alignment is off, torque steer, new poly bushings installed

[meGrimlock]

the cause: deep pothole. dented the wheel pretty badly. drove around for a week with bad alignment while the replacement wheel and bushings were being shipped.

here's whats been done: lower control arm torn bushings replaced with pedders polyurethane bushings. dented wheel replaced, remounted old tire. 4 wheel alignment.

here are the initial symptoms: after the install, when the steering wheel is straight the car goes toward the right, straight line to the curb if i let it. i have to keep the wheel pointed to the left to stay straight. after 1/8-1/4mile (a guess) of driving with the streering wheel pointed to the left the front end will get loose and feels like i'm hydroplaning on dry surface. the steering wheel wobbles a bit and i have to correct it. this happens on the highway and around town.

today:
the shop swapped front wheels from left to right. the mechanic who test drove it said that the car pulls to the left now. which indicates bad tire since it was pulling to the right. i took it on the highway and found i did not experience pull, but now had severe torque steer when i did not have it before.

1. whenever i accelerated the steering wheel will turn to the left.
2. when i let go of the pedal the steering wheel will correct itself.
3. if i keep the steering wheel straight and i accelerate, the car will definitely pull to the right again.

i had to go to work but i will call the mechanic again and let them know of the new symptoms. is this a sign of bad tires or bad alignment? are the pedders bushings the cause? i read in this forum that poly bushings would cure torque steer, not induce it. any thoughts are appreciated

[concealer404]

Does it pull the other way when braking?

[meGrimlock]

braking is normal otherwise. no noticable pull either direction.

[1Mazda323Fan]

It sounds like the tire. You probably screwed up the plies in it when you nailed the pothole. Either replace both front tires, or if there's another that will fit that wheel laying around somewhere you can borrow, install it (them) and try again. If the pull goes away, voila, there's the problem. If it persists, have the car realigned again. You may also want to try swapping the left front for one of the rears and driving the car again, if new tires aren't possible right now. The reason the car isn't pulling on the highway is probably due to the crown of the road there; if the road slants down from left to right, then it can negate the pull to that side. If it slanted down from right to left you would have noticed an increased tendency to pull. I doubt your bushings have anything to do with what you're experiencing. Couple other questions, though. Did you have any other bushings replaced, either at the same time as the LCAs or at an earlier time? Is the car lowered? Stock or stock size wheels? Are the tires directional?

[meGrimlock]

Couple other questions, though. Did you have any other bushings replaced, either at the same time as the LCAs or at an earlier time? Is the car lowered? Stock or stock size wheels? Are the tires directional?

both lower control arm bushings (left and right sides done at the same time)

stock ES suspension (with 96,000 mi. on it)

stock 16" wheels

all 4 tires are kumho ecsta asx. they dont appear symmetrical but they have an inside and outside wall.

thanks for everyone's replies so far

[Turpro]

Try putting the rears on the front and see if it still does that

[meGrimlock]

i'll do that this weekend. if the pull (or torque steer) goes away, that means its a bad tire, correct? if the pull still persists then it is an alignment issue. just reiterating, making sure i understand. thanks again

[concealer404]

i'll do that this weekend. if the pull (or torque steer) goes away, that means its a bad tire, correct? if the pull still persists then it is an alignment issue. just reiterating, making sure i understand. thanks again

If it's a bad tire, it'll still drive a little weird with the tire in the back, but it shouldn't be near as pronounced.

Basically, if it changes or feels different when you swap the tires front to back, then it's tires.

[meGrimlock]

swapped the suspected bad tire with 1 of the rear tires (thats all i had time to do after spending a few hours just TRYING to remove a seized wheel).

same symptoms; no noticable pull except the torque steer sensation still persists.

[goldstar]

What do you mean by a seized wheel? Do you mean the rim is locked to the hub because of corrosion? This is especially troubling with alloy wheels because of the dissimilar metals involved. If so, this can be avoided in future by coating the wheel mounting face and the hub with anti-seize compound, making sure to keep it off the lugs. I do this routinely and have never had a problem with wheel removal.

BTW, I'm glad to see you made it over here after the collapse of iMazda.

Happy Motoring!

[meGrimlock]

yea long time reader first time poster. i relied heavily on imazda for a lot of good info, but digression...

last time i rotated my tires i cleaned the hubs and wheel surfaces with a wire brush and brake cleaner. then i applied the antiseize liberally to both based on recommendations at above mentioned forum. when i finally got the wheel off last weekend i could still see plenty of antiseize on both the wheel and the hub

[meGrimlock]

just an update: 4 new tires were mounted and balanced and still getting torque steer. the pull is basically gone except when i accelerate. as soon as i let off the gas the steering wheel returns to straight position.

could bad installation of the bushings (when being pressed maybe?) cause torque steer?

[meGrimlock]

this would explain the pull...

dont know which fluid that is. i assumed it was brake fluid but the resevoir is full and the pedal returns. my next guess is transmission fluid. couldnt move any more, no steering or forward/reverse gears.

my mom and dad were in the car when it happened. pretty loud noise from the wheel well and my mom totally freaked. my dad found this bolt a few meters behind the car. you can see the tire tracks on the street from when this occured and i managed to direct it towards the closest intersection and as far off the road as possible.

[Raider9864]

Ouch! Not good at all!! Gotta use loc-tite on those bolts man!

[meGrimlock]

ill be sure to pass that on to the mechanic who installed it