Car pulling to right after rod bearings

[djsilverjohnson]

Originally Posted by VictorH

That's the bummer, I don't think the alignment guy helped your situation any, but it's reversible. With your steering wheel straight and the toe adjusted to have the wheel straight, the rack and pinion has to be operating off-center somewhat. There must be a procedure for finding the steering rack center. I wonder if you could find the service instructions for steering rack replacement as they would perhaps need to have to have a process to center everything up.

What I've done in the past is to turn until steering wheel stops in one direction, then count the turns until it stops in the other direction, then turn it back half the total. Doing this with the wheels off the ground eliminates relying on tire/wheel position or steering wheel position to determine the center of the rack.

[jp1984]

I just had to pay to have this done after RB's. It was the one thing I didn't anticipate.

[VictorH]

Did you get it fixed?

[Hivand_M]

Originally Posted by VictorH

Did you get it fixed?

Thanks for checking in!

I went to my buddies alignment shop last night to get a print out of my specs (since West End does it by hand). Turns out West End put my rear toe 1/8 in on both sides, not 1/8 total. Forgot what the front had but he had told me he put it to 0 toe when doing the alignment.

My buddy reduced the toe in the rear and it seemed to help to not drift right but not fully gone. I'm going back to my mechanic today so he can calibrate the steering angle sensor, will report back.

[its55]

Can anyone post BMW's recommended alignment specs?

[Hivand_M]

So went over to my mechanics yesterday we put it on the lift and he showed me the subframe. There were no signs of it being in another position. Everything there looked lined up. Of course I couldn't see the steering rack connection..

Steering angle sensor set to 0, went on a test drive and still drifting to the right. He called his alignment guy he works with and he said it might be the caster. He recommended I get camber plates with caster adjustments.

I just don't understand why this is happening out of no where and no one can figure out what's causing it.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by Hivand_M

So went over to my mechanics yesterday we put it on the lift and he showed me the subframe. There were no signs of it being in another position. Everything there looked lined up. Of course I couldn't see the steering rack connection..

Steering angle sensor set to 0, went on a test drive and still drifting to the right. He called his alignment guy he works with and he said it might be the caster. He recommended I get camber plates with caster adjustments.

I just don't understand why this is happening out of no where and no one can figure out what's causing it.

Did your mechanic check out your suspension as a whole? Ball joints, control arms, bushings? Those can all cause a car to go out of alignment and wonder on the road and they flex or have play.

[Hivand_M]

Originally Posted by tdott

Did your mechanic check out your suspension as a whole? Ball joints, control arms, bushings? Those can all cause a car to go out of alignment and wonder on the road and they flex or have play.

Yes sir. Everything checked out. I even looked myself. Not 1 thing looked off or worn out.

Car is a 2011 and just hit 35k miles for reference.

1 thing I nor my mechanic did not check were the heights of each suspension strut. I did a corner balance with West End. I was in the car the whole time. From what it felt and sounded like, he only adjusted each corner once and got it to 50/50 weight after putting it on the scales - which is odd to me that he got it perfect on the first shot.

[akkando]

Originally Posted by Hivand_M

So went over to my mechanics yesterday we put it on the lift and he showed me the subframe. There were no signs of it being in another position. Everything there looked lined up. Of course I couldn't see the steering rack connection..

Steering angle sensor set to 0, went on a test drive and still drifting to the right. He called his alignment guy he works with and he said it might be the caster. He recommended I get camber plates with caster adjustments.

I just don't understand why this is happening out of no where and no one can figure out what's causing it.

The steering rack was not reinstalled correctly.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by Hivand_M

From what it felt and sounded like, he only adjusted each corner once and got it to 50/50 weight after putting it on the scales - which is odd to me that he got it perfect on the first shot.

Yea, I am kinda suss of the alignment tech that can't diagnose a suspension related issue on a car he did an alignment on. Alignment 101 before you hook everything up, you inspect tires, suspension for play and set tire pressure.

If there is a suspension issue, they quote a price to fix the issue, otherwise the alignment is pointless.

[Hivand_M]

Originally Posted by tdott

Yea, I am kinda suss of the alignment tech that can't diagnose a suspension related issue on a car he did an alignment on. Alignment 101 before you hook everything up, you inspect tires, suspension for play and set tire pressure.

If there is a suspension issue, they quote a price to fix the issue, otherwise the alignment is pointless.

So I know alignment tech did adjust tire pressures before he started. I also know that as soon as he got under the car to straighten my steering wheel he said:

"When they did rod bearings, did they remove the subframe? Because I can tell he might've missed aligning the rack by a few splines. Don't worry though I can straighten the wheel through the alignment."

I'm seriously so confused because this issue is leading me to believe that the rack wasn't aligned. But how can that be if the rack goes in only 1 way. That is what I am not understanding.

I almost just want to say F it and pull everything apart myself to take a look.

I'm not going to settle for getting adjustable caster plates to put a band aid on this, this was not happening before so there is something wrong down there...

[tdott]

Originally Posted by Hivand_M

I'm seriously so confused because this issue is leading me to believe that the rack wasn't aligned. But how can that be if the rack goes in only 1 way. That is what I am not understanding.

I don't see how the rack being off by 1 or more splines will cause the car to pull to the right.

A spline or two off is not enough to do much but it will cause the center position to be off, easily fixed with an alignment.

Pulling to the right is also different behavior than just the steering being off center while going straight. Just wanted to be sure you are making that distinction correctly.

[Hivand_M]

Originally Posted by tdott

I don't see how the rack being off by 1 or more splines will cause the car to pull to the right.

