Munchy

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, regardless. I've tried road and highway and it always finds a way to go right.

I've been reading about the EPS sensors and I'm hoping it's just that.

timmytriangles

we have a few round aronud me that make the car pull hard right, pisses me off everytime. i wud say bring it to a mazda dealer if u havent or stop by and talk to them only because they usually know our car the best ya no. good luck! its wrapping my brain too lol

Munchy

iTrader: (2)

I refuse to go to a Mazda dealer since they last charged me extra cause my car is too low lol

Wingznut

iTrader: (1)

I used to be an auto mechanic. Considering that they get paid by the job, and a car lowered as much as yours will make jobs more difficult, then it's reasonable for them to charge accordingly.

I disagree. Look at your caster, it's +8.48 on the left and +8.16 on the right. Cars will pull towards the side with less caster. Because of the crown of the road, it's always preferable to set up a +.5 difference on the right side.

But another issue that compounds your problem is that your caster is that it's a full 2° too far positive (spec is +6.06). There are two downsides to too much positive caster.
1) The steering will require more effort. (No big deal, with power steering.)
2) The car will not naturally track as straight as well. This means your .32 caster difference is actually more exacerbated due to the high degree of caster.

So, while a .32° difference is still within spec, it's compounded by the positive caster and the crown of the road.

Chris

iTrader: (10)

^ sounds scientific enough for me

Munchy

iTrader: (2)

I'm not a suspension pro, but can I adjust the caster without affecting the other alignment variables? Cause I'm hoping adjusting the caster will fix my bumpsteer as well.

Wingznut

iTrader: (1)

Caster is the relation of the upper ball joint to the lower ball joint. When the upper ball joint is closer to the rear of the car (than the lower ball joint), that's positive caster.

These are the same adjustments that adjust camber, so your choice of stance and rims/tires certainly complicate things. While you may (or may not) be able to get the overall caster closer to spec (and still keep the crazy camber you now have) you should be able to get it less positive on the left side, which will certainly help.

Munchy

iTrader: (2)

So I may not be able to get it in spec, but I can possibly balance the caster on both sides.

I'll try that out, thanks!

Wingznut

iTrader: (1)

I would go beyond ballance, and shoot for a little less caster on the left... Probably in the neighborhood of .2 or .3 degrees less, if they can get it.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

The bumpsteer is mostly related to your ride height and amount of camber/caster. Too low and the relationship between the steering arms and the control arms is fubarred.


Caster is directly related to camber settings...so you need to adjust the whole picture to get it right

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

I'm afraid that your stance has consequences with handling....you might get it to behave better...but it will always be a huge compromise from what the potential of this car is

Wingznut

iTrader: (1)

So very true.
I guess I understand that changing the stance so radically might look really cool to some...

But this entire suspension is so brilliantly engineered, it's just a shame to disparage it with total disregard to proper geometry.

Munchy

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, I figured we'd get into the whole "I fucked up my car's purpose" thing but whatever...

I'm actually riding higher than last year and the pulling to the right seems to be stronger. But that may just be in my head.

I'm trying to figure out everything now cause I gotta do a 12 hour (one way) drive this September in the car lol

Wingznut

iTrader: (1)

Heh, yeah it was only a matter of time. "To each his own" is one of the better things about humanity.

While I may not choose to do the same thing with my car, you have every right to do (most) anything you'd like. You just have to deal with the consequences, and hopefully figure out how to minimize those.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

No...we got into the ...."you can't have it both ways" thing

I would try and get the shop to put a bit of bias in to account for the crown on the road...but the twitchy bumpsteer thing isn't likely to get much better.

godesshunter

Just a suggestion to try, Not that you have to stay with it for preference, but how about putting the stock wheels/tires on and set the alignment to stock settings for a couple day and see how she rides.

Munchy

iTrader: (2)

After observing some more, it seems that the whole steering wheel sorta tracks to the right... I think I'm gonna pick up some electrical contact cleaner and start at the EPS connectors...

godesshunter

The suspected EPS problem also reminds me of something else... Not really sure if it will apply, but you can check this also...

Older Chrysler cars and trucks (70's/80's) had problematic power steering boxes. Backlash is adjustable and often times they would either get adjusted improperly or somehow would tighten up over time and years. Just the engine running would cause the car to self-steer to one direction or another.

A quick way of testing it is to jack up the car's front end and run the engine. Without the weight on the front end you could see the wheels turn one way or another all by themselves. Thats how you could tell there was a problem.

This may or may not be a valid test for our cars with electric power steering. But Its worth a shot.

Munchy

iTrader: (2)

Swapped out the EPS harness for a new one tonight, didn't solve the problem

My alignment guy said it's not a ball joint or table because the alignment machine would indicate that something was bent and he said I'd hear it while driving.

Wheels are balanced (to my knowledge), but again, this problem was occurring on my stock wheels and my old Enkei setup.

My friend told me to go to Mazda to get the EPS calibrated... Might try that.

Any other ideas?

godesshunter

As soon as you pull into Mazda with that stance, they're gunna immediately blame it on that.

Munchy

iTrader: (2)

hopefully they'll listen when i tell them it did that on the stock setup too :P

Jakespeed3

Hi, similar problem here too, car pulls right on hard braking and speed is over 80 km/h or more. Under 80 km/h work perfectly no pulling. Discs and pads has replaced 2000 km ago, so they are pretty fresh.


Any idea????

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

A few things to check:
1) front left brake caliper slide pins could be sticking intermittantly, making the front right apply harder than front left

2) Tire pressures could be off, resulting in more grip on the right than the left

3) If it's a pull in the steering wheel then it's up front, if it's a pull right without yank on the steering then it could be a torque imbalance in the diff, which is most likely due to a difference in rotational circumference between left and right rear tires (which is usually tire pressures)

4) Alignment is off, and the car toes in more on the front left than the front right under braking (it's designed to toe in slightly when the suspension compresses)

Jakespeed3

Just drive home from work and pushed brakes at 90 km/h and steering try go front right, notice that abs, traction and e-brake lights on dashboard.
Tyre pressure checked OK!
Could this related to my tyres, they are front 225/40-18 and rear 225/45-18?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

It is left/right differences here that you are looking for. Different sizes front and rear CAN throw a dsc/tcs/abs fault,but it won't interfere with braking like this.

Another possibility is that you have air in one of the brake lines, throwing off the brake force distribution.