front end woes

[Kevin O'Connell]

OK, car started pulling to the left, especially when the brakes are applied. Local alignment shop found a stuck caliper bolt causing pads to drag- replace it, still pulls left. Checked out the front suspension and replaced ball joints tie rods, etc- still pulls left. Checked brake lines- not swollen shut or damaged. Local shop is stumped and I'm out big bucks with the isue not solved. They think it might be in the ABS. I don't want to go to the dealer for this fix. Got any ideas?

 

[BAD97LSC]

yeah, simple bushings, since you said control arms are new, you can rule out the upper bushings in the upper control arms, but i bet they didnt change your strut rod bushings!!! $20 bucks in parts, when they are blown out, they will cause a heavy pull, especially under braking. i'll bet you a turkey sammich thats what it is.

 

[Cheez_94]

I'm having some funky stuff goin on with mine as well. I hear a clunk whan I back up and hit the brakes, and a clunk occationally on a rough road. Feels/sounds like bushings, but I put the squeez on them and didn't see any thing, plus the car only has 79 K on it. I have also noticed that the wheels don't sit equaly centerd in the wheel wells (very slight difference), but my car doesn't pull left or right.

 

[BAD97LSC]

you have ball joint issues with a clunk, usually a lower ball joint, the tires not centered could be a poor alignment, a strut rod might be off as to where it should be, also warn out upper ball joint control arm bushings will off center a wheel too. and the 79k miles it has on it, toss that right out the window, i rebuilt an entire front end on a 93 mark with 42k on it, it sat so long the front end went to hell, miles dont mean squat.

 

[Kevin O'Connell]

pulling left

Strut rod bushings are new- still pulling left.

 

[Tiltedhalo]

If all the front checks, start looking at the right rear...........

 

[Roadboss]

Have you replaced the front pads at some point ? You are aware that the front end can only be aligned after you have replaced the strut rod bushings, and it should be a 4 wheel alignment. You may want to measure your caliper thickness also.

 

[BAD97LSC]

how are the tires on it? bad tires can cause a pull too, rotate the tires and drive it, see if it goes away, if not, i'd take it directly to ford and have it re-aligned.