Steering to the left

[elpachio]

I need help from a car expert!

I have a '95 Prelude with low-profile wheels and about a year ago I got a puncture on my offside front tyre due to excessive wear on the inside wall. I had all four tyres replaced and the tracking and wheel alignment done (and balancing of course) but still I had this irritating wheel wobble and slight pull to the left. I've also had new discs fitted as they thought this was causing the wobble.

Since then I had two new front tyres again in July as was wearing on the inside (despite having the alignment done in Oct 2010) and still I get a pull to the left. I've had the tracking checked, which they said is fine, and I've also had the rear bush links replaced AND the OSF steering arm replaced........but still it lurches to the left.

Any ideas??? I've had Honda check my wheels again for any problems, but they say it's all fine visually. I had a ABS sensor replaced on my OSF front wheel recently and they checked the wheel then.......no issues.

I'm at a total loss.

[spiffyguido]

When a car pulls to one side or another it's almost always an alignment problem. Did you get all four wheels aligned?

Is your car lowered a lot?

[elpachio]

I did get them all aligned by a garage, and then had Honda double check it a few months back, but the problem persists.

It is a low car - with the body kit, you'd not get a 330ml can underneath it.
I was told that the low profile tyres feel the road more, but it still does not explain the left steer.
Would an issue with the steering column (rack) cause such a problem do you think?

[spiffyguido]

I wouldn't suspect the rack. The rack will follow the tires. Is your camber really affected by the lowering?

[wickwear]

I had the same problem with my '92 SI pulling slightly to one side and it was very evident in my front tires wearing on the inside faster. When I took it in to get it alligned, I would drive it and for the first couple days it felt fine but after a week it went back to the pulling to one side. To make a long story short, I replaced the rack, the lower ball joints and the upper controll arms (all done on the front). Those changes have corrected the problems with the steering and the tire wear.

[wickwear]

Oh, forgot to mention that mine is not lowered or anything. Hope that helps.

[elpachio]

Thank you - the car itself was lowered some years back when my dad had the car as his company vehicle, and he never had this problem, so I think it can only be due to some mechanical parts wearing, etc............i've had one of the control arms replaced, so maybe the lower ball joints/rack are a good call.........did that cost you a small fortune to replace wickwear?

Thanks guys

[wickwear]

I had the shop that did the work do a number of other things at the same time but the lower ball joints (just the parts) were about $50 each. Because of the position of the part, the labor was the most expensive. At the time some might have called me foolish to spend so much on the car because of its age, but I didn't have a lot of miles on it and c'mon its a Honda Prelude. During that same time I was going to buy new tires and I did not want to have any issues with them wearing out quickly (beacuse tires are not cheap). So I had it all done at once then got my tires. So things were financially tight for a little while but now it is almost two years later and I can't complain. She runs great and the steering is fine.

[elpachio]

I completely agree with you. People say I'm mad for spending what I have over the past year on it, new radiator, wheels, ABS sensor, air con, etc, etc, but it's a Prelude!! In my opinion one of the most amazing engines of a road car, the sound of the VTEC..........yummy.

Thanks for your advice.

[RedRacer]

Lowering a vehicle can put stress on the remaining "factory" suspension parts. The cars weren't designed to be lowered. They were engineered at the ride height they came off the factory line for. When you modify some parts of the suspension and leave the other factory aspects in place, they are going to either wear faster, perform improperly or just flat out fail.

I am not slamming you for lowering your car, just stating the simple fact of the matter.

I would say that most likely you've got worn mechanicals and I would definitely start with control arms and ball joints.

And I don't blame you for wanting to keep your car alive and running. Preludes are fun cars, they look great, are timeless in my opinion, if they are kept up properly. And a few hundred here and there is definitely better than a new car payment, new car insurance and new car routine maintenance!

So go get those parts looked at and replaced. And remember, when you have pairs of parts and you only replace one, the other then has the extra load on it and will wear soon or sooner ....... so it's always a good idea to replace right and left components at the same time if you can afford to. If you can not, then do one and then the other ASAP.

Best of luck and let us know what comes of your final decisions and repairs!

[elpachio]

Sound advice, thanks.
I blame my dad, haha, it was his company car when he was boss of a firm and so he spent loads of money modifying it and kitting it out in body kits, alloys, low profile, etc, etc, which is lovely but of course now I'm running the car without a big company funding repairs......lol.

[spiffyguido]

Wow, there is some great participation in here. Liking this! Great job all of you.

I had another thought as well. It's quite common for the font bushings on the radius rods to wear out and introduce some slop in the suspension setup. A loose radius rod allows the control arm to swing towards the front or rear of the car depending on the forces at play. This would almost certainly cause the car to wander around the road a lot while driving. Check it out.

A simple thing to check would be to just check the condition of the radius rod front nut and washer. The nut holds the washer in place which in turn holds the front bushing in place. These nuts, for whatever reason (probably due to being showered in stones and water) seem to corrode quickly, so it's often a first place to find corrosion on a suspension part. Have a look.