One more thing to check if it is only pulling intermittantly in one direction is that the steering rack is centered. This means that at the dead ahead position for the wheels, the steering rack is in the center of its travel. Sometimes after a bunch of alignments you can have the rack not centered. You can check easily by centering the wheels when you pull in the driveway. Put a piece of masking tape at the top center of the steering wheel. Turn the wheel all the way to the right and count the number of turns (it may be a fraction like 1 and 3/4). Recenter and count the turns to the left. If the number each way is different by more than a quarter turn you need to center the rack by loosening both tie rod adjusters and turning both sides equally. An alignment shop should know about doing this especially with new cars with stability control.
This may sound crazy but I have seen this be an issue. If you think about it the power steering doesn't affect the steering until you turn the wheel a certain amount then it assists more and more. If the rack starts off off center a slight movement from a bump or acceleration torque can cause the assist to be a factor.
If the rack pulls intermittantly in both directions you may have problmes with the rack mounts or inner tie rods which you cannot see with the rack boots in place.
This may sound crazy but I have seen this be an issue. If you think about it the power steering doesn't affect the steering until you turn the wheel a certain amount then it assists more and more. If the rack starts off off center a slight movement from a bump or acceleration torque can cause the assist to be a factor.
If the rack pulls intermittantly in both directions you may have problmes with the rack mounts or inner tie rods which you cannot see with the rack boots in place.
Last edited by BlueCrab
on 2013-03-10
at 15-52-22.
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