I recently hit a pot hole and got a flat tire on the front passenger side. got new toyo proxies 4 which are very nice. but i realized my car kept going to the right. i had my alignment done twice, but i think the problem is my springs. i measured the height and the front passenger side is lower by half an inch. do i need new springs or shocks or something? im going to take it to the shop next weeek. thanks in advance.

 

Must have been some huge pothole to take out your tire - or maybe you were driving too fast (or flying too low? )

Sounds like you've damaged something in your right front suspension, maybe the spring came out of its perch? I'm surprised your alignment tech didn't find anything wrong. I would definitely take your car to a different shop.

In the meantime you could jack up the front, take off the front tires and compare the two sides for differences. Especially how the springs seat into their top and bottom perches.

 

the pothole was huge, dented my rim pretty deep too. thanks. yeah, they thought it might be a tire being manufactured bad. i'm pretty sure its a suspension problem. can springs break or lose their spring height?

 

Not easily. Have you taken a look at it yet?

 

Look to see if you bent an arm or something. If it was a big enough hole if could have pushed the tire back and bent it. But I would def. take it to another shop to have it looked at. But good luck man, and get a new rim cause you dont want to get a flat from a screwed up rim.

 

thanks,. im having it looked at on wed

 

ok i got this checked and the shop said my caster is 3/4 degree off or something. so i have to go to a body shop and have my car body frame fixed, because caster isn't mechanically adjustable on the tc. anything sound off? they said no suspension problems or tire problems.

 

Caster shouldn't really cause a pull all that much. Have another alignment done at a GOOD performance alignment shop. Not only will you get a great alignment, but the guy's hands and eyes will be all over the car, and he will be able to tell you anything else he might find.

 

before you go to a body shop, you should replace your lower control arm on the side where the caster is affected. You BENT your lower control arm. Replace it, and your caster will go back to normal If it doesn't.. only THEN should you go to a body shop to bend the subframe.


edit: also, caster is direction stability. Once it's affected it can cause drift. Depends on how bad you bent it. And 0.75degrees is a hell of a lot! I bet the steering is loose feeling and not as "tight" as it was. Replace the lower control arm first.