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Thank you guys so much for your valuable input. I do have an IR temp gun so I will check that in the next day or two before I get into anything alignment related, I'll also jack the car up as recommended by @stingr69 and check the bearings. That being said I appreciate all the info relating to the alignment and I will let everybody know what my findings are. I also appreciate the breakdown of the alignment specs @leigh1322
Ok I had some time before the rain started;
I jacked up the car and shimmied the wheels as suggested. Driver side has zero play, passenger side has just a little play; but definitely more than the driver side. There is no clunking.
I took it for a drive, I measured the temp on the rotors before hand both were at 94 degrees fahrenheit. After I got back I checked both; passenger side was at 140F and the driver side was at 125F. I also started the vehicle with the car up on jacks and the wheels did not move at all, but I forgot to spin the wheels to check for caliper drag.
Last edited by RonnieJamesDio; Sep 22, 2025 at 06:01 PM.
Reason: spelling error
Do NOT spin the rear wheels while up on jack stands!
The u-joints can bind and cause damage.
Spin by hand to test.
Raise trailing arm some until wheel spins free.
Those temps seem pretty close tho.
Now if one was 100* hotter.....
Correct I did not do that with the rear wheels for good reason just the fronts. I will try doing the other test soon, I assumed that 15 degrees difference in temperature would be just enough to make it drift the way it is? Just spitballing here, but if it isn't that's good to know.
Zero play?
On a front spindle bearing?
That does not sound right.
That bearing lock nut might be too tight.
You should readjust it.
They should be loose.
Wrench tight, then loosen, then fingertight, then back-off less than1/8 turn til the cotter pin lines up.
It should be a little loose.
If it pulls to that side, that could cause it.
And it could kill the bearing.
To confirm if it is too tight and causing your issue, pull the pads, and then the rotor should keep spinning freely after you give it a push.
I did say zero play on the driver side so I'll amend my statement; it has very minimal play, it hardly moves at all when I tested it. But the passenger side certainly has more play than the driver side, but not much more.
I forgot to reply to your question @Bikespace ; my apologies!
Yes actually, that's a great way to put it. The faster I tend to go the quicker and more aggressive the drifting becomes, which in turn I obviously have to overcorrect more on my steering.
I forgot to reply to your question @Bikespace ; my apologies!
Yes actually, that's a great way to put it. The faster I tend to go the quicker and more aggressive the drifting becomes, which in turn I obviously have to overcorrect more on my steering.
And it's always pulling in the same direction? To the right?
I'll defer to @leigh1322 on this one, but if you've had an alignment done, and the numbers are not optimal, but are straight, then it's not the alignment. You could crab down the street with a horribly aligned car, but it will go straight.
Since this issue followed you through your steering change, I'll assume the Borgeson is set up correctly, and the pull isn't internal to that.
So, in order for you to have a pull, I think you need drag on one of the wheels. That could be bearings, that could be brakes (parking brake!), or that could be scrubbing from a single tire.
The alignment shop would have noticed the misaligned wheel, and you would notice one tire that is very flat, or smaller than the rest. All I can think that is left is a bad bushing is causing one of your right side wheels to pull the wheel out of alignment when rolling. Control arm bushings in the front? Trailing arm or strut rod bushings in the rear? Axle stub in the differential?
I'm just speculating. Hopefully others have some concrete suggestions.
Yes it is always pulling to the right. I believe I can narrow this down even further;
I personally replaced every bushing including the body mount bushings so I know those are good. Most were done within the past 1-3 years. The bearings seem fine after testing, but if you are referring to the yoke on the rear differential I have never attempted to replace those bearings and that may have to do with the clunky shifting issues I've had since the purchase of the vehicle. (I did replace the U-Joints on the half shafts.)
Its interesting you mention the parking brake because it actually hasn't been functional since I owned the vehicle. I attempted fixing it myself about 5 years ago as a novice "mechanic" but gave up and haven't got back to it. From what I remember; the parking brake light indicator comes on when you apply the parking brake, but it doesn't actually do anything. It's relatively loose. If I remember right I took off the rear wheels and the brakes still had meat on them but one or two may have had large cracks in them; which side I couldn't tell you for certain but they are old. None of the parking brake springs were really functional, they hardly budged and I remember attempting to adjust the cable but it didn't do much.
