To check for “Dog-Tracking”.
Find a dry flat area. Apply a pool of water in that area. Drive the vehicle straight thru that pool of water. Look at the tire tracks out of that pool of water. There should only be two tire tracks out of that pool of water. if there are more than two tire tracks out of that pool of water, the vehicle is dog-tracking.
Tester
Does anyone know why so many of those Novas were crab-walkers?
Not only the Novas but any GM with rear leafs. Firebird, Camaro, Omega’s, Skylarks, etc. This was from a broken leaf spring. It was such a common problem that after doing a few rear leaf jobs I was always eager to do them because it was easy money.
The reason is that the rear wheels are both pointing to the right or the left. There are a few reasons for this to happen but they are obvious ones.
We had a NOVA in the 70’s that drove like this. We also saw a few others on the road with this characteristic. We thought the car had been in an accident, but sounds like other flaws may have been responsible.
It seems to me that they ALL did this after a few years. And, it appears from some other responses that my theory (that the rear springs were responsible) is accurate.
On the Nova, GM tried a new design that they dubbed “monoplate” rear springs. In place of a true leaf spring composed of several separate leaves, this new design used a one-piece spring that was tapered to imitate the shape of a leaf spring.
Apparently this new design was not very durable, and the spring became deformed from the torque forces acting on the rear axle. Luckily GM dropped that design after only 8 years or so, but the legacy remains with any Novas that are still on the road.
We have to emphasize to the OP that her Taurus has rear coil springs, unlike the Nova’s leaf (or monoplate) rear springs. Coil springs would not be a cause of bad rear alignment, unlike leaf or monoplate springs.
Luckily GM dropped that design after only 8 years or so,
NOT SO…Chevy Astro vans used a fiberglass monoplate/single leaf. Funny how old technology returns, either good or bad or average.
Was that a transverse spring? When used in a transverse application, that design may not be problematic.
Also, the original monoplate rear springs were made of some kind of steel, and were probably not of the correct type of alloy since they deformed over the period of a couple of years of ordinary use.
Was that a transverse spring?..Like the vette? No, they were mounted in the traditional manner. And with worn shocks the rear passengers would get sea sick.
I agree , it sounds like the car has serious collison damage, just follow it down the highway, you will be able to see it. She will probably chew up some tires too. A frame shop would be able to check it out & tell you the problem.
A bent frame can cause a car tocrab down the road. So can a bent rear trailing arm. I had a 93 Ford Escort that di this after some yahoo pulled into my lane and ran me up over the curb. I noticed that in my car because the steering wheel was not centered. So, I had a friend follow me to see if the car was being “crabby”. He told me that its rear end was angling left.
After I got the damage repaired (including the dented rocker panel and cracked turn signal lense), the car was okay.
Mark