Does anyone else have poor steering wheel/tie rod alignment?

[15GTBEN]

Yup same issue here. I'm taking my car back in next Monday for the 4th time. I think it's even worse now.

Sponsored

 

[NvrFinished]

Has anyone with these issues checked rear cradle alignment? The front and rear can be aligned correctly on a machine, but I believe if the cradle is not aligned properly the car will essentially line up on the road like a crab and cause the off center wheel.

 

[brandonsmash]

I'll ask them to check the rear cradle alignment tomorrow.

Ford: Quality is job. . . eh.

 

[brandonsmash]

Now Ford is telling me that it's my wheels and tires, and they're charging me $80 to swap to a stock set for testing.

What bullshit. I put on new tires because I thought the tires may have been contributing to this. Then I put on ANOTHER set of tires (with new wheels) and the problem still persists.

[MENTION=7992]FordService[/MENTION]: Is this worth escalating? I've so far paid $280 for alignments and now another $80 to swap wheels and tires for testing. The problem first showed up at 7,700 miles. I have all of 10,300 on my car now.

 

[Bluemustang]

This is why I won't go to Ford anymore. I paid for $100 alignment and I got bad alignment and a noisy car. I took it back to them, walked to work, 15 min later I get a call from their shop saying it's my Koni shocks making noise and there's nothing they can do. Even though my car had no noises whatsoever when I brought it in. After they got through with it it was squeaking all the way down the road. They can't even do a basic alignment.

The only thing I'll let them do is oil changes.

 

[15GTBEN]

They haven't been charging me for allignments becasue my car came like from the factory and documented from the get-go. They have been blaming my tires as well but will still continue to work on it this coming Monday.

 

[melwff]

are you testing this wheel alignment issue in the center lane of a 3 lane road to eliminate the crown effect of the road?

 

[15GTBEN]

are you testing this wheel alignment issue in the center lane of a 3 lane road to eliminate the crown effect of the road?

I can't speak for others but mine pulls left on any lane and any road. My wifes car goes perfectly straight on the same roads/lanes for comparison.

 

[brandonsmash]

are you testing this wheel alignment issue in the center lane of a 3 lane road to eliminate the crown effect of the road?

It's been happening for 3,000 miles on *all* roads, including those that are obviously crowned and those that aren't. It happens on the left and middle and right lanes on the highway, in the center turning lane on multi-lane streets, on single-lane one-way streets, etc. It's not due to a crown. Even then, streets aren't crowned 3 degrees and my other cars don't show this particular issue.

I'd really love to believe it were something as simple as the crown, but it's just not.

Also, the service manager at the local dealer test-drove it and he said that the car was demonstrating lots of torque steer. I've only known torque steer to be a problem on FWD cars. Maybe that's my problem: I got a test-mule FWD Mustang!

 

[robertwsimpson]

can you post your alignment sheet?

 

[brandonsmash]

All of my alignment sheets (5 of them now) are in the car at the dealer. They were supposed to call me back today to give me an update, but that didn't happen: Hopefully it's because they're able to replicate the problem, but are still looking for the solution.

 

[brandonsmash]

Ford just called. Apparently now my car is pulling to the left on braking.

I don't recall it doing that before; that's new and exciting!

Thankfully this dealer A) has a service adviser who's willing to call and let me know what's going on, and B) has provided me a loaner vehicle (an Escape with surprising acceleration and hilarious torque steer).

 

[brandonsmash]

They've replaced the front pads and machined the rotors so far, but don't have any answers on the steering wheel misalignment. The shop foreman should have a chance to drive it Monday.

At least I have a loaner this time!

 

[brandonsmash]

Now I'm in it for another $80 for Ford to swap the wheels/tires back to OEM. I went down today to drive it with the service adviser. Yep, still holds to the left.

"Maybe it's normal?" he says.

NO! It's not normal! It's embarrassing!

 

[Bluemustang]

Maybe you should consider seeking a 2nd opinion.

Sponsored