I had it parked and was looking at it and came to a realization that the passengerside of my car is sitting a slight bit lower than the driverside of my car... I parked it elsewere to make sure it wasn't the work of a grade however it is still slightly lower on the right than the left... all tire pressures are good... ...time for new Struts / Springs???

I had it realligned again with new specs...

Left Camber - 0.3
Left Caster - 4.4
Left Toe - 0.03

Right Camber - 0.3
Right Caster - 4.4
Right Toe - 0.02

Total Toe - 0.05
Steer Ahead - 0.01

 

ttt Edit: With these specs should I be showing any unusual tirewear even though it's still pulling?

 

I'm an alignment specialist at a Goodyear on Long Island. I have the tool needed to do the camber/caster. For a shop to have you pay for an alignment, then tell you after your second time back with a problem, that YOU need to buy the tool is just crap! Mechanics have to buy their own tools... it's how it is. Older Ford Taurus's have a special wrench to set the toe on the rear. It's the only thing in the world the wrench can do. Yet we don't tell customers they have to provide the wrench... the mechanic has to get it or make something else work that won't leave marks on the car.

Also... when a car is involved in a crash, more measurements sometimes need to be made. Caster/camber and toe are involved in any alignment, but there are still more angles. Ride height you can measure with a tape measure before going to the shop. There's also sai (steering axis inclination) to help determine if a spindle is bent. (SAI is like caster, but viewed from the front--it's the angle the imaginiary line between the upper and lower ball joint make in relation to true vertical.) But since your camber is within spec, SAI is likely in spec as well.

I'd have the setback checked. This makes sure the wheelbase is the same on both sides of the car (which you can also measure with a tape measure before going to the shop, but the alignment machine can give you exact measurements.) If the wheel that got hit is pushed back or forward, it's in indication that something else can be bent, and can cause crazy driving problems. A quick and easy way to tell is to use your hand... place your hand between behind the tire and the fender. Usually use the molding line as a point of reference, and check it on the other side. If one side allows more fingers to fit there's a problem.

These angles should be ok if the alignment was able to get reset back to specs, but as I said they are another way to doublecheck that the car's frame is straight when diagnosing problems on a third-time comeback.