Car pulls to the left


Question:

When I suddenly take my foot off the accelerator (doing 20+ mph) my Midget pulls to the right. When I put it hard back on again the car pulls to the left. It brakes in a straight line and it is not the UK's weather! Does anyone have any ideas? Is it the diff?


Answers:

I'd have a good guess at the problem being loose location of the rear axle. i.e. The U shape bolts on the rear springs being loose.

Could also be a broken rear leaf spring though. This usually manifests itself by you needing to have the steering wheel slightly turned in order to go straight.


No everything is fine with either my foot on the gas or off it - it does not pull. Just when I take my foot off - pulls right, or put it back on - pulls left.

Are you saying that the problem still could be the U bolts or spring?


Yes its still likely to be a loose U bolts or worn bushes.

When you apply the throttle the axle will twist slightly (if loose U bolts) with the torque thus altering the alignment of the rear wheels.

When you lift off you suddenly remove the torque on the axle and the this cause the axle to twist in the opposite direction hence the car going different ways when lifting off and applying the throttle.


I had the same problem and it turned out to be the bushings for the leaf springs. I replaced the front bushings, the shackle Bushings (at rear of leaf spring) and the rubber seats that go in the U-bolt plates (or whatever they are called). It worked like a charm.

By the way, I found that the front leaf spring bushings were very difficult to remove. I ended up having to take it to a machine shop because I almost ruined the mounting plate trying to drive them out. Might not be a bad idea to just take them right to a shop at first. That is what I will do next time. I think I have read about people using anti-sieze when reassembling. I wish I had for the next time.


Following on from last posting - extracting the old leaf spring front bushes can be a problem. One method, assuming everything is stuck tight, is to remove the spring and front mount plate complete, then cut through the bearing pin (bolt) in the area of the 2 plastic washers. The residue of the metalastic bush can usually be driven out using a suitable sized socket as a drift. Removing the threaded part of the bolt from the plate is often just a matter of blowlamp and Mole grips.



 

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