A-series

Just to clear this up for me, can bad alignment or a dragging caliper cause a car to pull to one side only when accelerating?

Of all the cars I've driven, many with alignment issues, I've never noticed a clear difference in how much it pulled to one side when I was on the gas compared to when I was coasting, maintaining speed, or braking.

After I fixed my front calipers and replaced the pads on my '92, instead of pulling just slightly to the left as it has for a long time(after new tires and an alignment job), it pulls noticeably more when accelerating. It's more noticeable since I have to shift and so when I put in the clutch and go to the next gear I feel the force go away and I have to adjust or I'll start to turn the car to the right.

Only things I could think of that I could have done during the brake job (I rechecked everything last night and it's all good) was that I try not to use my e-brake b/c the rears stick (no time to do those yet) and I pull the e-brake up as high as it will go when putting the car on jacks.

Let's say that maybe the left rear is sticking more than the right, or that maybe I somehow managed to mess up the frame when I jacked it up (h::nervous::chuckles or just the allignment itself, would it matter if I was giving it gas?

If I coast in neutral or maintain speed it still does track a bit to the left, maybe just a bit less pull (straighter) when in neutral. It's almost unnoticeable though, same or better than I remember it. I just don't remember comparing how much it pulled when on the gas as opposed to off, there might have been a difference before that I wasn't aware of.

Only car I've driven where I remember a big difference in pull when on the gas was a grandprix. It happened suddenly and I had to fight the wheel (no PS made it worse) to keep it straight and it went away the next day, obviously something with the differential. A month later the diff./trans. went out on that car :nervous:

dieneverknowing

It seems to me that if you messed up your frame your car would turn to the left the same amount no matter what (assuming you're keeping the wheel perfectly straight the whole time). Accelerating would only make you turn faster, not sharper.

Also not sure about the caliper being the issue. I'm sure if it was hanging up it could create some pull but not to the effect it is doing with you. And if it was dragging bad, wouldn't there possibly be some smell or smoke from the continuous friction?

I'm just shooting ideas out my butt although the only thing I can suggest is to take care of the known problems so you're left with nothing but that one.

A-series

Thanks for the reply.

Good advice there, taking care of the known issues first.

Hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to deal with the rears.

After more driving and thought on the subject, I'm thinking/hoping that it's just an alignment issue and that for whatever reason when I accelerate, the shift in weight from front to rear is what causes the difference.
Yesterday I floored it up to about 6k in 2nd at one point and the steering doesn't seem to get worse with the rise in speed or rpms. I would assume that if it was something more serious, such as the differential or a wheel bearing, etc., that I would notice a difference at full throttle or increased speed.

I'm thinking maybe fixing the front calipers (no more dragging, or at least far less) is what caused this to show up. I noticed that of the times I checked the rotors and noticed they were hot when they shouldn't have been, that the passenger side was hotter, at least most times. Hopefully that was partially canceling out the bad alignment, and that's all that's wrong :shrug:

1 quick sol

OK first thing we need to know, what is the suspension set up u are running? Did you see the print off from the alignment shop, if you have it please post cast camber specs, I use to do alignment at a shop, just offering some help.

A-series

No print out unfortunately (just a vague receipt) and it was done a year ago.

The suspension is stock.

Only details I can give on that is that the front driver's Side spring seems sag just a tiny bit more than the passenger side (maybe 1/2 inch), but that's to be expected with the years and miles it has. Even w/out the driver there's more weight on that side too so... oh, and the camber looks correct to me :chuckles:

1 quick sol

ok first things first, go around to each fender with a tape and measure ride height ( rought way to do it, bottom of wheel well above tire to ground,) compare side to side. If that seems ok check all your ball joints and tie rods for looseness, and if its been a year since your alignment, that is plenty long for it to go out of spec, all it takes is one good bump. HOpe that helps a little

A-series

I've measured with a ruler from the bottom of the car to the ground on each side before, but it was night and I was in a hurry. Small diff. but it's been that way since I got it.

When I get a chance to do the rear brakes I'll wiggle shit(front and rear) and see if I notice anything.