Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

OK. My car has pulled to the left at highway speeds for a month or so. I have taken it to the dealership for this twice now. The first time they took it around town and didn't notice anything wrong. At highway speed, it pulls left rather significantly-to the point where I can't relax while driving.

Well, I left it with them and they took it out and felt the pull. They said the front is "dead nuts on" and the rear is in spec... and they will compensate the rear to get rid of the pull. Am I missing something? If you have to compensate, something is wrong. What the hell should I do?


Is this normal practice? This doesn't address my clunking sound over bumps either...

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

Help?

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

Nobody :'(

ls1fbody

What do they mean by compensate?

F_Imports_09tc

iTrader: (1)

Sounds a little bit shady. They shouldn't have to compensate the rear alignment(whatever that means). That is just putting a band-aid over the problem, not actually fixing it. Has you car been in any accidents? Something is not "dead nuts on" if it is still pulling to the left. Try taking it somewhere else.

importkiller

iTrader: (1)

The rear cannot be compensated for, it is not adjustable, the only way the rear can be off is if you have subframe damage.

j27-2

this is incorrect there are shims available to correct rear alignment issues and cobalts don't have a rear subframe just a rear torsion beam witch can come out of alignment with ware

BlackARCA06

iTrader: (5)

I had my car on a alignment rack at my college and it said the rear was nonadjustable aswell.

1 SLOW SS

iTrader: (8)

cross rotate your tires see if it pulls the other way. could very well be a tire pull its not always the alignment. also check tire pressures

scottie

There is no built in adjusters, so on an alignment machine it will say its non adjustable. But with body shims you could make tweaks. If you can get a print off of the specs of your toe, camber and caster I'm sure we could help you out a bit more. Are you always in the fast lane? If so then it will always pull to the left due to road crown.

Sounds like they may adjust your toe to the right to compensate for that. If your not always in the left lane, then again get the specs from the alignment and I would better understand whats going on.


My camber is out of spec in the rear with no sub frame damage. It was only like .06 out of green, but still out of spec.

army_greywolf

iTrader: (2)

Go into the road racing forum and look at topics ive posted in.

You CAN add a special shim to both the hub face and the brake caliper mount that will bring it to EXACT spec once you have a good baseline measurement. It's very accurate and furthermore held up very well to road racing. I just take them out when I'm not racing or like now, in the off season.

I'd like to add that if your not sure if what your saying is accurate that you should refer it to someone who does or look it up to confirm or deny before posting information the OP might take for fact. I've been doing this for years and while the machine says it isnt adjustable, you really should open up your parts catalog and look up the spacers in the SPC parts catalog (comes in red, gray and blue with different values)

importkiller

iTrader: (1)

The info I posted was told to me by a mechanic friend that is part of my car club. If he is wrong then what ever, I trust what he has to say cause I know him in "Real Life" he isn't justa a handle on the internet.

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

On two completely different sets of rims and tires, it pulls to the left. It also makes an audible *whoop whoop* sound when I hit deviations in the road like a rise or a pothole.

The service manager says that they are going to compensate for the pull by adjusting the rear end, this has me a bit worried since it was fine before, and now its not.

I feel like there should be nothing to "compensate" for if all components are square and proper. I am nearing the end of my warranty, I am wondering if they are trying to put a band-aid on it and pass it along to me. What if its a frame issue? What if its a strut bearing plate or a wheel bearing? Something is wrong with my car, and no matter what I tell myself, I don't feel like they are doing me a good service. I am actually worried about what may happen to me with this issue.

To describe it further... when I drive down a street at lets say...35. It will pull in almost any direction at random but mostly left (its not tq steer... this is cruising and no change in velocity). When I hit the highway, I literally cannot relax and drive. I am always counter steering to make up for the deviation. I am almost turning to the 1 or even the 2 o'clock on the wheel to go straight. I can let it take me around gentle curves in the road. Even the day OF the initial alignment at first, it wasn't right to me. I seriously have no idea what he could be compensating for.

