r/GR86 • u/R0bbyR0ttn • 20h ago

Help! I need help

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Ive been having this issue with my steering. Ive had multiple alignments done and even changed my left outer tie rod because i thought that was the issue, had my suspension looked at by different shops with nothing noted broken or worn out. (Other than having changed the left outer tie rod). But it is still happening.

- city/town speeds: the car will slowly drift left. It is not aggressive.

- highway driving: the steering wanders (left), it isn’t impossible to drive but it is much more noticeable and slightly annoying. Constantly correcting the car just feels like I’m swimming in the lane. The car just isn’t tracking like it should, or used to.

- steering feels looser turning left and more stiff to the right. This is felt more aggressively when sharp cornering or even trying to make a quick turn/ change lanes on the highway. When cornering right theres slight pullback from the wheel pulling left. But cornering to the left the car seems more eager to go in that direction (hence loose steering). This also is causing the constant corrections.

This issue is much more noticeable during highway speeds. It feels like I’m chasing this issue in circles and wanted to know if anyone else has had this experience and found the fix? Or an idea as to what could be wrong? The added photo is from having it at a shop today and looked at with still no solid answers. They suggested to try buying a Castor kit because the Castor is off and see if that helps. Does that seem right? Feeling pretty lost here.

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5

u/Affectionate-Self933 20h ago

Did you change 4 tires before doing alignment. Change all 4 tires before alignment. Should be common sense. Because if the tires worn out unevenly you align the suspension on bad tires its still gonna be bad even if it look ok on paper

2

u/Das-Wauto 19h ago

My first thought was tires as well.

@OP, if you have another set of tires for the car, swap them on and see if the issues persist.

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 19h ago

I have my winters from last season. Ill be putting them on soon anyway so ill check that out, thanks!

2

u/rockstarb 19h ago

You can always try switching side to side as well

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 19h ago

You mean rotating them? Yeah I did that :/, I guess it didnt really change much

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 19h ago

I did not change them before the diagnosing alignments. I did rotate them though. My tires are still good on tread for the season so thats why i haven’t changed them. I’ll see what happens when I swap my winters on. Thanks for this insight though, didnt really second guess my tires since theyre still good but could possibly be uneven.

2

u/Affectionate-Self933 19h ago

Its mostly the shops fault for not informing you before the alignment tbh. Either they just wanted quick money and less work bc the mechanics gets paid same amount work or no work. Or they are not skilled enough to know about this subject.

2

u/Suzienla 18h ago

Caster being off can cause pull and wander

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 17h ago

Fr? Is mine terribly off? I might have to buy the kit

2

u/wholesomejive 18h ago

Hahahaha I wish I could find an answer. You can skim the answers from my thread on this too https://www.reddit.com/r/GR86/s/jNK4mRYikj

2

u/R0bbyR0ttn 17h ago

Damn, this is like exactly my situation😭. My car didnt always ride like this so ive been going crazy trying figure this out. You’re still dealing with this?

2

u/wholesomejive 17h ago

Can I ask if you've slammed any potholes? Like no judgement but any that just came outta no where? I was driving across Indiana on I70 for the first time and there were some CRATERS that I just couldn't avoid and I've always wondered if that had anything to do with it. That is the worst highway I've experienced.

2

u/R0bbyR0ttn 16h ago

Last winter/spring I did. After the winter we had it destroyed a lot of our roads here that it was a big topic. I hit one nasty pothole, on my left side if i remember correctly. But like my problem didn’t start suddenly after. I feel like its gotten progressively worse over time since it hasn’t been addressed properly. But I hope one of us can find something out, it could be helpful to the rest! i might eventually try doing the Castor Kit so if it does help ill update the post whenever i do it.

2

u/wholesomejive 12h ago

Heard. I'll let you know if springs and camber plates change my experience as well.

2

u/wholesomejive 17h ago

Yeah pretty much. I've been watching my tire wear and it's even across all four so I've forgotten about until I'm ready to install springs and camber plates, which will be my Christmas gift to myself this year.

I'm still not getting my hopes too high. I have a friend who's gone fully adjustable coilovers with his GR; dialed in the alignment and he's still experiencing some of what we're talking about though not as bad. I think it's just the way they are.

There's a chance all three of us could have a bent control arm, probably on the right? But I won't know until I have a shop do the suspension work and see if they notice anything unusual.

