Car doesn't drive straight!

Hope that works for you Calabrio, looks like Sarasota isn't a place that has good fix it shops, I got a good $3,000 screwin' when I had my intake replaced. It's surprising that Firestone did the alignment 6 times without saying that there is something wrong with your car so they can sell you something because they work on commission and they love to sell you :q:q:q:q that you don't need.:shifty:
 
ponytail john said:
Hope that works for you Calabrio, looks like Sarasota isn't a place that has good fix it shops, I got a good $3,000 screwin' when I had my intake replaced. It's surprising that Firestone did the alignment 6 times without saying that there is something wrong with your car so they can sell you something because they work on commission and they love to sell you :q:q:q:q that you don't need.:shifty:
Click to expand...

Sarasota Ford has one Master Tech who is an absolute master when it comes to these Mark VIIIs. He not only a fine mechanic, he's also an admirer of the car. There's nothing he can't quickly and accurately diagnose and fix. Unfortunately, I just haven't had time to bring it down there lately.

Firestone aligned the car twice with a completely disintegrated drivers side strut rod bushing. I saw it when I climbed under the car and brought the car right back. I think they know that I'll do my own suspension work and only use my "lifetime alignment," so they don't bother looking for things to fix.
 
You should replace these parts in pairs (meaning both sides at a time) not by one caliper, here one bushing there. The balance of the suspension on these cars is sensitive so you should try and keep things done on balance (RH & LH). Have you put a micrometer on the rotors to see if they measure the same thickness, looking for a posible dragging caliper.
 
I'd do wheel bearings in the front too. As long as you have the calipers and rotors off.

Make sure you get a new crush sleeve and it needs to be torqued to like 250lbs (IIRC-check tomake sure on the number). Do not over-torque because you can't (or shouldn't) back the nut off. You can pick up the bearings at most local car parts places for $10 or so.

Get the car jacked up and have a guy pull on the top of the tire while you look in between the gap of the rim and the brake caliper. There should be no play.
 
Already done it. New rotors. New wheel bearings. New upper control arms, lower control arms, tie rods, strut rod bushings, tires, rims, ect, ect..... the car is a high mileage money pit.

So, I'll throw a pair of new calipers on the list of recently installed parts next weekend. Hopefully that'll take care of the drag and pick up another mpg or so.
 
when you do this please swap the front wheels side to side and see if it pulls to the left now.
 
replaced calipers.
replaced brake pads.
swapped front tires.
bled brakes.

The braking is much improved.
During the test drive, it also stopped pulling hard to the right.
This was a necessary upgrade I should have done long ago.
I might even have seen a markable improvement in my mpg on the test drive. That'll take a little while longer to verify though.

But, it still feels like it's pulling right. It's better now, but still not quit right.

So,here are the recent parts:

wheels
tires
rotors
calipers
flushed fluid
pads
strut rod bushings
upper and lower control arms/ball joints
wheel bearings
air struts

Order the ABS sensor at the same time, but the part was wrong, so I still have the ABS/traction control lights on.

I'll flush the power steering pump and rack next weekend and refill with new Dex-Mer III, same time as I do the oil filter adapter gasket. I haven't replaced the rear driver's wheel bearin either, it's a PITA and I don't have a press. I have the parts, so I'll just put that on the "to-do" list as well. No indication that it's bad, that I've seen. No apparent wheel wobble, noise, or unusual tire wear... but no harm in changing it.
 
That sucks but I am glad its getting a bit better for ya. Tie rods or anything bent at all? Its a mystery to me at this point.
 
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