pulls hard to the left

[keatonsdad]

When i gently apply the brakes the car tracks straight, when i stomp on the brakes the car tracks straight, when i moderately apply the brakes the car pulls HARD to the left. i need to replace the drivers uca would this cause this or should i look else where, i have replaced the pads and rotors flushed the fluid and the calipers seem to move freely when i changed the pads i have changed the pins that hold the calipers as well. now every now and then when i turn left i have to return the wheel to center, i know this is an indicator for the rack going out might this be the culprit. ive exhausted all my local resources short of going to a shop and paying for it to be figured out.
again thank you for all the help in advance
mike

 

[BAD97LSC]

the upper control arms where they bolt to the car, have articulating bushings in them for your up and down suspension travel, those bushings wear out, when they do, you can litterally take the upper control arm and move it latterally back and forth, knowing this can happen, when you hit the brakes if the upper control arm bushings are worn, it will cause the car to pull, so will the strut rod bushings, so will a bum caliper, the pass side upper being bad wont cause the car to pull to the left, but why do you say you only need to change the pass side? just because the ball joint might not be bad on the driver side, doesnt mean the bushings on the driver upper arent bad. the easiest way to confirm is pull the front tires off the car, unbolt the upper control arm from the top of the spindle assembly, grab onto the upper control arm and hold it as close to level as you can, and try to wiggle it towards the front and the rear of the car, if it has any slop in it, change the upper control arm, i never change front end parts one at a time, everything up front should be done in pairs, always.

 

[keatonsdad]

sorry i ment to say driver side the ball joint on that side is getting loose so i plan on changing it and the other side as well. i agree with you on changing everything i pairs i always do. the previous owner did all of the lower half and the air suspension but fir some reason did not do the sway bar end links or the uca's not sure why but now it needs done. how about the rack would it cause any problems like that as well im sure i will need to replace it soon to

 

[BAD97LSC]

i doubt its the rack making the car pull, i have owned 9 mark VIII's in just under 7 years and i never put a rack in any of them them except my current 93, and i only did a rack because it was leaking fluid bad, but it still worked fine.

 

[Go Fast Get Tickets]

I agree with Jamie, strut rod bushings and UCA. You would be amazed at the amount of travel front to rear bad strut rods bushings allow. Have seen it first hand on 2 of my Marks. I'd replace those then see if rack goes back to center after turns. Could be a slight binding issue with the those wore parts.

 

[Green Machine]

I had exactly the same problem you have and my front calipers were sticking. cleaned them up and lubricated them it helped a lot. Bad inner tie rod ends and bad ball joints will make it do the exact same thing.
Get Moog Ball Joints and tie rod ends. dont mess with the ebay stuff, its junk. spend the extra, your life depends on them.

 

[1bad4.6l]

I have seen that upper and that will give you a no return to center feeling. I know this from personal experience. Shoot for the control arm first.

 

[keatonsdad]

I'm ordering them with the next paycheck

 

[YR1 MK8]

good prices at www.rockauto.com