I've been searching for awhile and haven't come up with any definitive answers on how to fix my problem.

While driving around down holding the steering wheel straight it will track straight but as soon as you let it go it will start to turn to the right. Not like making a 90 degree right turn but if you go to shift and let you hand off the wheel you will easily touch the other lane and maybe cross into it.

I have looked under the car and the only damage I could find was the spot where the headlight comes down and has the manual lifter is pushed in.

I took it in and got an alignment done and the shop said that I needed to get a new shock, steering knuckle (the wheel hub) and a lower control arm. They also provided an alternative fix of slotting the shock where you adjust the camber to correct it.

I have another lca I could put in on that side but from what I have searched some people are saying the subframe might be tweaked? I don't want to spend a bunch of money on parts to find this out. Is there anyway to test if the subframe is damaged?

 

hold onto your wheel problem fixed for free

 

If the alignment shop shows that it's out of alignment and they can't get it back to factory specs with offset bolts, then yes, the frame has been tweaked.

 

is it the subframe thats tweaked or the whole car? Should I start hunting for another car or just a subframe to swap?

I'd rather not scrap the car because it's a low mile t2 (68k) with fairly good paint.

 

If you already have the LCA, put it on and see what happens.
It's not a big job and the worst that happens is the car isn't fixed.

If it's the subframe, the part itself isn't going to be hugely expensive...I'd guess maybe $50 from a junkyard but shipping would be high, so try to source one locally.

 

check for torn up bushings, weak coil springs, tire pressure, seized caliper, brake lines holding pressure on one side.

check things before you go spending money on new parts.

and stay away from shops who tell you to cut new holes in your strut mounts to fix your problems

 

It could also be the hub or other such parts like it seems the alignment shop said. I swapped from 4 lug to 5 lug and good thing I did that first. Next I was gonna get my shock tower bent to fix my screwed up alignment, supposedly from a bent frame. But there was no need, the new hub fixed the problem. Old hub must have been bent. In your case, who knows what's bent. Gotta find out.

 

This is easy.

Just get a whole steering assembly from a junk yard, replace the side that is damaged then take it to alignment shop. If its the subframe thats damaged then replace that. Just go under your car and see what is bent.Go to a performance alignment shop, the normal shops sucks.. then done

 

It could be something as simple as radial pull. Try rotating the tires front to rear.

 

i swapped tires front to back and even put on tires from my na car (215/45R17) and it didn't do anything different.

While I had everything apart swapping the LCA this morning I noticed this on the shock body. Is this normal? I checked my other car and it wasn't bowed out like that and no rust in the seem

 

forget comment

 

swapped the lca and that didn't make any difference. I am gonna get new struts and hubs next pay check then get it aligned again.

 

why dont you figure out what your problem is before you buy parts you dont need.

like i said before if your sure its a front end problem check wheel bearings, tie rods, steering rack, weak coil springs, a brake caliper not fully disengaging, check your bushings, look for lines holding pressure.

you can check all the thing you want and not have to spend any money, wouldn't it be a better idea to know whats wrong instead of just buying **** left and right hoping to fix the problem

 

I would do this but I don't know how to check these things. Suspension and steering stuff is not my forte. I can fix the engine and all of it's associated electronics but don't know very much about the items you listed.

The brake calipers are fine they squeeze and release no problem. The tie rods don't look bent or damaged. The wheel bearings don't make any funny noises. I am not sure what to check on the steering rack.

When I took it to the alignment shop they told me there was too much positive camber in the front passenger side tire. If you look at it from the side compared to the rear you can see the bottom of the tire is pushed in relative to the drivers side and the rear tire.

 

could you buy chance take pics?

 

yeah I can take some pictures. What would you like me to take some pictures of? the above shot was from my iphone so the quality kind of sucked.