I had an alignment done about 2 months ago when I did my lower ball joints, lower outer tie rods, and Daizen steering busings. It was soon after I notice my car would drift/pull to the right after 40mph; 0-40mph is fine. I had my alignment guy take a look yesterday and he told me it's because I have directional tires and my tension rods need to be replaced. According to him, my car will pull because of the tires. He's stated I could switch the front tires to see if it would help. I'm not a tire expert, but is he pulling my chain? He looked at my lower control arm bushings and said they are fine. My car is lowered with L-tuned S/S and I have Vrdestein Essenta 245/35/19F and 275/30/19R. What do you guys think?

Thanks

 

Tension rod?? What tension rod?

Directional tires are specific because they are designed to channel out water one way.

If you're pulling to the side, you'll need to check your tires for irregular wear and check the tire pressure.

 

GSteg,

I had the same reaction too when he mentioned tension rods. He even showed them to me. I checked my tire pressure 3 days ago and they were at 35 for all 4 tires. My tires are brand new, probably had about 500 miles on them.

 

I'm not sure what the tension rod is. Is he talking about the outer tie rod? Perhaps your caster arm bushing is very worn out?

 

I'm pretty sure he's not talking about the outer tie rod. I will ask him again to look at the bushings when I get a chance to drop my car at his place. If not the bushings, what else I could look at? Would re-balancing my wheels be the place to start?

 

Tire balancing shouldn't really affect your alignment. Ask him to point out what the tension rod is. In fact, take a picture of the component he's pointing. out.