I just got through reading a thread by jwgroovin about having problems since he put on 18" wheels w/ 275/40/18 tires. The fix was to remove the factory rotor retaining rings.
Ever since I put on my 18x9 FR500's (+36mm offset) w/ 255/45/18's my car has been pulling to the left. It was only a little noticeable at first, but it's gotten worse. I've had the alignment checked at the dealership, and I've rotated the tires, but it still pulls. Any ideas?

Could those retaining clips be the cause? I don't really have any vibrations or the other problems jwgroovin had.

 

How about tire pull? did you switch lf and rf tires?

 

x2. Switch the front tire side to side. See if it pulls to the opposite side. If not, switch the rears side to side and see if it pulls to the other side. Chances are one of your tires has a radial pull to it and needs to be replaced and you alighment is 100% on.

 

I highly doubt the retaining clip could cause that. However, it's worth a try. Just remove it.

 

The tires are unidirectional so I'd have to remove them from the wheels to rotate them that way. I'm saving that as a last resort. I was hoping someone might have another solution.

 

Silly question, but have you checked tire pressure?
A slow leak in one tire will give the symptoms you describe.

 

Not a silly question, but yes, I checked them several times. I even lowered the right side and increased the left to see if it would help. I only went a few pounds so I couldn't tell any difference.

One thing I forgot to mention was I adjusted the left side tie rod to pull the left tire in a little. That helped some, but I think that is only compensating for whatever the real cause is and not actually fixing the problem.

 

Ah, wouldn't that mess up your alignment?

 

I reread what you've said. I also noticed you have steeda rear springs. Did they check only your front wheels? Or did they put a sensor on all four, and check your thrust angle? Lowering the car pushed the rear axle toward the driver side. You really need an adj. trac bar, and a good 4 wheel alignment. Your toe/camber/caster can all be 100% in spec, but if it's not square to your rear end, it don't mean squat.

 

OK. Let me start all over. I wasn't very clear on when and what happened. Here's the order of mods, problems, & attempted fixes.

3/11/05 (2.0 miles): Car delivered. No pull to either side.

6/15/05 (5021 miles): installed 18x9 FR500 wheels (+36mm offset) with BF Goodrich 255/45/18 tires. (Because of the wider wheels & tires I noticed the rear axle was off center FROM THE FACTORY to the left)
Car had a slight pull to the left that gradually got worse.

8/11/05 (6025 miles): Installed Steeda rear springs. This moved the rear axle to the right so it was practically centered.
No change in the "pull".

9/27/05 (7512 miles) Rotated tires front to back. Car seemed to pull a little less, but eventually went back to being just as bad.

11/15/05 (9015 miles) Alignment was checked and was fine.

11/29/05 (9482 miles) Adjusted left tie rod end as a LAST RESORT just to compensate for the pull. Car nows pulls less than it ever has since the new wheels & tires.

 

ttt

 

Ok, since no one else has helped, I'll give you my opinion on how to go about solving the issue:

1 - If you still have your stock rims/tires, put them on and compare the pull. More, less, gone? If gone, it's in the new tires.

2 - Go get a 4 wheel alignment on the stock tires/rims, and make sure they check the thrust angle. Putting the toe in on one side to compensate for the pull is doing nothing more than wearing your tires out faster. Once the alignment is in "spec" drive around for a few days and see if the pull reappears. If not, swap out to your new rims/tires.

3 - If they can't get your thrust angle, or any other measure completely within stock tolerances, you might need a ADJ trac bar to help. Get all the numbers within in stock tolerances.

4 - If you didn't have a pull with stock tires, and now do with new rims/tires, you've narrowed it down to the tires. If you still have a pull with stockers, it's in the alignment, and take it to Ford and complain. They might have a fix. If it's in the tires, then start swapping then front to rear, side to side. Directional tires can be run backwards for a little while with no damage. Try and see if you can get the car to pull right instead of left by swapping drivers side to pass side. if this happens, you have a pull in one of you tires. Then swap one side front to rear. If the pull goes away, it's in the rear tire. if it still pulls, swap that side back, and swap the other side front to rear. eventually, you should figure out which tire is causing the pull. return that tire. Also, Michelin (BFG's manufacturer) is very good when it comes to standing behind their tires. If you can narrow down a bad tire, call them up and explain the situation. Also, call the place of purchase and tell them what's up as well. As a former grease monkey, that's how we'd approach the problem. It is time consuming, and most places don't have the best costumer service. Good luck.

Let me know if any of that doens't make sense.

Edit: If you haven't already, make sure there is nothing on the lugs, by the rotors causing it not to sit flush. Some cars have little metal slips on the base of the lug on the rotor. Cut this piece off.

 

Thanks, Kevin. Unfortuantely, I don't have the stockers anymore. (the one thing I modified and didn't keep the original parts )

I'll give the rest of your advice a try and let you know how it turns out.
I guess I'm the only one having this problem.

 

sounds like a tire pull concern to me , we see that allot at the shop . this is the reason we like to do the alignment after the new tires are installed if you plan on changing them and not before . adjusting the tierod is compensating for the pull , but you just threw off your alignment . i know its a bummer , but i would dismount the tires and swap them side to side and put the tierod back to where it was , most likely your problems will be gone

 

Thanks, Bill. That's my next step.

I was putting that off because I thought "what are the chances that I not only got 2 bad tires, but they just happen to both get put on the same side?!" (at least that's my reasoning since I already rotated front to back)

 

Thanks to whichever mod moved this back to the section I posted it in originally.

 

A good alignment shop will adjust from factory settings to stop the pull. I installed the Steeda lowering kit, 18x9/18x10 Bullets and did my own alignment(I have a Caster/Camber gauge and made a toe gauge)I had to come in a little on the toe. No problems with 3000+ miles and it drives very straight. I would talk to a good alignment guy before changing tires around.