Alignment Problem

[outlaw_mp5]

I had my tires rotated, balanced, and aligned 6 months ago. I notice my alignment pulls to the left and sometimes to the right. Does Anyone has this problem with thier protege5?

Does anyone know if I can do my own Alignment?
I need help on this

 

[the tortoise]

I had my tires rotated, balanced, and aligned 6 months ago. I notice my alignment pulls to the left and sometimes to the right. Does Anyone has this problem with thier protege5?

Does anyone know if I can do my own Alignment?
I need help on this

I could be wrong, but I think the proteges are fairly sensitive to following the crown of the road. Roads aren't perfectly flat, but are convex to allow for drainage. So if you're in the left lane the car will want to pull left, and similarly the car will pull right. Try straddling the centreline (when it's safe of course) of a two lane road and see how the car behaves.

 

[pasadena_commut]

Does anyone know if I can do my own Alignment?

Sure, if you happen to own an alignment shop or have a buddy who does and will let you use the equipment. Otherwise no. I just had my car aligned a few weeks ago and it was only around $100.

As the_tortoise noted the P5 tends to turn downhill, and that means it is usually pulling slightly to the right since most roads are crowned down the center line and you're driving on the right (we hope). Find some place really flat, like a big parking lot, and see if it pulls there. Also it might pull a bit when you step on the gas (torque steering, mine pulls slightly to the right on acceleration) or the brakes. If stepping on the brakes while on flat pavement causes it to pull one way or the other but it steers straight otherwise then it's probably a brake problem.

 

[ke20sprinter]

Does anyone know if I can do my own Alignment?
I need help on this

Difficult, but possible...My car was pulling not that bad before I changed my bent lateral link, but since I changed it, it pulled even more.

I found out which way it pulled. Parked my car on a flat surface, and positioned the steering wheel straight. Checked which wheel was off and adjusted one of the control arms (using 2 wrenches) (this was how one of the wheels were, one was straight, & one was tweaked | \ )...Took 4 to 5 tries until I got it the right way. It wasn't that perfect, but it worked...ALSO, THIS WAS TEMPORARY UNTIL I GOT MY ALIGNMENT THE NEXT WEEKEND.

WiL

 

[Bijou-MP5]

just take it to sears auto and it's about $59.99 for alignment.

 

[TheBryGuy]

I had the same thing happen to mine. I got the alignment and it pulls to right right now. I thought that something was off so I had it re-aligned (NTB was running a special for $80.00, free alignments for a year) and it was dead on he said. I think it just has a bit of natural pull when it is aligned correctly. Before I had the alignment done and it DIDN'T pull, I was getting horrible wear on the back right tire.

 

[Bijou-MP5]

I had the same thing happen to mine. I got the alignment and it pulls to right right now. I thought that something was off so I had it re-aligned (NTB was running a special for $80.00, free alignments for a year) and it was dead on he said. I think it just has a bit of natural pull when it is aligned correctly. Before I had the alignment done and it DIDN'T pull, I was getting horrible wear on the back right tire.

yeah you need right alignment, my last rear tire was taking apart and it looked really scary.

 

[SkinnyJoint]

with a rack it is possible to align it urself but difficult. you should be rotating your tires sooner than every 6 mos. most places have free rotate and balance for life i try to do it around oil change time so 3k

 

[NJP5Guy]

i have this problem too. my car was in an accident but their was no suspension damage or chasis damage from what mazda told me.(the brunt of the hit was up high:hood, radiator, bumper cover). i got the car back, it was still on stock dunlops and never really noticed any pull in the car. about ten days later i got new tires put on(directional tires) and noticed that the car pulled to the right quite noticeably. i figured it was the alignment since i never had it done since buying the car new. i decided to wait for the alignment until after i had my struts and springs put on. well i had that stuff put on and the alignment done the same day. right away i noticed the car still pulled. i had the tech from my work do the alignment again and it was still dead on in the green for the p5 specs. took the car back to mazda body shop and told them my concerns. the shop foreman went for a ride in my car(he drove) and he noticed the pull(steering wheel has to be to the left nearly constantly and i get noticeable torque steer even when cruising and i mildly hit the gas). the foreman told me he thinks that the cause is radial pull from the tires. i took advice and rotated tires. pull is still there. has anybody ever had radial pull. could tires affect a car this much. its quite annoying. i dont want to buy new tires again. if i can't figure this out i'm gunna trade in the car before tha waranty is up. need advice....sorry this is so long.

 

[pasadena_commut]

the foreman told me he thinks that the cause is radial pull from the tires. i took advice and rotated tires. pull is still there. has anybody ever had radial pull. could tires affect a car this much. its quite annoying.

I've seen this on two different cars ten years apart. The second time was on a Mazda 323 with Pirellis. In that case rotating the tires fixed it. But the next tire rotation reintroduced the radial pull problem. In both cases the pull took a long time to show up, it wasn't there on the new tires.

There's an easy check for this if you have access to another P5. Swap the wheels between the other car (no pull) and yours (pull). If the pull moves with the tires the foreman is right. If the pull stays with the car he's full of it.

 

[NJP5Guy]

There's an easy check for this if you have access to another P5. Swap the wheels between the other car (no pull) and yours (pull). If the pull moves with the tires the foreman is right. If the pull stays with the car he's full of it.

a tech from work said that toyos do tend to pull and follow the road. he thinks that my probs are from the tires because of the tread pattern and that they are sticky. also i thought about swapping the wheels with another p5. there is a guy at the end of my street w/ a p5. i thought about asking him if hed swap and se what happens. i really am leaning towards it being the tires. the tech from work has an evo with hankooks and he says it torque steers and wanders with those tires. we shall see what happens i guess. id hate to trade in the car.