I am going to call my GM Customer Service Rep right now to report it... I don't care if its late in the day. I'll leave a message. This is really bothering me.

importkiller

iTrader: (1)

Yeah that does not sound like the rear end man. It sounds like something is wrong with the front steering rack or something similar. But that is just a guess.

Why don't you try a different stealership.

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

I will. Once I get this back and its still clunking, I totally will.

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

Still pulls. What now? I think the clunking is coming from the steering rack passenger side. I had my cousin wiggle the wheel and it was audibly and we could feel it with our hand on the rack.

I really need help here guys, they're threatening to charge me. I was bringing it in under warranty when it was happening. I don't know what else to do. Bearings are tight-I checked myself. They said it is spec on and true....


BUT IT PULLS!!!!!!!!!!!! How could this be? Something is wrong, and I am at a loss.

reddevil

iTrader: (1)

sounds like you found it by pulling on the wheels..

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

Do your suspensions make clunking sounds? Seriously. Do they make any sounds what-so-ever when wiggling left and right while stopped and engine off? I need to know, so they don't say its normal...

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

Anyone?

black67

iTrader: (1)

What stealership are you taking this too? I have only found one good one in our area. The clunk could be the sway bar end link, they have been known for that.

With this great weather that we are having, have you hit any of the nice potholes that have been forming?

Do you see any weird tire wear on the two different sets of tires? This could be a silly question, have you checked the lug nuts to make sure they are torqued down properly? Tire pressures?

cranemaster

insurance = not paying any money

probably why instead of getting a cobalt you didnt:


get a used 06 evo (what i woulda got if I had thousands to throw into fixing broken ****)


but instead i got a cobalt with WARRENTY! :P

.. sheesh people

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

My warranty is over. JUST now over by a few miles.


This issue has been going on and on. Its Pat O'Brien Chevrolet. If you drive by there tonight or tomorrow, you'll see my car next to service... silver with steelies.

Lugs are always torqued to 100 ft/lbs. ALWAYS. I don't hit any potholes since I drive mostly highway, rarely do I take a torn up road.

Could be an endlink. They swear up and down its all tight and proper, B U T I T S T I L L P U L L S. Didn't use to. Had a clunk, but its gotten worse. I believe them to be related.


Who is the better dealership? I dealt with O'Brien south (medina), O'Brien east (bishop rd, cleveland), and jack matia chevrolet in elyria...

black67

iTrader: (1)

Pat O'Brien is the worst. We had so much trouble with them when we bought my wifes car, that we ended up getting the salesman fired. The owner personally called us on it, and once we were done with him, he said that was the worst car buying story he ever heard about. He personally took care of the salesman.

Their service is bad, they left us sitting for 3 hours on a Saturday, then said the person that was qualified to fix the problem that they did not tell us about was not even there. We scheduled this too, and they left us hanging.

I wonder if you take the car to another dealer if they would work on it, since it is an ongoing problem.

The only dealer that I would deal with now is Laria in Rittman. They have treated us very well on our two cars. For the alignment, I have had really good luck with the Goodyear shop in Medina. My wifes car was way out, now it is perfect. When they changed over my snows this year, they found mine out in the rear and adjusted it. I did have a pull and that fixed it. When its really cold out, my endlinks clunk. My car is an 09. They were also able to fix a shimmy that my truck had for years, now its gone.

I mostly drive highways also, but I have noticed more potholes lately. I nailed one the other day, didn't even see it until it was to late.

I also check the torque on my wheels, just had to ask.

Nacademus

iTrader: (2)

I am going to have them make a checklist of everything they check and sign off on it being fine. Then, I'm taking it to another place and not telling them anything and having them fix it out of pocket. If it's something on the list that was said to be fine, I'm calling Pat O'Brien himself. I am not paying for this. I refuse to let this stupid situation get out of hand and ruin my life.

One thing is for certain, I will never buy from them again.