I have a 2006 XB. I had lowering springs on the vehicle up until 2 weeks ago. It has 32k miles on it. Steering was fine, alignment was fine, everything "fine." Stock struts and rear shocks were used, and continue to be used. I installed One Ton Garage's rear spacers, the ones that mount in between vehicle and hub. Not the camber plates, the flat spacers. They are not the "wheel spacers." Those too, remain on the vehicle.

I've acquired a part-time job where I drive quite a few miles daily. I decided to reinstall my stock springs to regain some of my suspension, and to get as much wear out of my tires as possible. I had the tires replaced with OEM size, and had the alignment done. Alignment is within factory spec, and the ride is back to stock. Oh, I am running stock steelies.

After the above work was done, my car wants to drift to the right upon acceleration. If you let off the gas or engage the throttle to maintain speed, the car tracks straight. No pull in either direction. If I apply throttle and accelerate, the car wants to drift right. It's not a neck breaking jerk to the right, but it's noticeable.

I brought it back to the tire shop, and they rotated the tires and checked the tire pressure. They were thinking it was a possible "radial pull," but unlikely since it doesn't drift constantly, only upon acceleration. After the rotation and PSI check, the symptom remains.

When I got my car, the stock springs were in the car for about a week, so I don't fully remember what the stock ride was like, but this doesn't seem right. My brother-in-law, who is extremely experienced in auto repair along with the mechanic at the tire shop say that it's nothing to worry about, and I agree. There seems to be some "torque steer" inherent to FWD vehicles, due to the different length drive shafts, but I don't remember this being so noticeable when I first got my car.

Have any of you had this experience? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

probably just needs another alignment after changing the springs back and forth

 

wait sorry i just saw u said u just had an allignment.. are all your tires the same?

 

Tires all match. Same brand, same size.

 

i actually do notice mine pulling sometimes i always think it only hapens when im alone bc theres more weight on my side lol but thats probably not it at all

 

Bump. Anyone?

 

It's just torque steer.... Ur brother is on the dot...

I have the same problem with my 06 Maxima (stock 18's & suspension)... Just happens sometimes when you hit certain grooves on the road...

Very common in front wheel drive vehicles... Some more then others...

 

springs don't change tire wear.


and yes it's torque steer but you should have felt it before.



if it's a new problem just after changing springs and tires get an alignment and or tires rebalanced.


OHHH and torque steer will be present whether or not you are lowered and or on aftermarket suspension. / larger wheels.

 

torque steer has NOTHING to do with grooves in the road.



it has to do with unequal length half shafts (axles) and is much more prevalent with the higher the hop the car possesses

 

I know torque steer has nothing to do with grooves in the road, what I'm saying is grooves in the road will make your wheel pull also when you're accelerating along with torque steer... Especially uneven roads....

Just worded it incorrectly....

And springs WILL change tire wear also... You'll get camber wear... Now if it's uneven like wavy then you just need to rebalance the tire... Just depends what type of wear you're having...

 

you wont get camber from lowering IF you get a proper alignment. you can even tuck the back, and those wont even toe any differently. a good alignment shop should be able to zero-out your camber/toe/caster up front. for the rear, it generally doesnt change.

im dropped 2 in., one finger gap, and the shop was still able to get the camber within factory specs.

but since you got your alignment done, id suggest pumping up your tire pressure, and keep an eye on your cv boots/axles. i had this problem in my other car, turned out the axle was about to fall right out of the tranny. i got lucky on that one

 

I really think it varies by vehicle make/model...

I had a '97 Civic dropped 2" and I had bad camber wear, but my buddy with a '04 xB with a 1.7 drop i think has no camber issues period...

 

yea, hondas have camber problems when they lower, but i think for the most part toyotas can be corrected easily with alignment.

i have a camry dropped 2 in. and can line up fine. most camry guys that lower their cars have no camber issues with proper alignment.

but then again i got a cousin with his old civic si (the ep hatch, bastard child egg si) that lowered on s-techs and had no camber issues whatsoever. so youre right in that it depends on the car.

 

After years of bring a tech for a living. I would check for any loose nuts or bolts or even go as far as loosing and retorq'n all of them. At first, I was thinking like everyone else "it's torq steer" but, I think you might want to check them out. If that not it, no harm checking yourself.