[Shop-talk] Car pulls left

[John T. Blair]

At 09:33 AM 3/24/2022, Jim Franklin wrote:

 >I bought a 2013 Mazda3 in January after an exhaustive search for a wagon with
 >a stick. With only 55k miles, I justified the hugely inflated price 
tag. During the
 >test drive I noticed a shake in the front end as well as a pull to the left.

Jim,

A couple of thoughts:

Did you get a Car Fax on the car.  It almost sounds like it may have 
been in and
accident and not repaired properly.

I believe the Mazda 3 is a front wheel drive car.  Has anyone checked the rear
wheel bearings?  These are usually inexpensive.

I know you had the wheels check, but you can check the wheels for 
true easily.  Jack up the car, and make quick and dirty tool to check 
the wheels, or buy a dial indicator.  Make a pointer, make a little 
stand with a wooden base and vertical stick.
Put a pointer on the stick.  Then slide the pointer to where it just 
touches the rim
and spin the wheel.  Look for a gap to increase/decrease.  If the gap 
is uniform
the wheel is fine, go on to the next one.

 >The local shop swapped front tires L-R and the pull completely went 
away but the
 >shake didn't (shop said rims were bent).

This could mean that a ball joint is bad, or if the car as an upper A 
arm or lower
control arm, the bushings could be bad causing the shake.

 >Because the shake would come and go as I took long but gently sweeping
 >curves,

This could indicate a worn bushing and the suspension is moving under loading.

John




John T. Blair  WA4OHZ     email:  jblair1948 at cox.net
Va. Beach, Va                  Phone:  (757) 495-8229

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