My car seems like it doesn't track straight ahead as well as it used too. It feels like there is no straight ahead when I am driving, it either wants to go left or right... it's not real bad, but it's annoying and it gets worse with higher speeds, and it can be going ok for a while and real quickly it takes of to one side- it only does that sporadically though. I've had that kind of issue last year and they said my alignment was off and they replaced a wheel bearing that was getting worn too. The problem went away then. This fall is when I noticed it again, and I'm thinking it might have happened from a time that I had to slam on the brakes when something blew on a van ahead of me on 35W - It seemed a little more loose and squirrely after that - I had my tires rotated a couple months ago and it seemed like that helped a little bit, but its still there When I bought the car I remember that the car had been kept up real well and the only thing besides routine maintenance was an alignment adjustment. So if this is my alignment again - it will have been the 3rd time - that I know of that it has needed correction - and the 2 times it has happened to me - never had anything out of the ordinary happen to it - or hit anything - it just started feeling different for some reason. so is there anything I can do to try and prevent this from happening more? It seems to be the only problem the car has ever had- and it'd be nice if I could put an end to it. I've got pro-drive springs in right now - so that will help with the tracking some I know.
www.thealignmentguy.com Tell Jeff what's been going on and he's more likely than anyone I know to have a good answer. And his prices are very reasonable too.
Jeff has great service and is really good at what he does. I'd recommend him to anyone. Really nice guy as well.
First off, alignments are routine maintenance. Second, 3rd time in how long/how many miles since, and were the springs new? Third, if the alignment wasn't done well to begin with (thorough on a calibrated system) you may have a wear patterns in tires that no alignment can correct properly or a misdiagnosed issue. You can rest assured Jeff will set you straight, :laugh: or I can take care of you at my shop with one of the best and most knowledgeable techs around on a dedicated system.
Maybe obvious, but keep on top of your tire pressure, especially with the extra cold weather. I think I've seen half a dozen cars in the past month with one tire practically flat. How do people drive like that? Anyway, if you have one or two tires low that will cause pulling/pushing. It sounds like something is wrong beyond that, but it could be adding to the problem.
On my old RS, I could actually tell when one of the front tyres was down by as little as 2 PSI. It doesn't take much of a difference to make the car behave oddly. It sounds like your problem may be more than that, but checking your tyre pressures is a two minute job. I seem to remember that for every 10f drop in temperature, you lose 1 PSI in tyre pressure. So if you last checked your tyres when it was 60f out, and you're now driving around in -10f weather, you've lost 7 PSI just through the laws of physics. Stuart.
If anyone plans to go to www.thealignmentguy.com make sure you are especially early. He is often very busy and is not a happy camper when you show up late.
I've seen him charge 20 bucks to 120. there is no average with jeff. you need to approach him for a quote. it all depends on easy it is for him
It really does depend on how long it takes him. If you need it setup to really tight tolerances, that's going to take longer than setting it to within factory specs/tolerances. Oh, and there's always the "rusty bolt" factor that can add time to an otherwise simple job. Trust me, nobody pays over the odds at Jeff's. But don't confuse "great value" with "cheap". Jeff is "great value". If your bill also happens to be "cheap", that's just a bonus. Stuart.