Parking brake springs have been known to jam up a rear wheel here more than once.
Only way I know to diagnose a tight bearing is too disconnect everything that rubs the wheel, like brake pads, calipers, half-shafts. etc.
The spin each wheel and they should all spin-down in the same amount of time.
Parking brake parts rubbing often make a noise, but not always.
I will take your advice and add that to my list of things to hopefully get done this week and will post my findings here. I haven't heard any rubbing, at least nothing that comes to my attention but I will keep my ear on it.
Side note; I have never done any work to the rear trailing arms or that particular bushing that pairs with it, I will make that a priority first to check it out.
The only noise the car makes is the loud clunking when coming to a complete stop or if I put it in drive (All the engine/trans mounts are brand new and trans was rebuilt about a year ago.) I believe that's a totally separate issue to diagnose so I won't flood this post with that issue unless its related, but I have many other things to check out first.
Last edited by RonnieJamesDio; Sep 27, 2025 at 12:32 AM.
I will take your advice and add that to my list of things to hopefully get done this week and will post my findings here. I haven't heard any rubbing, at least nothing that comes to my attention but I will keep my ear on it.
The only noise the car makes is the loud clunking when coming to a complete stop or if I put it in drive (All the engine/trans mounts are brand new and trans was rebuilt about a year ago.) I believe that's a totally separate issue to diagnose so I won't flood this post with that issue unless its related, but I have many other things to check out first.
It sounds (no pun intended) like you missed a bushing.
If the snubber bushing on the differential needs to be replaced, it will sound like the symptom you described.
While you are under the car checking for wear or leaks around the differential, check the snubber bushing, too.
And if you are under there anyway, do check the rest of the bushings. You never know. You might just have a lose bolt, or a bent strut rod, or something else obvious that doesn't require pulling the wheels (and half-shafts) to test.
Ok so I squeezed under the car to take a look to see if this is affecting the current drifting issue.
The differential carrier bushings are completely shot, definitely need to be replaced and its leaking badly from both yoke seals. (When I replaced the U-Joints I did not notice it leaking so it must have started in the past year. Yet I have nothing dripping in the driveway and I have never taken out a yoke so my experience with that is zip.) Both trailing arm bushings didn't look great, pretty flat and rock solid. I looked at the shims and as you can see in the pictures; they look pretty old. I'm guessing a pretty safe bet is to start with those bushings but it looks to be quite the bugger to get them out.
So yes you are absolutely correct, turns out I missed quite a few bushings on the rear....
The way to check the integrity of those trailing arm bushings is to stick a crowbar in there near the bushing.
See if you can pry the trailing arm up, or side to side, or if any crumbly bushing parts fall out.
Any of those would be bad.
1/16" of an inch is one thing, that might be bushing flex, more than that is a fail.
But I think I too see an air gap in the shims. Best to check that.
Is the big cotter pin in there that holds the shims in?
If that is missing, I have seen shims fall out.
The shims should be very snug. So much so that the last one needs to be tapped in. No slop at all.
I did not check to see if the pin is still there, I'll have to get it up on jack stands for a better view and check for snugness. You are right though Leigh, it does look like there are gaps in the shims. I will post my findings once I take a look.
Ok I put the car up on jacks and this is what I found.
The adjustable strut rods have a nut completely loose on both sides, driver side bottom and passenger top. The lower nut on the driver side is actually in the middle of the threads as pictured. The shims on the passenger side trailing arm I can actually wiggle and move up with my index finger so there is somewhat of a gap, but the pin is there. Driver side shims are tight and don't budge either and the pin is also on that one.
The shims on the passenger side trailing arm I can actually wiggle and move up with my index finger so there is somewhat of a gap, but the pin is there. Driver side shims are tight and don't budge either and the pin is also on that one.
You shouldn't be able to move them with just a finger, they should be tight with no space to allow that kind of movement. What's happening is that the forward end of the arm is moving left and right which is pivoting on the strut rod and half-shaft and changing the tire tracking on that side. In other words, you're not only steering with the two front wheels but have an additional non-controllable steering wheel in the rear.
just the fronts. I will try doing the other test soon, I assumed that 15 degrees difference in temperature would be just enough to make it drift the way it is? Just spitballing here, but if it isn't that's good to know.
