I got an alignment and had the 2 front tires balanced and the car still drifts to the left. I also experienced vibration at highway speeds around 70-90. The shop said they put the 2 back wheels on the front and the vibration was worse but claimed it drove straight so they balanced those 2 tires and set me off. I haven’t been on the highway yet but i notice a slight difference at around 50 it feels a little smoother but still pulling to the left! Any ideas?
Could be tires, brakes, or suspension-system problem(s). Swapping tires right/left can provide clues. Feeling wheels to see if any get hotter than others can also help. Measuring ride height at all four corners also helpful.
Vibrations can be caused by wheel balance, but can also be caused by wheel mounting problem, tire not perfectly round, or tire/rim wobbling side to side. Shops know how to measure the amount of out of round, tire/rim lateral wobble, etc. Make sure wheel is mounted to hub with oem approved fasteners, and are oriented correctly.
Do you drive mostly highway in the left lane? Does your alignment shop know this?
The tires are basically brand new I bought the car like that
Sometimes a brand new tire can be the problem; tires are like anything else man-made, not always manufactured 100% correctly to the spec.
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before I got the wheels balanced I swapped the front left to right and it still pulled to left so I don’t think its a tire problem even though I did have vibration at high speeds
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If you’re the experimental type of person, here’s an experiment for out of round and lateral wobble: raise the car so you can spin the tire by hand. figure out a way to position a sharp pencil, held steady, at various points on the tire surface, close but not touching. Top of tread, sidewall, etc. Does the distance from pencil point to tire surface change as you spin the tire?
Not disputing. But it’s a pretty common thing here for posters to say this same thing, and later find it IS a tire problem. So don’t unilaterally decide this, otherwise it might make the solution take longer.
I would guess the previous owner had a curb strike. There may bent components. Without seeing the before and after alignment sheet, I can’t say if that is true. You may need an alignment specialty shop.
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I am still open to it being a tire problem for sure but that’s basically what the shop told me. They don’t seem very thorough and it is a tire shop they specialize in this
the passenger side of the car does have bad curb rash and I will post the alignment specs in a minute. What kind of component could be bent? would curb strike bend a control arm?
It might.
Looking at your alignment sheet, however, the problem is too much left rear negative camber. If pushes the rear to the right causing left lead. You need a crash kit for the rear to fix that.
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what exactly is a crash kit
A crash kit or alignment kit is special bolts, or shims or bushings that when installed allow alignment where the manufacturer did not provide it.
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Follow Mustangman’s advice, crash kit and alignment specialty shop.
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Yes, that can definitely happen. A friend of mine slid into a curb on an icy day, and the result was a bent lower control arm, plus a damaged wheel bearing.
Is your shop doing a road force balance? If you have vibration issues, that’s one step that you want to take if it wasn’t already done.
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the vibration is basically gone after getting the wheels balanced but still pulling. I’m gonna finally jack it up and check if the wheels are out of round like george was saying
You don’t need to do this because this…
so I forgot to mention this car was in a minor accident where the guy hit a animal at 50k miles (110k right now) and the right front end (passenger) has new parts including a strut. So my theory is the strut on the left has 110k miles and one on right has 60k so they have uneven wear?