A spline or two off is not enough to do much but it will cause the center position to be off, easily fixed with an alignment.

Pulling to the right is also different behavior than just the steering being off center while going straight. Just wanted to be sure you are making that distinction correctly.

I don't see how that has affect on the car pulling right either to be honest but a handful of guys here saying that is the issue.

My wheel is definitely straight but the car drifts right. Attaching another video that kind of shows better than the first one I uploaded.

At slower speeds it seems like any imperfection in the road causes my steering wheel to turn right on it's own (while i'm not holding the wheel) and therefore pulling the car to the right. At higher speeds like in the video the steering wheel stays straight. I'm constantly making adjustments to the left to keep the car going straight.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by Hivand_M

I don't see how that has affect on the car pulling right either to be honest but a handful of guys here saying that is the issue.

Keyboard mechanics.

I still think it's alignment related, maybe try another alignment place and have them inspect the suspension before, tell them the car drifts/pulls to the right and see what they say.

Sucks, but better than replacing random parts hoping for a fix.

[Hivand_M]

Originally Posted by tdott

Keyboard mechanics.

I still think it's alignment related, maybe try another alignment place and have them inspect the suspension before, tell them the car drifts/pulls to the right and see what they say.

Sucks, but better than replacing random parts hoping for a fix.

Haha.

I'll give another shop another shot. When you say inspect suspension. Are you talking about the spring and strut? Or all the components?

Thank you so much for helping btw!!

[Hivand_M]

Not sure if this video will work but the rack is definitely not centered (if it matters) lock to lock is obvious from the shift paddle locations. Photos from the video at full lock attached.

https://youtube.com/shorts/m-6P2igqnYg?feature=share

[Ervin87]

Why don't you take the car back to the shop who did the work? If after alignment you still have an issue, and you show that to the shop, they will be able to provide support.

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by Hivand_M

Not sure if this video will work but the rack is definitely not centered (if it matters) lock to lock is obvious from the shift paddle locations. Photos from the video at full lock attached.

https://youtube.com/shorts/m-6P2igqnYg?feature=share

The video shows the difference between rack full-lock left and right (stop to stop) is about 10 degrees or more. Since nearly all rack and pinions I have encountered are self centering by design, I speculate that when the steering column universal joint was clamped back on the rack male fitting, the hubs (and rotors) were not pointed exactly straight at the zero position. Since the video shows the wheel and rack can be cycled more to the left than the right (total angular displacement) I would speculate the hubs (and rack) were displaced to the right when the column U.J. was reconnected - i.e. reconnected incorrectly (off by a few splines). Consequently, as the rack attempts to self center during forward motion, it doesn't have enough compensation to counteract the rightward off center displacement. Hence, the car drifts right due to mechanical toe out of the right hub.

Mitigation should (must) include disconnecting and then reconnecting the rack and column U.J. correctly. This is done by rolling the car onto the alignment rack, checking the total toe when the wheel is exactly centered, locking by clamp the steering wheel at zero angular displacement, disconnecting the column U.J. clamp, setting the toe-in to spec and then reconnecting the rack and column. Care should be taken by an expert shop to minimize camber split and caster split which can both individually or collectively cause drift and pull. Hope this helps.
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https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/s...nt-diy.816887/

[Hivand_M]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

The video shows the difference between rack full-lock left and right (stop to stop) is about 10 degrees or more. Since nearly all rack and pinions I have encountered are self centering by design, I speculate that when the steering column universal joint was clamped back on the rack male fitting, the hubs (and rotors) were not pointed exactly straight at the zero position. Since the video shows the wheel and rack can be cycled more to the left than the right (total angular displacement) I would speculate the hubs (and rack) were displaced to the right when the column U.J. was reconnected - i.e. reconnected incorrectly (off by a few splines). Consequently, as the rack attempts to self center during forward motion, it doesn't have enough compensation to counteract the rightward off center displacement. Hence, the car drifts right due to mechanical toe out of the right hub.

Mitigation should (must) include disconnecting and then reconnecting the rack and column U.J. correctly. This is done by rolling the car onto the alignment rack, checking the total toe when the wheel is exactly centered, locking by clamp the steering wheel at zero angular displacement, disconnecting the column clamp, setting the toe-in to spec and then reconnecting the rack and column. Care should be taken by an expert shop to minimize camber split and caster split which can both individually or collectively cause drift and pull. Hope this helps.
.
https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/steering-rack-replacement-diy.816887/

I love you. Thank you for taking the time and chiming in. What you said is very confusing but I'll read it a few times and also share it with my mechanic/alignment people.

I also would like to add that my friend (same car) had his rack replaced (also wrong but very wrong) he can only turn full lock on one side only once so it's more misaligned than mine. His car does not drift or pull in any direction.

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by Hivand_M

I love you. Thank you for taking the time and chiming in. What you said is very confusing but I'll read it a few times and also share it with my mechanic/alignment people.

I also would like to add that my friend (same car) had his rack replaced (also wrong but very wrong) he can only turn full lock on one side only once so it's more misaligned than mine. His car does not drift or pull in any direction.

I made a slight edit to one phrase as follows:
"disconnecting the column U.J. clamp"

Best of luck

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[DrFerry]

Try here (link below) IF needed for expert help and show them this thread..
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https://www.langracing.com/services/...ner-balancing/
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Lang Racing is just South of Huntington Beach.

[MisterClutch888]

They probably didnt mark this coupler clearly. Maybe off by a few splines.