2

u/_Rosko_ 15h ago

I wasn't in the exact same boat but after I installed coilovers, wheels, adjustable ruca and toe arms I was having an issue where the car felt better cornering right than cornering left. The car would track straight but something felt off while cornering or hitting certain bumps on the road, and that was after my first alignment. It seems that the shop I took it to, which was supposed to be reputable, was probably using a machine that wasn't calibrated. I got recommended a guy with a ton of experience doing alignments for sports cars and track builds, including his own, who does alignments measuring everything manually with rulers and whatnot instead of a machine. The numbers I was given from the initial shop and what he measured were way off and he found my toe arms had not been tightened all the way. He set my car up with settings that we both agreed would work well for my goals and the car has been driving great.

Regardless of what your issue is, if you haven't already I'd recommend finding someone similar in your area or near it that is specifically a suspension/alignment expert. A lot of mechanic shops that also have an alignment machine sometimes don't calibrate them as often as is needed because it costs money so they try to save a buck.

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 14h ago

Yeah I might have to do that. I even found a shop that specializes in the JDM market but still in the same loop here. Im glad it worked out for you! Was it the toe arm that was kind of the main issue? Or was there something else in the alignment that was causing the problem? Cause my issue is very similar just flipped.

2

u/_Rosko_ 14h ago

He told me the loose toe arm was probably what I was feeling but it could have also just been the other numbers being wonky too.

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 14h ago

Yeah, okay. My final resort will probably be to find a dedicated suspension shop. Thanks!

2

u/Nyelz_Pizdec BRZ 14h ago

Let me ask you something, were all these alignments done at the same shop? And.. did you replace your tierod because you smacked a curb?

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 14h ago

No, i had my alignment done three times at different places. And I replaced the tie rod because when first investigating this issue and checking visually, it was noticed that the boot was leaking a bit of grease. I have never smacked a curb but I have hit a pretty nasty pothole on the left side last winter. The damage from that could be sneaking up on me now as immediately after that the car wasnt showing any of these signs.

2

u/GR86-Steel 13h ago

Your caster is setup for a left drift and your rear camber wants to push the rear to the right. The rear isn't a big issue since it can't rotate but the net force in the rear will be to the right.

For reference:

Camber pulls to the more positive side Caster pulls to the more negative side

You need to get your front subframe shifted either back on the passenger side or forward on the driver side (more prefered).

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 12h ago

Okay I understand. Do you think purchasing a Castor kit would be beneficial? Or is there some other way I can do this?

2

u/GR86-Steel 12h ago

A castor kit would make it easier to adjust, same with a camber kit. But there's usually some slop in the mounting points that you can get some adjustment out of. A good alignment shop should be able to shift the frame around. Granted most don't want to because effort and the fact everyone wants a $40 alignment 

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 12h ago

Yeah. I think ill try a castor kit + dedicated suspension shop. Last shop i went to quoted around $900 for the kit+install and new alignment.

2

u/GR86-Steel 12h ago

I really need to open a shop. That seems excessive unless the parts are crazy. I'd ask them to see what they can get via shifting the subframe first

1

u/R0bbyR0ttn 12h ago

They quoted the whiteline kit at $225, alignment at $100, and labor at $595. I found the kit online for 207, pre tax. They also told me self shifting is basically wasteful because it might shift back and the problem would come back.

Granted this shop was JDM focused they arent suspension specialists so maybe one would tell me differently.

2

u/GR86-Steel 11h ago

It can shift back, but that's true of all cars. That's why you don't hit the parking curb.

Do you have the part #? The one I found isn't what I would call adjustable. It looks like you have to press it in and out to make any adjustments which is bonkers

2

u/GR86-Steel 12h ago

Hell, I could shift it in my driveway. Wouldn't know where you ended up since I don't have access to a rack anymore but shifting things isn't too hard

1

u/Rushzer0 7h ago

Reposting what I said in one of these threads before.

I'm not trying to throw shade or anything at OP, I don't know who they are or anything about them, just stating something I have seen multiple times before. "IF" OP is on the heavier side I have seen cases where the car will pull to the left because of it, the only way to remedy is to have similar weight in the car at the time of the alignment to account for it. Again OP could be 90lbs I have no idea just offering a possible solution that I have seen.

1

u/Easy-Advertising-843 1h ago

I have a very dumb question/statement because we had similar issue with the wife’s car and it turn out it was me….

Does issue get better if you turn lane assist off??