DrunkenGimp

iTrader: (3)

My FD has been pulling to the left since I bought her about 2 months ago. Anyways, I did a few searches and found that the swaybar mounts have a tendency to be bent with use (I have aftermarket swaybars, not sure of the brand), so I put her on jack stands, and sure enough, the left side mount was bent.

I then bought new swaybar mounts and swaybar supports from Mark at Tri-point engineering, and installed them. This seemed to make the problem less prominent, the car was handling well, although with a slight inclination to go left still.

At this point, I decided to get an alignment done. My friend happens to be the general manager at White Oaks Autobody (they work on ferraris and other exotics in Los Gatos, very good work), and he had an alignment machine, so I got him to do an alignment for me for cheap. After the alignment, the car was very jittery, sliding on subtle corners that it handled with ease before the alignment. It now tugs back and fourth, handling is pretty much terrible.

We checked the tires, and realized that all but the front left tire were worn unevenly, the left side of each tread is pretty much bare, while the right side has about 70% tread left on it... We swapped the back left tire with the right front tire, and the handling was improved slightly, but is still worse than before the alignment. (Also, when the car was in the air we checked the new swaybar mounts, which seemed to be fine. )

Does it make sense that the tires would handle fine on a bad alignment because they were slanted in such a way that the uneven wear lined up with the ground, and now is terrible because they have been corrected, or is there more to worry about? Forgive my noobishness but I've never heard of this happening before. Would the problem be fixed with new tires? Thanks in advance!

rynberg

You are going to need to post the alignment specs in order for to help you. It sounds like you have toe-out, which is unstable and chews through tires quickly. Post the alignment specs.

I would advise going to a specialist shop that knows FDs. There are 3 or 4 of these in the Bay Area -- C2 Automotive in Oakland, Roger Kraus Racing in Castro Valley, and 2 others in the Silicon Valley area. Running the Pettit Long Track specs works really well for street/light track driving.

DrunkenGimp

iTrader: (3)

Is the problem the tires ATM or do you think its the alignment? They said that they aligned the car correctly, so I shouldnt be experiencing toe in or out. I didnt find out the specs, but if need be I can always just call and ask.

My question was whether or not the handling issues could be explained due to the tire wear, and the fact that the car was re-aligned. Does it make sense that due to the realignment, the tires no longer contact the road enough to make them as predictable as they were when the car was misaligned?

I'd be willing to go to C2 as a last resort, but since my friend who owns this shop is giving me such a good deal (half the price of alignement from C2), and is willing to realign the car when I get new wheels for no charge, I'd be reluctant to go somewhere else. I'd just like to know that the problem really is from the tire wear and not from lurking suspension issues or due to a badly executed alignment. (Are FD's more difficult to align than a ferrari or a honda?)

DamonB

It makes perfect sense. If the tires were already heavily "worn-in" from the previous alignment and the new alignment is quite different the tires are going to tug and pull all over the place because the pressure is distributed funny throughout the contact patch. Given your description of the tread wear and the fact that an alignemnt was done I think the tires are the problem.

You've had an alignment done so that's good. If the tires are as worn as you say they are I would replace them before worrying about anything else.

DrunkenGimp

iTrader: (3)

Thanks, I'll go ahead and agonize over whether or not to buy new rims in the process of getting new tires now