suspension question

[petenice00]

Hi

My girlfriends 1996 Explorer has been pulling extremely to the right (when she drives the steering wheel is turned to the right to compensate for the pull). Tire pressure is ok, although she hasn't had an alignment since early fall. Even after the alignment was done, there was still a slight pull.

Before I bring the car to my mechanic, what suspension parts should I consider for replacement? The car has 125K miles (mostly hiway driving).

Thanks

Pete

 

[Bronco638]

Pete,

Sounds like your g/f's truck might have a caliper dragging. I can't think of any suspension parts that would cause the truck to pull right. When was the last time the brakes were done/checked? Some other Forum members should chime in with their $0.02. Wait & see what they think.

Good luck - Dave.

 

[petenice00]

Ok, I've got something to work with tomorrow when I bring that monster in. I don't recall a brake job in the last two years but the truck seems to have adequate braking as it is. Thanks for the input!

 

[jtf_broncoii]

jack up the front and spin both tires. if the right one drags bingo, but i would be leaning towards a bad tire. rotate the two fronts - left to right. and see if it pulls to the left. if it does, you gota bad tire. i work at a garage and that is usually the cause of a pull when alignment is in speck. alignmnt should be fine for a while, usualy until a suspension part needs replaced.

 

[petenice00]

post-alignment followup

jack up the front and spin both tires. if the right one drags bingo, but i would be leaning towards a bad tire. rotate the two fronts - left to right. and see if it pulls to the left. if it does, you gota bad tire. i work at a garage and that is usually the cause of a pull when alignment is in speck. alignmnt should be fine for a while, usualy until a suspension part needs replaced.

I had the tires rotated before the other shop took it in for alignment. Said the alignment was way out of spec (hence the strong pull). Her car is much better, but in my opinion, still pulls a bit to the right. SO, if we consider suspension part replacements, what are the usual suspects?

 

[410Fortune]

ball joints, tie rods

 

[petenice00]

misalignment - back at it

I'm really surprised that Ford techs did not come back after the second alignment and said your tie rods look worn or did a more thorough inspection of the suspension. It shouldn't be that hard once the car is on the lift. I think my GF should take her car to another mechanic.

With bad ball joints or tie rods, should there be any associated noise indicating failure or damage? Creaking, squeeking, etc?

 

[becker69]

I am researching similar but different Suspension issues... if you hit the Search tab towards the top of this page... type in Ball joints, Upper Control Arm, Tie rod or anything similar and you will get a complete wealth of input on Suspension sounds and troubleshooting... I am doing the same and recieved some real helpful advice... hope this helps a bit...

Also you can read a bit on bushings and replacement parts you can work yourself.