Car: 1996 Saturn SL2, 124,000 miles.
At speeds above 60 mph, this car suffers from "steering pull." In other words, if I maintained a straight line, the car will wander to the right and I would have to correct the steering so that the car would stay straight. This problem has been occurring for at least 10,000 miles. Here are the steps that I have taken in attempt to resolve it, but with no success.
1. Rotated and balanced the tires. No improvement. The tires are Michelin Hydroedge and the front and rear have 8/32 remaining. No uneven wear.
2. Tried different tire pressures--30F/26R, 35F/30R, 40F/36R. Regardless of the tire pressure combination, it still wandered.
3. Replaced the rear sway bar end links with Moog replacements. The old ones were completely rotten. This eliminated the occasional clunking noise from the rear end, but it did not improve the wandering condition.
3. The last alignment was done about 25k ago, so it's possible that it's due for another one. However, about 10k ago (which was 15k since the last alignment) it was already doing this, so I'm not sure if it's related to the alignment.
4. In the fall, I had two different shops check the suspension. They said the tie rods and wheel bearings were OK. I have not personally checked them. I understand that I should rock the tire at the 9 O'Clock and 3 O'Clock positions to check the tie rods, and the 12 O'Clock and 6 O'Clock positions to check the wheel bearings. How much play is acceptable?
Some other info:
1. The struts are still original. I lowered the tire pressure to the OEM recommended 30F/26R and the ride improved tremendously, but the car would still benefit from new struts. I plan to replace the struts and the front strut mounts soon.
2. The steering seems to have a slight amount of play. It's very slight, but enough to give you the impression that the steering is not very accurate or precise. I only noticed this after driving a few new cars and then driving the Saturn again.
3. Sometimes when I back out of the garage, I can hear a squeak coming from the RF of the vehicle if I turn the steering wheel to the right while backing out. It's difficult to tell whether it's coming from the strut mount bearings or the outer tie rod end.
4. When I accelerate from a stop or come to a stop, I hear a creak from the front end. It sounds like it's coming from around the radiator area.
Any advice is appreciated. I'm really not sure what's causing the wandering.
Thanks!
At speeds above 60 mph, this car suffers from "steering pull." In other words, if I maintained a straight line, the car will wander to the right and I would have to correct the steering so that the car would stay straight. This problem has been occurring for at least 10,000 miles. Here are the steps that I have taken in attempt to resolve it, but with no success.
1. Rotated and balanced the tires. No improvement. The tires are Michelin Hydroedge and the front and rear have 8/32 remaining. No uneven wear.
2. Tried different tire pressures--30F/26R, 35F/30R, 40F/36R. Regardless of the tire pressure combination, it still wandered.
3. Replaced the rear sway bar end links with Moog replacements. The old ones were completely rotten. This eliminated the occasional clunking noise from the rear end, but it did not improve the wandering condition.
3. The last alignment was done about 25k ago, so it's possible that it's due for another one. However, about 10k ago (which was 15k since the last alignment) it was already doing this, so I'm not sure if it's related to the alignment.
4. In the fall, I had two different shops check the suspension. They said the tie rods and wheel bearings were OK. I have not personally checked them. I understand that I should rock the tire at the 9 O'Clock and 3 O'Clock positions to check the tie rods, and the 12 O'Clock and 6 O'Clock positions to check the wheel bearings. How much play is acceptable?
Some other info:
1. The struts are still original. I lowered the tire pressure to the OEM recommended 30F/26R and the ride improved tremendously, but the car would still benefit from new struts. I plan to replace the struts and the front strut mounts soon.
2. The steering seems to have a slight amount of play. It's very slight, but enough to give you the impression that the steering is not very accurate or precise. I only noticed this after driving a few new cars and then driving the Saturn again.
3. Sometimes when I back out of the garage, I can hear a squeak coming from the RF of the vehicle if I turn the steering wheel to the right while backing out. It's difficult to tell whether it's coming from the strut mount bearings or the outer tie rod end.
4. When I accelerate from a stop or come to a stop, I hear a creak from the front end. It sounds like it's coming from around the radiator area.
Any advice is appreciated. I'm really not sure what's causing the wandering.
Thanks!
