Hello again everyone!

Per everyones prior advice I jacked up my car to see if my breaks were dragging. All the wheels turned freely by hand. Ive got an alignment and new tires in front and my steering is still off. To drive straight I have to have the wheel turned 30-40 degrees left. When I do this it drives "perfectly" straight. When I have the steering wheel where it should be (as in not turned to the left or right) to go straight it goes to the right. The steering wheel shakes slightly while driving and it shakes faster when driving at higher speeds.

I assume something is bent? Ive not hit anything or bottomed out at all. What should I check? Anything I can do in the driveway to know whats up with it? When I got the car it shook just a bit. And was ever so slightly off. Its gotten worse and Id like to remedy it before something goes terribly wrong.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks much!

 

when they did the alignment, they must not have set the steering wheel to center. Take it back to them and have them align it correctly. If something was so bent that it couldnt be aligned, a reputable shop would not align the car in the first place. they'd say "we cant do the alignment because you have a bent tie rod/bad idler arm/bad lower control arm, etc..."

Generally speaking, vibrations are issues separate from alignment. You could have cupped/unevenly worn tires or an imbalanced wheel or something like that. What speed are you getting the vibration? Is it only pronounced at certain speeds?

I would start with taking it back to the alignment shop and have them fix the alignment....and ask them to look at the car for any issues that they spot to see if they can determine the cause of your problem. Hopefully its something simple like a tire imbalance. Keep us posted.

 

I just had an alignment yesterday 'cause I have the Firestone lifetime alignment and figured "Hey, it's been 6 months". They came up with a few suggested repairs - 2 struts, 2 strut mounts & 2 sway bar links for $655.42 and labor is another $609.00 Nice, eh?

I just did all that myself (plus a lot more) so I'm sure I goofed something up, but no way I'm gonna have them touch my ride. Point is, if you know how to hold a wrench, odds are pretty good you can repair anything they tell you is in bad shape and save a ton of cake - in this case, at least $609!