Daft Question time

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mak224751
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Daft Question time

Post by mak224751 »

My Citroen BX is pulling over to the right I know this is a daft question but is it the tracking that needs doing or do the wheels need balancing I can never remember
oilyspanner
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Post by oilyspanner »

a soft tyre will do it too, as does road camber, tracking usually shows up by uneven (edge) tyre wear, balancing by shaking steering wheel/vibration.
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Post by citronut »

you might have a binnding front brake which could also do this,usuly caused by handbrake cable cracked and not leting brake off completly
regards malcolm
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Post by Peter.N. »

The tracking shouldn't make it pull to one side but it will make the steering feel odd, check it by inspecting your front tyres for uneven wear as oilyspanner says, far more likely to be incorrect tyre inflation or worn tyre.
ItDontGo
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Post by ItDontGo »

The torque which self-centres the steering is related to the castor angle. The more castor on a wheel the more it will want to go straight when turned. Obviously if you want you car to go straight on its own then you need that effect to be even on both sides. I remember minis having adjustable tie-rods and if they weren't set right, giving one side more castor than the other, then the steering would pull and only be at rest with a few degrees of lock on it.
Track setting, camber all those measurements have almost no effect on the position of straight ahead on the steering. If you are experiencing problems then it will be related to the castor angles and if its a BX and it hasn't had a knock then it will be something to do with the bushes. That is assuming it isn't a tyre issue.
All cars in the UK usually pull to the left because roads are camber towards the kerb to get rid of rain water. How bad is it?
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Daft one - is the subframe tight? They tend to work loose with age.
jeremy
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Mandrake
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Post by Mandrake »

If it's been doing it since you had the car, perhaps someone had a prang in the front and the bottom suspension arm is bent. On my Dad's Xantia the bottom right arm was bent back 10mm when he first got it (we ended up replacing the arm) and that was enough to make it pull to the right.
Measure and compare the left and right lower arms, also measure the position where they mount on the body to make sure both sides are identical...
Regards,
Simon
czenda
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Post by czenda »

If it did not do it before and the trouble begun lately/progressively, I would also suggest tire (underinflated/unbalanced/balancing lead lost) or brakes (sticking handbrake cable/adjuster/worn pads/disc).
Now I guess you have enough suggestions to keep you busy for a whole weekend [:D][:D][:D]
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