"Steer Ahead"

On Jan 17, 10:04*pm, Tegger > wrote:
> Mike Romain > wrote ing.com:
>
> > Tegger wrote:
>
> >> You just sholdn't leave it like that permanently. There's absolutely
> >> nothing wrong with temporarily running directionals the wrong way on
> >> a dry surface.
>
> >> By failing to swap side-to-side you may be ignoring the most obvious
> >> culprit. Remember the "monkey license" scene from one of the Pink
> >> Panther movies?
>
> > If a tires causes a pull to the left in the front and gets moved to
> > the back the pull should be to the right or gone shouldn't it?
>
> In my experience, a pull from a tire when it's on the front will go away
> entirely or be greatly lessened when the same tire is moved to the rear on
> the same side; I have not seen the pull change sides. If the tire is moved
> to the other side of the front, the pull will be in the reverse direction.
>
> Of course, it is critical to consider road crowning, which I find is a
> confounding factor in these cases. It helps considerably during
> investigation to have ready access to the other side of the road (easier in
> rural areas) or a divided highway which has a crown that goes in both
> directions.
>
> --
> Tegger
_______________
I have considered crowning, Teg-, and the issue is here in lower CT
the roads have almost no visible crown, unless you squat like a
catcher at the edge of the sidewalk and look across the street in
question. Now South Jersey, where I vacation often, is another tale.
In Wildwood and Avalon, the vehicles opposite myself almost appear to
be leaning away from me!

In that case, my Malibu more than adequately tracks straight and true,
with almost no input needed to the steeringwheel.
One early Wildwood morning(everyone still sleeping off their
hangovers) I headed out and deliberately drive left of the double
yellow. I'm telling you: I had that steering wheel cranked over to
3'oclock to keep the car from climbing the sidewalk on the lefthand
side of the street I was on! If I let it go for even a split second,
that car threatened to make a grand entrance into the Carousel Motel
or whatever it was.

Point is - that car has crown compensation(or OVERcompensation) BUILT
IN. No ordinary alignment adjustments will overcome that much
compensation built-in.

If need be, I'll keep 2 extra lbs. pressure in the lefts, until I
manage to get the bearings, etc. looked at.

-CC

ChrisCoaster wrote:
From my perception, the weight of a driver
> compared to his mount is akin to the proverbial fly on a cow's butt,
> that's all. So I just figured that except in extreme cases, the
> driver's weight(or position - for those of you who drive on the LH
> side of the road) didn't matter at all.
>
That's not always the case. For example, when I was trying to
demonstrate to a mechanic that the right balljoint had gone bad, the
steering wheel did /not/ turn when braking. Really embarrassed, I left,
only to have the steering pull on braking on my way home. His weight in
the passenger seat had prevented the loose balljoint from playing during
the test.

On Jan 18, 8:40*am, ChrisCoaster > wrote:
> On Jan 17, 10:04*pm, Tegger > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Mike Romain > wrote ing.com:
>
> > > Tegger wrote:
>
> > >> You just sholdn't leave it like that permanently. There's absolutely
> > >> nothing wrong with temporarily running directionals the wrong way on
> > >> a dry surface.
>
> > >> By failing to swap side-to-side you may be ignoring the most obvious
> > >> culprit. Remember the "monkey license" scene from one of the Pink
> > >> Panther movies?
>
> > > If a tires causes a pull to the left in the front and gets moved to
> > > the back the pull should be to the right or gone shouldn't it?
>
> > In my experience, a pull from a tire when it's on the front will go away
> > entirely or be greatly lessened when the same tire is moved to the rear on
> > the same side; I have not seen the pull change sides. If the tire is moved
> > to the other side of the front, the pull will be in the reverse direction.