Pulling to the right

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ruckman101
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Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:40 pm

1970 Ghia.

Seriously pulling to the right while driving. Yet I see nothing amiss. I took tires off, dust caps off and measured the axial play. .001 inches both sides. Spec is between .001 and .005 inches. The .001 speck could be a touch snug. Should I loosen things up and set my axial at .003?

The only change was to swap out tires, pulling the studs off and putting on the fair weather tires.


neal
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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Fri Feb 15, 2013 5:38 pm

Greased the beam. Overdue. Squeezed water out of the lower passenger side.


neal
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hambone
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by hambone » Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:18 pm

How are the tie rods?
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http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:33 pm

Solid and relatively new. Just before the transmission went out. Ball joints, also. Ball joints were installed by Aline, who also did the alignment.

On another note. When putting on the new rotors, I followed Colin's suggestion of proper tightening using a screw driver to test the tension on the bearings, as I had no dial indicator at the time. His method got the spec spot on at .001 on both sides according to today's axial play measurement with the new dial indicator I broke down and bought today rather than borrowing yours again Hambone. And thanks for those past loans.


neal
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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:24 pm

Could it be a clogged brake line hose, the pads not retreating on the passenger side after braking?


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hambone
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by hambone » Sat Feb 16, 2013 6:11 pm

Or the calipers.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Sat Feb 16, 2013 6:39 pm

Off to the Line-up Shop I go. Calipers not sticking. Hoses look good. Pretty sure they are the same vintage as the tie rod ends. Set axial play at .002 inches. On the test drive it seemed better, maybe, but somehow I think it is wishful thinking. Tire pressure good.


neal
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Amskeptic
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Feb 16, 2013 7:22 pm

ruckman101 wrote:1970 Ghia.

Seriously pulling to the right while driving. Yet I see nothing amiss. I took tires off, dust caps off and measured the axial play. .001 inches both sides. Spec is between .001 and .005 inches. The .001 speck could be a touch snug. Should I loosen things up and set my axial at .003?

The only change was to swap out tires, pulling the studs off and putting on the fair weather tires.


neal
Start with a jack-it-up free wheel test to make sure both front wheels have mostly the same drag. Do it several times, more gently each time until you have an easily measureable pull on the wheel = however many degrees of rotation.

Tire pressures same both sides.

Need assistant, who steps firmly on the brakes and you try to spin the wheel immediately upon release. Check for same immediate spin-ability after release.

Check both tires for even wear across the treads, check tread depth as well.

Pull to the right could also suggest a dragging right rear ebrake cable-damage? shoe dragging.
Artfully stated, but you can investigate and of course compare to left side with much the same procedure as above, taking into account driveline drag. With rear wheels, you need to stop the opposite-side wheel from the typical differential spider gear reverse direction turning, because its momentum will disrupt your checking.

Report back.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:32 am

Oops, missed this post. Did did did and did. Gotta love a credible shop like the Sandy Line-Up shop. Apparently the east side business of the same name isn't as credible. Sandy shop replaced the ball joints on Gretchen Ghia what, a year and a half ago? That was the last alignment. Gave them a call to make an appointment and their tech suggested that the alignment most likely wasn't the issue. He suggested swapping the front tires to see if then instead of pulling to the right, it would pull to the left, indicating a tire issue. Sure enough. Pulling to the left. How many places talk you out of bringing them business they know they can't resolve rather than just fleecing you? One of the reasons I choose to work on my VWs myself. Now one of the reasons I chose the Line-Up shop to replace the ball joints, rather than tackle it myself, was because of the three shops I called to get quotes for the job from, only the Line-Up shop asked what quality ball joints I wanted to use, cheaper, or better.

I'm not sure what tire issue I might have. Wear is heavier on the inside of the tread some, not major, you have to look hard and maybe want to see it. Not sure what else to do. Going to try swapping front to back with fingers crossed, but somehow I think the message is I'm in the market for new tires. Fell into a free set of used with 40, 45 percent tread left, but 195s. Maybe not for Gretchen Ghia, but I can use them to get Betty Baja on the road. Plenty of body clearance on a baja. Bertha Bus is running 195s.

Dragging ebrake or rear shoe? Ebrake is feeble at best, despite best efforts to tighten it. I do have a bit of brake pulsing I need to explore. I haven't cracked the back wheels to look at the drums which after looking at the front discs suggest may be the pulsing problem.

Rest assured I will, in the process, did did did did and did all over again.


neal
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Amskeptic
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:47 am

ruckman101 wrote: Dragging ebrake or rear shoe? Ebrake is feeble at best, despite best efforts to tighten it.
If swapping the front tires swapped the pull, that is the answer to "pulling". Forget the ebrake as far as "pulling".
BUT
now we gottaproblemboah . . . you done did haftatell me that your ebrake is "feeble".
That "feebleness" CAN be a rusty cable that makes it difficult to APPLY, yes,
but can also make it difficult to RELEASE.

So now, you have to jack the rear of the car up, apply the ebrake, see who is grabbing and who isn't, but as importantly, you need to see if anyone is not releasing fully . . . THAT can cause pulsing as the dragging ebrake heats up that poor drum.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:15 pm

Ah so. Might just be the ticket. Thanks.



neal
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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:57 pm

Moved the front tires to the rear and the rear to the front. We'll see what that does.


neal
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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Mon Mar 18, 2013 11:04 am

That did the trick. Although it certainly casts doubts on my confidence in those tires.


neal
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ruckman101
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by ruckman101 » Tue Mar 19, 2013 2:05 am

Ok. This is either annoying or paranoia.

Why now, although we're no longer pulling right or left after moving front tires to rear, does it seems an abnormal howl of bearings my nervous fretting mind assumes are rear CVs stressed by a tire pulling them into stress mode of compensations?


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RSorak 71Westy
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Re: Pulling to the right

Post by RSorak 71Westy » Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:50 am

One can only assume there is something badly wrong with 1 of the tires if it causes a constant pull when in the front. Have you had them inspected by a pro?
Take care,
Rick
Stock 1600 w/dual Solex 34's and header. mildly ported heads and EMPI elephant's feet. SVDA W/pertronix. 73 Thing has been sold. BTW I am a pro wrench have been fixing cars for living for over 30 yrs.

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