Hi Everyone (again)


I have had the car aligned at least 4 times in a year. The car pulls to the left. I had it aligned by one company and they said it was aligned but it still pulled to the left. Went to a tire place (new tires now) and had it done twice and still pulling. Took it to the Jag dealership, they couldn't and sent it out to a shop and still not aligned. I asked them to see if they can see any thing that might have happened to the car before I bought it that they can see and they said no.


Any advice what I should do? My tires have been rotated yesterday because the front are now showing wear on the inside because of the pull.


Thanks again

 

It could be a camber/caster issue but if I was to guess I'd bet the centerlines of the front and rear are not parallel

Think of a billycart and how it steers

A good alignment shop should have confirmed this.
I'd take measurements (front rear on both sides and the diagonals) with the wheels off
You could also take it to a race shop to get a full alignment done and they will measure it up

Its is out it could be bushes, alignment or accident damage
Also do the obvious thing first, swap the tyres from left to right, check the pressures are equal side to side


Cheers
34by151

 

The X350 model of the XJ aluminium saloon with its air suspension generally always tracks straight and true, and the suspension geometry is always correct because the air suspension always self-levels to the correct height whatever the load. For this reason, tyres normally last a very long time, like 35k miles at least on the fronts.

I assume you do have an X350, because you don't say what the car is. How long have you had the car ? Has it ever tracked straight on the highway, or has it always pulled to the left ? There was a recent post on here with some alarming photos of front subframe damage at the lower wishbone pivots due to the wheel hitting something hard at some point.

Are the tyres the same on each side ? A hotchpotch of tyre makes can sometimes cause funny things to happen. Other thing is that the camber of the road will always cause some pulling, but in your case, driving on the right, the pulling would be to the right down the road camber.

Please let us know how you get on. I would say a detailed examination of the suspension is needed including a search for damage.

 

Sometime back, an owner reported on a bent suspension component causing this problem. That was at least 4 years ago and it was spotted buy a particularly astute Jag tech.

 

I will take all this info to the dealership to compare what they did with the alignment. My car is a 2008 XJR 20x9 Cremona rims
Thank you

 

It sounds like your vehicle was likely in an accident before you acquired it. You can try taking the vehicle to your local Goodyear service center, and have them shift the cradle to compensate for the pulling. The Jag may still pull a bit to the left afterwards, but perhaps to a lesser degree.

 

First of all, most of alignment mechanics are morons. That is why about 7 years ago I had to develop a system to align wheels on my driveway and do it myself for all my cars.
There are about 5-7 measurements which should be checked, not just toe, camber and caster.
You need to find a smart alignment guy, I don't know where.
Very common pull problem is bad caster. Bad control arm bushings can change caster when you drive. Bushings can look OK, but they are soft.
Post here your alignment print.

 

Also check out all your frame mounting brackets. If your car was wrecked, or hit something hard at one of the wheels odds are you will see damage in these spots.

Check out "Naso's XJR Diary" I went through something similar. GL.

 

Unfortunate but true...I agree with car5car about the average alignment tech. We now have the best equipment for aligning cars, but if the tech fails to use it correctly, you can do a better job with levels in your driveway.

Some things they may be missing..,

If one or more wheels are not true (bent), you cannot get a good alignment. The wheel(s) must be replaced first.

Are they checking the rear wheel toe? If the rear wheels are off it can turn the car.

If both front tires are wearing the same amount and only on the inside of the tire, then your front toe is off. The tires are toed outward to do that. Negative camber can cause that wear, but not likely. That much camber would be visually noticeable looking at the front wheels, and it would take many miles. So, your front toe is off.

Finally, if the above issues are eliminated, then the front castor is off. Since we know the front toe is off, bad castor does not surprise me.

 

Here is my post from Jeep forum, maybe it will help.
How far off is this alignment? - JeepForum.com

 

Sadly, i will admit, that after hitting a curb, i sheared my tie rod end, bent both lower control arms, and even tweaaked the vertical link where the tie rod end ball joint was connected. In addition, the subframe "shifted" and once the mounting bolts were loosened, it popped itself back into plaace. All had to be fixed before my alignment was true again and drove straight.

 

Where is a good source for the bushings that wear out so soon? My front end feels pretty sloppy but I can't tell what is loose. ('04 XJ 125k mi just got). Also I noticed all the rubber seals on the tie rod ends are split, front and rear. Is that common too?
I can do toe-in pretty well- I use some shelf brackets in a U shape as straight edges, and put them up to each tire on the sides and extend them out and then measure the toe in on the brackets. I haven't done caster or camber. Any good DIY method for that?

 

Ball joint boots can be bought on the internet and are very cheap, you just have to measure up the sizes using a caliper gauge. Some sites know the dimensions for the main models of cars. Of course you have to spot the split boot before the ball joint gets wrecked by ingress of grit and water.

Most of the main swivel-type bushings are available on the internet now, but if the ball joints have gone on the wishbones, a new wishbone has to be fitted. So far nobody is supplying ball joints to swap out on the wishbones. ANyway the wishbone prices have now come down to the point where labour charges to swap-out will probably equal the new wishbone price.

Here's a couple of UK suppliers. There are US ones.

Jaguar X350 Steering / Suspension / Bushes Parts

JustJagsUK.com - Jaguar X350 Parts | Jaguar X350 Steering & Suspension