JD_Ls7

So I've gone to sals auto sport here in Houston to get my alignment done. They did an awesome job but even with the car in spec it's still pulls to the right. All suspension and brake components have been checked and everything is fine.
What could be causing the pull?

Rob 02

Usually old tires.
With a stiff suspension as with a Z06, Old tires will make you feel like the car is loosing control.

JD_Ls7

Brand new nt555s were put on back when I bought the car in October. Maybe even though they are new there could be a defect within the tire?

Rob 02

Check tire pressure because you may have picked up a slow leak.

Blac Avy

Check your front and rear sway bar bushings. If there is any play in them, replace them with genuine GM parts.

JD_Ls7

Checked pressure with my cornwell digital tire gauge and they all read 32 psi

JD_Ls7

Alright I'll check that in the morning. Thanks for the input!

Rob 02

You can check suspension components for looseness but the worst squirreliness on these comes from having low air in one tire.

JD_Ls7

Could a bad wheel bearing be the cause? There are no typical wheel bearing noises but could it slowly be on the way out?

Rob 02

The control arm bushings are old rubber. Replacing all of them cost over $3500. because the OEM bushings are cast into the control arms. You cannot just replace them with new rubber bushings. You would have to replace all 8 control arms.

You can put polyurethane bushings in but it takes a tech that is familiar with Corvettes.

glbeauchamp

I have a pickup that was pulling strongly to the right. Turned out to be a broken belt in the right front tire if I recall correctly. I guess if I suspected a bad tire I would switch the left and the right fronts and then the rears. If it pulls the other way either time I would strongly suspect a tire.

~Josh

Having the tow out of alignment causes pull.

Take it to another shop and have it aligned again.

I had my c5z "aligned" by a supposedly good shop and when it got back the steering wheel was slightly off center (wasn't like that before) and handling was twitchy. It was worse than when I dropped it off! I didn't bother take it back to them. If they sucked that bad I didn't want them "fixing" it. Another shop took care of it and did a good job.

JD_Ls7

This shop is highly known in the area and they do know what they are doing. Thanks for the input though. Everything is in alignment but it still pulls. Probably like someone else said, bad tire most likely the culprit.

~Josh

Also look for signs one of the right brake calipers/pads aren't sticking. If one wheel has a little more brake dust than the others, or if a rotor shows signs of heat.

Fatbob

It very well could be a tire. On another car that I rotated tires on, it went from pulling right to pulling left

JD_Ls7

Turned out to be a warped wheel :/ so I'm at my buddy wheel and tire shop (JACE AUTO) and he's hooking me up with new wheels and tires for a price I think was too good to pass up on.

glbeauchamp

Good to hear you found the problem

UM Rebel

Do you have any idea how the wheel got warped? Did you hit something?

I damaged a rear hub being stupid and fish tailing into a curb but it didn't bend the wheel.

Rob 02

The Z06 suspension is pretty tight. If anything else is a bit loose you diffidently feel it. I have rebuilt these and I know what goes on from personal experience.

There are eight control arms on this car (one upper and one lower on each corner) with two rubber bushings in each. Over the years they get soft and there will be some slack in the steering.

When I took mine to the alignment shop, the nice people there said that they had to make a sacrifice between caster and camber to make my car street worthy. IMO, the bushings are worn out.

If you couple that with bad tires then you have an issue.

You can make it ride like a brand new car but it takes work.

JD_Ls7

Probably from previous owner