Hi,
As topic says, I installed coilovers and got 4 wheel alignment done using Hunter system. Printout of the alignment shows everything as ok, however car is pulling to the left. In order to keep it straight steering wheel has to be ever so lightly turned to the right. My question - whats the likely cause of it?
a) Bad steering wheel centering? (or would that just cause steering wheel not be straight, but car not pulling?)
b) Bad alignment? (Although printout shows everything straight)
c) Sticky left front tyre - it doesnt spin as freely as front right. I can free spin front right up to 4 rotations, while front left only 1.5 - can this cause that significant pull? Could I have damaged/done something to the brake pads/caliper when changing the coilover? (I remember I had to be quite forceful on that wheel to fit a coilover)
Tyres are new and balanced.
Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks.
Sounds like your left front brake is binding a little given the free rotation variance between the two wheels . Given the recent Hunter alignment confirming all is well in that department , the brake balance seems to be a start point to investigate.
How could I “reset” brake pad pressure?
Just remove and re-add brake pads? (i never changed pads before, but online guides show this to not be too hard)
Not an issue of ‘resetting’ pressure - both both front brakes if caliper pistons are operating correctly should bite at same time when pressure applied. From your comments regarding wheel rotation it seems that the left hand caliper might be slightly sticking on - does the car pull to left under braking ? Perhaps try checking the temperature on the front wheels after a short run - if the left is noticeably hotter then that would suggest a binding brake . As i said earlier , it’s a start point for investigation - the pulling might not be related to the difference in wheel rotational friction and could be related to the installation process of the coilovers as you mentioned. Hopefully some of the others on here with far more technical knowledge than I have might be able to help soon.
Car doesnt pull when braking. And both front brakes get very hot after driving (probably need to test with a little bit of driving then)
When installing coilovers, my friend and I had to disconnect lower suspension arms, so afterwards alignment was probably out of place (thats why i did proper alignment after).
However, before we disconnected the arm, we tried taking out old shock using spring compressor and some force. We tried pushing wheel hub down, and I stood on it to help with that. Could this action damaged something there?
Is there anything else that I can check myself to identify the problem? Would removing caliper/brake pads and reinstalling them help with the free spinning of the wheel?
It really is a process of elimination . The recently completed correct alignment tends to rule out having damaged anything during coilover installation - presumably ride height is equal both sides ? Stripping and cleaning the nearside front caliper would be an initial job - also is there any wheel bearing noise or roughness on that side ?
In respect of heat variance , try a short run using brakes as little as possible . If the nearside caliper is sticking on a bit that wheel hub area should be hotter than the offside .
Perhaps as I’ve stated before some of the more technically proficient folk on here might have alternative solutions - in meantime good luck with hunting down the problem , you’ll get there in the end !!
So, i did as you suggested, drove around without brakes (quite weird doing so :). And left rotor got hotter than right, so there was some extra friction.
Removed wheel, and pressed whole caliper back - left one has some movement around rotor, while right doesnt - is this normal?
Anyway, after pushing brakes/caliper a bit back (towards engine), wheel started spining a bit more free (was 1.5 rotations, now ~3, compared to 4 on the right on free spin). However, pull remained the same.
I also switched tyres around, but that didnt do anything.
I will be taking car to the mechanics who did my alignment tomorrow, but I am afraid that they are going to say that alignment is accurate and even.
What would you recommend me to do next? I can drive with this pull, but would it damage anything over long period? What else can I do/check?
Thanks!
You have diagnosed that at least one front calliper is not moving freely so I wouldn’t hesitate to unbolt it from the hub and grease the slide pin which must be at least partially seized due to corrosion.