Pulling to the left and 17" Fox wheels

[Chilliman 0]

Hi all, not suggesting one causing the other, but wanted to ask about both.... Bought the car in October last year and have driven less than a thousand miles in that time. Had a full service carried out by a recommended Indie in November, however car was pulling to the left when I bought her, and theres a relatively recent bill in the folder for a replacement passenger side track rod end, plus the steering wheel wasn't anywhere near straight. So, guys checked it out during the service and found nothing bent, although they replaced the bushes at the top of the struts, and aligned the steering wheel. It was still pulling so I took her to my local ATS, and the guys replaced both rear tyres which were getting low, and did a four wheel alignment. It still pulled to the left.... so they suggested I get the camber etc checked. Car is booked in for next Monday for a full geo, so hopefully this will identify the cause of the pulling. That said, I also understand it might be a power steering fault? So, was wondering if anyone has had problems like this which have turned out to be castor or camber or some other misalignment not shown up by the normal alignment/tracking tests?

As regards the wheels, they're Fox Racing 17" jobbies (badly curbed TBH), and it wasn't until I loaded the boot up and had four people in it that the rears caught badly on the inner arches... 100 metres down the road, all out the car, back to the house and unload it... So, do I modify the arches or change the wheels? Oh, it's also been lowered, I'm told by 30mm... I'm not at home at the moment and I cant remember the rim widths or offsets.... But I need to fix this as at the moment it's effectively only a two seater!

There's very very little rust, although the front nearside has quite a bit of bubbling, so may not be the original (also slightly worrying as it's the same side the track rod end was replaced)... If I can sort these issues out she'll be a cracking car, which will be properly maintained and well looked after... almost a full service history, she's done 108K miles, and is very solid in all the places it matters.....

Many thanks,

Chilli

[BigDaddy 0]

if its scraping either raise it back up or get stiff shocks pref ajustable

[BigDaddy 0]

could the rims be bent after all the curbing? just wondering? is it pulling left on braking or just general driving?

[Chilliman 0]

It's pulling most of the time, although oddly on occasions it doesn't seem to....... and no obvious pulling to one side under braking, both front wheels run free when off the ground also. Could be a bent rim but there's no vibration at all coming through the steering wheel.... The full Geo will hopefully pinpoint the cause, fingers crossesd :-) Regarding the wheels rubbing, any stiffer and it'll have less suspension than a gokart.. Raising it's a good idea.... It's my first Golf so was wondering if there was anything (e.g. particular bushes) that might be a common Golf Mk3 fault that caused this....... Thanks for the posts Big Daddy, much appreciated :-)

Chilli.

[Lukey. 381]

is it pulling or tramlining?

[Chilliman 0]

It's a noticeable and almost continuous pull... but occasionly and only for very brief periods it seems to disappear.. hence the possibility that it might be power steering related. The four wheel alignment is (alledgedley) good, i.e. all four wheels are pointing in the right direction, and the front wheel tracking is correct, so I'm guessing either the camber or caster is out or power steering is causing it....

[VR6Pete 1,455]

I had a pulling to the left issue, took months of parts swapping until I identified it was the steering rack, the biggest mistake I made was getting a non genuine VW rack, it lasted just over a year before I but the bullet and got one from VW.

[Chilliman 0]

Good shout!! presumably it was binding in some way, preferring not to maintain a straight ahead position? This would make alot of sense for my symptoms, it pulls probably 95% of the time, and unless it's my imagination, more so after having just undertaken a left turn.... I know some Fords have problems with power steering hydraulic issues which can cause the steering to pull one way or the other rather than naturally return to 'straight ahead'...

Many thanks for that :-)

Chilli

Edit: May I ask, is the steering rack a common Mk3 jobbie or specific to the VR6? Thanks again, Chilli

[BigDaddy 0]

that could also explain why your steering wheel wasnt aligned? someones obviously had a go trying to fix it, maybe hit a few speed bumps at speed or those oversized ones which fuk up you car and cost a lot to fix

[VR6Pete 1,455]

I do believe there is a small adjustment screw on them, but to me doesn't sounds good... You'll need drop the sub frame, remembering to change the stretch bolts too

I think the VR6 is a specific rack... UK ones were a TRW rack, I almost ordered the wrong rubber bush and bracket to replace my knackered one when doing my sub-frame refurb...

[Chilliman 0]

Thanks Pete, advice is much appreciated...

Cheers, Chilli

[Chilliman 0]

Right, update... Had a full geo done this morning and problem is sorted... Along with the 17" rims the car was lowered by 30mm (previous owner), but seemingly not set up after being lowered, so camber was about 2 degrees out..... now rectified and the difference is amazing.... thanks for all the posts guys...

Chilli

[VR6Pete 1,455]

Awesome, that's great news when its just a simple thing so many people neglect this simple stuff and totally destroys the handing