Question for those that removed their power steering
 

Do you feel your car pulling either to the left or right? When I first swapped motors and removed my power steering, I didn't really have a problem. At that time I was using Toyo FZ4's. Then last year I picked up a set of Yoko Parada's, and I felt my steering wheel pull a bit. I didn't do anything about it, then winter came. I put on winter tires, and it didn't really pull. I put my summers back on (the Parada's) recently, and I feel my steering wheel pull again. The more uneven the road, the more it pulls. Is it because of the tires?

Take it to a shop that can check the alinement, and camber .(speedshop):working:

Did alignment and fixed my camber last year

did you buy all four tires at once? I know performance tires do follow bumps and cracks on the road. unless you're talking about it pulling only to one side.

Yes, I bought all 4 tires at once. No, it doesn't only pull to one side. It pulls both ways, depending on how uneven the road is. I know that performance tires do tend to pull a bit on uneven roads, but the pulling that I'm getting is pretty rediculous. Unless the Parada's stick that much.

FInd out if these model Parada's are "directional' type. If they are there is only one configuration they can be mounted - unlike regular tires that can be rotated about without problems. Directional tires mounted any way other than spec will effect your handling, similar to what you're describing above.

Something worth considering. :)

I've already checked that and they are on the right way

you've probably done all these already:
- check tire pressure on all four
- loosen and re-torque all lug nuts (with the car jacked up)
- rotate tires one side at a time (ie, rotate left tires, test drive, rotate them back, rotate right tires, test drive, rotate them back) you can isolate the one trouble tire if that's the problem.
- check to see, if possible, if all four tires are made from the same plant, in the same time period and/or from the same "batch"

if all failed then maybe that's just the way the parada's are.

check the reviews on parada's:
http://tirerack.com/survey/SurveyCom...reModel=Parada (you may get a session timeout, just goto www.tirerack.com and try the link again.)

i don't know what size your Parada is , but even the smallest size is 205/45/16. and i would assume the Toyo FZ4 and the snow you are using is not a low-profile tires like your Parada. also, since you are pulling to both the left and the right, then it couldn't be your alignment. i would say the problem is the profile of the tires.

thinner (lower profile) tires have stiffer sidewall, compare to stock (eg. civic) tires, which will absorb and gives more to the irregularity of the road surface, the thinner profile will want to "follow" the irregularity of the surface.

try driving you car on a nice paved road (newer residential area), if it track straight, then there is no problem with your car or tires. mind you that most road are pave with a slight slant towards the sidewalk to haelp drain water away, so your car might pull ever-so slightly to the right.

so if that's the case, then you'll just have to get used to the pulling. since there are no way to fix that except going to a higher profile tires.

hope this will help you out
:)

To simply answer your question

Yes, tires can throw your alignment off

In certain services at Acura(type 2 service, etc) , you are required to rotate tires, i have rotated some tires and gone for a road test only to find it pulls to the left or right. I rotated them to their original postion and it drove straight. this was a rare occasion but it did happen.

Although the more surface area on the tire, the more it will track

Your problem sounds like you alignment is slightly toe out
meaning both your front left and right wheel is slightly pointing outward

optimal alighnment has the both front wheels slightly toe (inwards) in order to track straight.
(any Honda or Acura mechanic will tell you this)

mplay - i agree that tires do throw alignment off, but what i don't understand is how the alignment would instead of being toe-in to being toe-out. i am not trying to flame you or anything like that, just a discussion.

on honda at least, the alignment is set to toe-in from the factory. then if you've lowered your car, then the toe-in will increase. the only situation where a honda's (at least a civic) alignment can become toe-out is when you raise the car to a 4x4 look.
adding to this, he did an alignment last year and assume he didn't hit anything to throw the alignment off again, so he's within the factory spec.

i would say before spending any money to get another alignment done, find a flat road to see if it pulls, run on that strip in both directions. also, notice the road that you feel the pull, they are usually have groove left by heavy trucks driving on them everyday.

and like what mplay said, tires do throw alignment off, try rotate the front to the back and the back to the front. see if that will solve your problem.

good luck!

amuse,

What your refering to is camber and not toe. Although camber can effect toe in some suspension systems (we won't get into that yet).

Toe is the angle which the tire points forward to. If the front tires are pointed inwards, then that's known as "toe in" / \
Toe out would mean the tires are pointing outwards from the vehicle. \ /

Like mplays said - if the vehicle has a toe out condition, then the tire with less load (dip in the road) will want to pull out. With stiff sidewall performance tires, the effects are more dramatic.

BB1-4WS - i know what toe, camber and caster is, and yes, if you have toe-out, the car tends to wander. but since Import Racer said that he's already done an alignment last year, and hopefully he didn't curb the car or any other incident where it'll affect his alignment that he didn't mention, i would assume his alignment is ok. so from that point of view, i would say is the tires and not his alignment. and from that conclusion of mine, i would suggest not to get another alignment done before before trying out other free method.

would that be better than going to get another alignment done and find out that everything is up to spec and you still get that pulling??? :D

btw, playing rc car is fun, at the same time, you'll learn a lot about suspension setup. that's where i've learned mine! :thumbup:

Thanks for all your input guys. I highly doubt it's my alignment, cuz I did my alignment last year, and no, I didn't curb my car since then. I had a feeling it would be my tires, but I just wanted to make sure. Yes, I do feel my car pulling more when the roads are more uneven. So I guess it is the tires, but damn, it pulls pretty hard sometimes. Especially, going westbound on 401 in the express lanes right before the Bathurst exit, where it merges into collectors. I find that the fast lane in that area pulls my car more then the right lane. Another area where my cars pulls quite a bit is on 404 north exiting to Steeles. The right lane tends to pull my car a lot. Anyways, thanks again for your input.

import racer - i don't know about 401 and bathurst, but 404 and steeles is very uneven due to a lot of heavy trucks and tractor-trailer passby there. so i guess you'll just have get used to the tires.
:)