Car pulling to right under acceleration - why!?

lockwood77

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1,160
Driving down the motorway today, it became evident that when I press the accelerator (say in sixth at 3-4k RPM), the car noticeably pulls to the right. Lifting off lets the car go back to straight on, sometimes noticeably enough that you feel it in the wheel. This seems to be the case in all gears at all speeds, although it is more noticeable at higher speed because you're covering more ground in the same time.

I was on the motorway yesterday morning and didn't notice anything like this. I had my tyres changed afterwards (same E-marked GSD3s), so it seems mighty coincidental that this has come on suddenly. However, I can't for the life of me think why a tyre change would create this symptom? :?

I checked tyre pressures last night, the new tyres are on the rear (previous rears moved to front) and the car brakes in a straight line.

Any ideas? It's doing my nut in (and making me feel a little unsafe...) :( I've experienced exactly the same phenomena before, but that was in a DC2 with a knackered sub-frame bolt courtesy of a Spoon tie-bar, making it move around! I don't have tie-bars on the DC5 before you ask.
 

lockwood77

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1,160
Can't see why that would have changed so dramatically in the course of a tyre change though!?

Plus, if it were tracking, why would it only happen under power?
 

tron2k3

Advanced Member
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1,400
I had the same issue a while ago on my DC5, found the problem was that I'd had directional tyres on the wrong way round :oops:

But I don't think GSD3's are directional, so probably doesn't help you, but sounds like a tyre or balancing issue, if you've just had some new ones put on.
 

celox performance

Advanced Member
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1,536
I've had exactly the same problem as you after a tyre swap rear to front and it came down to the tyres mate. The reason is that the camber/toe on the rear was completely different to the camber/toe on the front. It went away after a while once the tyres had bedded into the camber/toe settings.
 

lockwood77

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1,160
Cheers guys. I'll check the direction, I'm pretty sure GSD3s are directional.

Glad it's probably just the tyres/camber - that sub-frame issue on the DC2 cost me nearly a grand to fix! :shock:

It's amazing how much you can feel the difference from something that is (hopefully!) so small - I don't think there are too many other cars that would give you so much feedback.
 

jimmy_atr

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621
Possibly slight balancing problem which is more evident at higher speeds and accelerating :?: They may have knocked off a weight when fitting tyres :?:
 

alucardo

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687
If its still doing ur nut we can swap fronts and u can take it for a spin to confirm if it is your tyres...Email me im in all day saturday........
 

lockwood77

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1,160
Nope, still doing it, but I haven't really done enough miles/type of driving to prove whether it's just the new tyres as suggested above.

Boy do I hope it is! :shock:
 

Dc5Dub07

Advanced Member
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833
I have a similar problem at higher speeds and accelerating where the steering feels light and unstable.. had the tracking checked and its fine, may have something to do with the OEM Anti-roll bar between the suspension struts, as there seems to be a slight dent on one side from a pothole i hit a month ago..
But not sure if the anti-roll bar would have such an effect?
 

alucardo

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687
Have you jacked it up and cjecked for any play in the wheel?
Offer is still open by the way just email me...
 

Dixcelbrake

Advanced Member
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475
Have you check your front lower arm bush? even tho the tracking is 100% spot on, if you have a worn front lower arm bush and it will cause exactly what happened to what you described. When you hit the throttle the bush push back so it give more toe out on one side, as soon as you life off the bush back to normal position so the car go straight again. Have a look if there any crack on the bushes around the lower arms, if you can see any damage, perform a bump steer check and it will tell you exactly what happened straight away.
 

lockwood77

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1,160
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Haven't had chance to diagnose further, but after a couple of hundred motorway miles, it's still doing it - as it's been mostly damp and/or cold though, it's not exactly the sort of hardcore driving to bed tyres in quickly!

What sort of mileage did it take to bed your tyres in, to the guys who've suggested it's that?
 

celox performance

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1,536
It'll take a good while to bed them in if it is that and 200 motorway miles in damp/cold conditions definately wouldn't be enough. I'd say you'd probably need at least 500-800 miles in dry conditions for them to bed into the tracking in your car.

Coming to think of it now i've also had the same problem with part worn tyres in the past. When they're first fitted to the car, they needed time to bed in to the tracking on the car.

Out of interest, what were the tracking/camber settings on your car front & rear, is there much of a difference?
 

lockwood77

Advanced Member
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1,160
Assuming the settings are still the same (quite possibly not as it's been nearly 18 months since my last geo setup), they should be around the usual fast road settings:

Rear Camber: -0.5
Rear Toe: +1mm

Front Camber: -1
Front Toe: 0mm

At least that's what the Center Gravity report said when it was done. There's been a few potholes and speedbumps since, so it's not impossible something's been jiggled out of place.

It seems really odd that I didn't have this at all immediately before the tyre change and immediately after I have. On the other hand, it's not the first time I've had new tyres and I haven't noticed it before! :?
 

lockwood77

Advanced Member
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1,160
OK, switched to my track wheels yesterday and sadly, the pulling to the right phenomenon is persisting. :cry:

Not only that, but I binned two foot pumps and discovered a large piece of metal embedded and puncturing my brand new GSD3 in the course of swapping wheels. Not a great afternoon, especially as I'm suspicious of the quality of my Ultralite wheel nuts as well.

Anyway, had a sniff around the suspension elements today and I couldn't find anything amiss - no play in the wheels, no split bushes (that I could see/get my hands on), no leaking dampers. The only thing I did find was slight play in the driver-side rear wheel bearing, but it's minor.

So, assuming I haven't missed something in the above, I can only think either tracking or LSD. If it's tracking, it would be odd, as the sensation is only under power and my experience is that tracking pulls the car whenever it's moving.

Any other ideas? And does anyone know whether the rear wheel bearings are adjustable, or am I looking at a new hub to get rid of the small wobble? :roll:
 

weejase

Advanced Member
Messages
120
Hi mate, I`ve just had two new eagle f1 Gsd3`s fitted about 20 minutes ago and my steering wheel Is sitting slightly off centre now :x and when I straighten It up It Is puuling the car to the right as well :roll:

I took It back to the garage and they adjusted the pressures all round but It`s still doing It :?

Could this be a problem with the tyre`s :?:

It was 2 fronts Btw.
 

lockwood77

Advanced Member
Messages
1,160
Well, I'm booking into Center Gravity to diagnose mine, having tried two sets of wheels with the same result, I need some expert help!

If yours pulls at all times (not just under power), I guess it's a tracking issue and they nudged something when fitting your wheels. Or it could just be that they need bedding in a bit, like others have said above.
 
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