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Could a bad rim cause a pull to the right?

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Old Jan 5, 2011 | 09:45 AM
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Default Could a bad rim cause a pull to the right?

I made the mistake of trading my perfectly fine ZR-1s for some curbed, bent (didnt know it at the time) and rustoleum painted 10-spokes, had to replace the front tires right away since they had negative camber wear and was making my car go all over the place, and noticed it pulling to the right, it drove straight with the ZR-1s, so I get it aligned and I stand there and watch the dude align it so I know the car is aligned...but it still pulls to the right just slightly..and yes air pressure is the same on both sides...could it be the rim(s)?
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Old Jan 5, 2011 | 03:14 PM
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Ouch! That really is a shame. If the aligment guy knows his stuff he should be able to assist you. Did you put brand new tires on bad rims? If you did, how did they balance out? I know it is costly but repairing the rims, or buying new ones, seems like a priority right now before your new tires prematurely wear out, costing you even more money. On a personal note I had to have a rim professionally repaired on a different car I own. It was $160 but the rim came back perfect.
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Old Jan 5, 2011 | 03:49 PM
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Ya not a smooth move on my part...Im not sure its the rims but the dude aligned it and I drove it, took it back put it back on the rack, its aligned but still pulls to the right...

When I had the new tires put on the front the guy didnt say anything about them not balancing right or bent, but I had them check the rears too (which were not balanced) he did point out to me one of my rear wheels was bent on the inside. So I know that one is whats causing my car to vibrate now I really screwed myself and probaly just going to buy some NEW rims before I screw up my tires

I just dont know if a rim could actually cause a pull
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Old Jan 5, 2011 | 04:37 PM
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Rims won't cause a pull, they will cause a vibration
Alignment was verifed, post specs if you have them
Swap tires frt to back and see if the pull goes away, if it does it's a radial tire pull. Which is my guess.
If they are directional tires you'll have to dismount them and swap left to right.
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Old Jan 5, 2011 | 04:52 PM
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I watched him align it but didnt get a print out, the fronts are directional...if I put them on the rear will it still pull?
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Old Jan 5, 2011 | 06:27 PM
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Mixing directional and non-directional tires could be the reason it's pulling. Anytime you have mismatched tires it can cause the car to handle irregularly.
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Old Jan 5, 2011 | 10:27 PM
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I kept my tires for the rear when we traded rims. The fronts are the same tires I had on the ZR-1s except they're brand new.

Also I double checked my air pressure, and the driver side was 40psi(cold) and pass. was 35(cold)...I coulda swore I let air out of both of them to 35psi. I evened them out it seems like it helped but couldnt tell if its perfectly straight or not, hard to find a nice flat road around here..
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 02:02 PM
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Get 4 good rims with 4 good, matching tires mounted and balanced, then put the car back on the alignment rack.
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 09:02 PM
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Post the alignment specs just cause its in the green dosent mean it wont pull.a bent rim would cause other problems such as vibration
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 09:04 PM
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i say radial pull.....
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 10:04 PM
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I dont see how it could be the tires when I had these same exact tires in the same positions (except front is brand new (same nittos as before)) that I had on the car with the ZR-1s, which were in perfect shape and the car DID NOT pull

I dont know the specs exactly he didnt give me a printout but I was standing right there cuz I didnt believe they were actually aligning my car, the specs were pretty dam close between the left and right side (within 2tenths of a degree) except I think the caster I think was a bit more of a difference

Seems like rims dont cause a pull so I think whatever bolt I heard pop out in my right front fenderwell is causing it. I heard it after they "aligned" the car the 2nd time after driving literally 1minute, getting on the freeway it didnt sound like just something I ran over and it was definetly metal...took it back to him he didnt bother to look at it. It was late he just gave me some BS answer so I knew I was wasting my time. Took it to a different store told them, they wouldnt listen either doubt they even looked for a missing, loose bolt.

This happened about 2 months ago and recently when I go over speed bumps (VERY slow My headers are banged up enough) and just hit the right side of the car over the speed bump it sounds terrible in the front definetly sounds like somethings loose
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 10:24 PM
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Sears and a lot of other places will check the alignment for free.
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 11:23 PM
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Check and make sure your lca bolts are tight and strut to knuckle.how did they adjust camber? Under the control arm to k member or were they dumb and did it at the strut?
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Old Jan 12, 2011 | 01:10 AM
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The first or second time they might have did it at the strut I wasnt watching the whole time but i saw the hood popped, all the other times they did it from underneathe
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Old Jan 12, 2011 | 01:20 AM
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You can speculate until the cows come home, but you won't know for sure unless you have another place check the alignment.
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Old Jan 12, 2011 | 03:44 AM
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Redhotg8 is right. Only reason I ask about how the adjusted camber is because on our cars you do not adjust at the strut its done underneath with a special tool that connects to the a arm and kmember. There is no reason for them to be under the car.I would take it somewhere else like maybe firesstone and get a life time alignment and stress you want it perfect.
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Old Jan 12, 2011 | 03:47 AM
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And BTW 2 tenths of a degree diff in camber can cause a pull same with toe
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Old Jan 12, 2011 | 11:11 AM
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Toe will not cause a pull.
.5 total pull to the left is acceptable due to road crown.
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Old Jan 12, 2011 | 11:15 AM
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I just learned about this in school. In your case, the way to check would be to move the front passenger side to the front driver side. Then see if it pulls to the left.

Originally Posted by 13lu91rS
i say radial pull.....
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Old Jan 14, 2011 | 08:54 PM
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BAHAHA I swear the ppl at ntb around here are worthless. I finally got down and looked underneathe the car to see what I could find cuz the right front wheel is starting to feel like its about to fall off...so the first bolt I see I touch it...and its loose as hell. Those stupid *********** assured me everything was tight. 2 different stores, 3 different "techs" none of them even checked like I asked them to or like they said they had.

Its the bolt on the bottom closest to the rear of the car on the passenger side A-Arm. Dont know if they are supposed to loosen that for alignments? but its loose and just by comparing the 2 sides there is hardly any thread showing compared to the driver side which is tight...so all they had to do was LOOK at the damn bolt while they had the car up in the air
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