Help! Car pulls heavily to the right...
 

So my car pulls heavily to the right side. It does this while driving and stopping. So much so that if I let go of the steering wheel while driving straight, I can switch lanes quickly without touching the wheel. Now I have lowered my car and I haven't got an alignment, could that be all I need to do?

If this wasn't happening before you lowered the car then it's probably your alignment. Get that done.

+1

1. Check your tire pressure
2. Check to see if your wheels are balanced (not necessary but good if you do this)
3. Alignment (necessary) and if you really care, corner balance

Do all three then check back with results.

+1 for alignment

Would also help if you provided more info like what vehicle, what coils, etc

If I were to make a guess based on what I learned in school, your caster may be off but it may be something else
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Probably toed way the fuck out on one side. Steer ahead setting is way off so it'll pull like a bitch.

Get an alignment before your tires start feathering. Don't leave it if you intended to let the springs settle.

Okay I'll go get an alignment done. I'll let y'all know if that was the problem. Thanks all.

alignment for sure, asides that it sounds like a tie rod is bent or lower control arm

Okay so I took a look under the passenger side of the car and it looks as tho one of the bushings (not sure which one, maybe tie rod end) is pretty much gone, like its metal to metal, could this be a possible reason?

definitely need an alignment...but sounds like a flat tire...haha

Could be that. Or tie rods. Or control arms and whatever suspension related parts are worn out. Be prepared to replace the parts and to spend $$$$$.

TRE doesn't use a bushing - it's a balljoint.

Check all you're steering/suspesion components first, for wear, bent, loose parts and that everything's seated properly (ie. springs). Once all worn/broken parts are replaced, then align it.

It'd be wise to post what car this is and if you had this problem before you lowered it.

^
Based on his user profile, it's a 1993 Acura Vigor.

Yup, 1993 Vigor.

So I went in to get my suspension looked at to see if I needed to replace any parts before the alignment and the guy said everything looked tight. He then spotted my front driver side tire and noticed it had major wear due to camber, said that this could actually be your problem. He swapped the fronts to the rears and low and behold my car doesn't pull to the right anymore. Well not as bad, its kinda a slow drift now instead of a hard pull. Told me that the rest could be fixed with an alignment I just needed to purchase a front camber kit first. Told me to come back when I got the parts (he suggested I buy them online cause his price would have been expensive) and sent me on my way, no charge. Going back next week once my camber kit arrives.

Camber kit will fix it followed by alignment

So I went and got my alignment done this week and the problem is solved. Well half solved... my car doesn't pull to the right when I drive anymore, it doesn't drift or get outta control when I hit a bump, it pretty much drives like it should. I say half fixed cause it still pulls to the right when I brake. So I'll have to get that checked out too. The one dislike about the camber kit is I didn't think that it would ride so much stiffer. I feel like my kidneys are going to explode when I hit even the slightest bump in the road. I guess its give and take right...

Oh, for those of you that want to know where I got the alignment done at, it was at Tire Xpert's on Scott Rd between 82nd & 83rd. Cost me $100.75 taxes in. (I put the camber kits in myself) Peter and Al are good guys, treated me well and were very honest and fair. I recommend.

gain some weight to make it more balanced

A camber kit shouldn't make the ride rougher. All it does is allows for greater adjustments when doing alignments. If your car is pulling when braking, check your left calipers. One of them may be stuck open. Alternatively, the brake line may be clogged and not allowing hydraulic pressure to push the caliper.

What is the history of your car? If it is a second hand car and it is a new purchase, you might want to see if the car had an accident in its history? If an alignment doesn't fix the pull and everything is fine, it might boil down to a bent frame?

I second this. Driver side caliper is stuck open.

Couldn't a camber kit make it stiffer if the bushing inside the camber kit is made of stiffer material?

Also, after doing some investigating, I think what is happening is the upper control arm where the upper ball joint connects, is hitting the upper fender well. I can only assume that before the alignment was done the control arm had enough clearance, but now that the kit has pushed them to the outside by a couple of degrees, it is now hitting.

I dunno. But I will check the calipers for the pulling.

Oh and what does "stuck open" mean?

Means the piston or sliders aren't allowing the caliper to compress.

If I rebuild my caliper would that possibly fix the problem?

Unless it's the sliders (which it usually is), you'll probably end up buying a reman caliper.

When you press the brake, the caliper compresses onto the rotor slowing the car down. When I say stuck open, when you press the brake only the right side is compressing and the left one isn't doing anything for braking causing the car to pull right. If you want an idea how this works get on a tricycle and push it forward, then put your foot on the rear right tire to stop the tricycle. What does the tricycle do? It'll pull to the right. Same idea.

You might want to try and flush the brake fluid. There might be debris in the brake lines causing the caliper to not operate. That would be the cheapest solution before rebuilding the caliper.