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MoldyFrogToe
Yeah, CV joints and axles are fine
Tires arent worn or bubbled, they're pretty new anyways
Tires arent worn or bubbled, they're pretty new anyways
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MoldyFrogToe
Nope not at all.
Pulls left very slightly but he left pull isnn't caused by braking, I can tell.
Could be alignment, the rear is out of alignment but within spec.
You cant adjust the rear toe unless you put shims in the strut mounts, which isn't conventional, which is why this chain told me the rear isn't adjustable (goons)
I might bring it to get adjusted by a saab mehanic before I go playing with the frame
take it to a saab dealer . they will tell you whats wrong in the hope you will book it in to be fixed or ripped off . but then take it to some where else . i do this most of the time ,, they have all the eqipment so makes it easy for them to see whats what
First you said the pull was so bad it was changing lanes in 2 seconds and then you call it a slight left pull.
If it's a slight pull there are numerous things. You could have a broken belt in a tire that you can't even see. Have you tried switching tires to see if the pull is less? What about a caliper that is not releasing all the way? Slightly loose wheel bearing? Ball joint or tierod tweaked from one of the potholes? Air pressure difference in the tires?
The first thing I would do is rotate the back tires to the front and see what if any change there is. While the tires are off see if a caliper is grabbing at all. If you have a Goodyear in town they have a computer balancer that will tell you if the tires have a bad belt or bent rims. Also check the sway bar links and see if one could be bent or broken off inside the frame where you can't see it.
If it's a slight pull there are numerous things. You could have a broken belt in a tire that you can't even see. Have you tried switching tires to see if the pull is less? What about a caliper that is not releasing all the way? Slightly loose wheel bearing? Ball joint or tierod tweaked from one of the potholes? Air pressure difference in the tires?
The first thing I would do is rotate the back tires to the front and see what if any change there is. While the tires are off see if a caliper is grabbing at all. If you have a Goodyear in town they have a computer balancer that will tell you if the tires have a bad belt or bent rims. Also check the sway bar links and see if one could be bent or broken off inside the frame where you can't see it.
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MoldyFrogToe
Well, it's slight when you're going slow, but when you're on the highway it's as you described. It sure isnt normal.
I rotated the tires, it took the vibration mostly away but the pull hasnt changed whatsoever.
I've already brought it somewhere, it has been balanced and aligned. 1 rim was bent, it was fixed.
The suspension is all fine, all components. I've checked and mechanics have.
Calipers arent grabbing, air pressure is perfect
I hope it's alignment. The rear toe was off but within range just barely (which raises the question - why is it off if it shouldnt need to be adjusted after factory). They (people who just aligned it, national chain) told me they couldnt adjust the rear toe which is technically untrue. On saabs there isn't a way to adjust the rear toe unless you put shims on the shock mounts to adjjust it. I'm going to bring it to a saab mechanic to have them align it correctly and hope that works. I dont want to deal with the frame issue unless I have to.
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MoldyFrogToe
Aaaalright. Update:
Got the car properly aligned, with shims on the rear wheel hubs and all, just like it's supposed to be done! Wahoo.
They looked it over, all suspension is ok, etc. Everything is fine. Frame isn't bent.
But guess what, it still pulls to the left!
The guy said the tires may have worn due to the bad alignment, so the next step is to swap the front tires from side to side. I held off because the tires are directional, and you aren't supposed to do that. At this point I will for curiosity's sake, it's either that or buy some winter tires to see if it fixes the problem.
Anyways, it's good enough for now, the pull is a little less intense, still there sadly. At least we have it narrowed down to tires. I dunno if I'll be experimenting around with new tires but will update if I do
Thanks for the help everyone
Got the car properly aligned, with shims on the rear wheel hubs and all, just like it's supposed to be done! Wahoo.
They looked it over, all suspension is ok, etc. Everything is fine. Frame isn't bent.
But guess what, it still pulls to the left!
The guy said the tires may have worn due to the bad alignment, so the next step is to swap the front tires from side to side. I held off because the tires are directional, and you aren't supposed to do that. At this point I will for curiosity's sake, it's either that or buy some winter tires to see if it fixes the problem.
Anyways, it's good enough for now, the pull is a little less intense, still there sadly. At least we have it narrowed down to tires. I dunno if I'll be experimenting around with new tires but will update if I do
Thanks for the help everyone
hardhat22
Member
Directional tires are rotated simply by placing the left-front to left-rear and right-front to right-rear.That way they still rotate in the same direction. I was under the impression that directional tires were obsolete for some reason?? Crap,I hope so....
BTW, my avatar is mountain laurel, from my own home-made collection. Fascinating to watch the blossoms. The stamen extend out like an octopus and actually plug into the uvule like an electical cord into an outlet, without missing, directly inserting the pollen. Fascinating. I plan on trying a time-lapse video or slide show this spring. I'll give you a holler if it works out.
Peace
BTW, my avatar is mountain laurel, from my own home-made collection. Fascinating to watch the blossoms. The stamen extend out like an octopus and actually plug into the uvule like an electical cord into an outlet, without missing, directly inserting the pollen. Fascinating. I plan on trying a time-lapse video or slide show this spring. I'll give you a holler if it works out.
Peace
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MoldyFrogToe
That's how I rotated the directionals, it made the vibrations better which tells me maybe the fronts were a little unbalanced or the tires were out of shape. But as I said it didn't do anything for the pull.
The mechanic said if the car still pulls to swap the two fronts, but since they're directional I didn't know how well that'd go over, if it's even worth my time trying. I might but I dunno.
Yeah, mountain laurel is awesome, worked with some people that didn't like it for some reason but it's such a cool plant, with such an awesome flower. It's native around here, love it. I can't stand rhododendrons though, but probably only because they're so overused here lol...I didn't know they self pollinate like that upon opening though? Crazy.
I was thinking about getting a set of winter tires put on to see if it changes anything, really didn't want to spend the money though, but we'll see.
The mechanic said if the car still pulls to swap the two fronts, but since they're directional I didn't know how well that'd go over, if it's even worth my time trying. I might but I dunno.
Yeah, mountain laurel is awesome, worked with some people that didn't like it for some reason but it's such a cool plant, with such an awesome flower. It's native around here, love it. I can't stand rhododendrons though, but probably only because they're so overused here lol...I didn't know they self pollinate like that upon opening though? Crazy.
I was thinking about getting a set of winter tires put on to see if it changes anything, really didn't want to spend the money though, but we'll see.
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MoldyFrogToe
Hey so,
Just got some new winter tires (not rims)
The vibrations and pulling is gone for the most part
Either the tires were bad or the bad alignment wore them in bad
Either way the problem seems to be gone now with these winter tires..woohoo!
Just got some new winter tires (not rims)
The vibrations and pulling is gone for the most part
Either the tires were bad or the bad alignment wore them in bad
Either way the problem seems to be gone now with these winter tires..woohoo!
Just a thought,I had a car do much the same thing. The car a VW Westphalia, Michlein tires with less than 5K on them. Drove me nuts, finally found out the steel belts on the right front were broken, you couldn't tell by looking at the tire but it was slightly out of round from th broken belt. Hope this may have helped.
IWanaGetHiSoHi
Active member
This is the ticket. If the back wheels don't follow the fronts you've got a serious issue IE bent frame rail, twisted floor pan etc. etc. (Unit Body cars don't have a Real frame. They have layered sheet metal made to crush "safely").
