I discovered this on the way home last night. My car (1983 300D turbo) does it on different streets and at different speeds. It even seems to be doing it as I go around curves (although it's harder to tell then).
Does anyone know what else I should look at, besides the rubber in the rear suspension, for the cause? I noticed this morning that my 1984 Volvo 240DL also does it a bit, so could it just be a consequence of rear wheel drive?
The folks following me last night probably thought I was a crazy driver
or worse
. Was a pretty good cure for tailgaters, just not one I care to have anymore.
History:
I've been slowly working my way through the steering problems on my car. The symptoms are that the car drifts to the right a little and the steering feels a little loose. Not enough that it feels like it is pulling, more like just enough that I have to compensate by turning the wheel to the left enough to remove the slack in order to keep it going straight.
I adjusted the steering box until it has about the 1 in of play (it had tons more when I got the car -- somebody adjusted the screw in the wrong direction). I replaced both upper control arms because I found play in the passenger side ball joint. I replaced the idler arm journal bearing because it too had play. After that, it drove great for about 50 miles.. steering was off, but was tight. Then it got worse again, the driftiness and looseness came back. Last night I noticed the left/right acceleration-related pull. I have yet to get the car aligned -- it was next on my list of things to have checked.
The tire pressure is spot on (I keep checking it thinking maybe they've lost air and are now the cause of the problems). The outside edge of front passenger tire is practically bald, but it always looked like it might have a slight outward camber to it until after the UCA replacement. I wanted to fix the looseness or rule out all other possibilities before buying new tires.