Good evening and an early Merry Christmas to everyone!

Car: 83 Olds 98 Regency Sedan with 307.

My symptoms:
1. Moderate pull to the right that does NOT happen during braking
2. Car sags on the left side
3. Left front tire shows no abnormal wear, but the right front has a little scalloping.

Work done thus far, none of which have changed the symptoms:
1. New tires
2. Alignment (helped a little, but not much).

Other info:
1. 215/75R15 tires
2. Original suspension (to my knowledge) on a car that's a hair's breadth from 90k miles.
3. Shop that performed the alignment said the car aligned fine, but the bushings had some normal dryrot.

Any thoughts as to what the problem is?

Thanks in advance!

 

Funny, my 83 Regency did that too, but it was at about 140k. I didn't have any abnormal tire wear though. Took it in for alignment like you did and it didn't help much either. Had them adjust castor/camber so it should have pulled like a bastard to the left, but it still pulled slightly right. Everything else on the car lined up right, no slop anywhere. It was a real puzzle. I basically put up with it for the rest of the time I owned it because it was only a slight drift.

You mention that it sags on the left front. Maybe your problem is the result of a uneven spring load or shocks? Did you have the pitman arms and idler arms checked? Also, ball joint failure might cause tracking problems; which are less noticeable on radials, especially with heavy cars. Anyway, there's some opinions of what might be causing your pull.

 

Check the brake calipers anyway. One may be sticking a bit or may not be applying at all, and the drag on the one that IS working can cause this pull. My 76 Ninety Eight did that, and I think the Ford truck is starting that nonsense too, though its RF does grab a bit on wet pavement.

Hmm. That ought to be a blast moving around in the snow tomorrow.

 

Actually, I need to qualify that. It sags to the left rear. Could a sagging left rear coil spring cause the car to pull to the right?

 

Try putting the scalloped tire on the rear - do a complete rotation. I had this issue before and a rotation helped.
Next is to find the cause of the scalloping. Make sure the alignment guy did it right, too.

 

A lot of things can case scalloping, bad bushings, worn ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm, bent suspension parts, all kinds of good stuff.


A broken or sagging spring can definitely throw the suspension geometry off.
I would take care of the springs first, I don't know how they could align it correctly? If the whole left side is down it could be a bad left front spring along with the rear too. If the left rear is low it should kick the right front up and could be the reason for the left front wear and right scalloping if the car is tracking funny and pulling. On FWD cars it's real noticeable when the rear is out of alignment and has the same pulling and uneven tire wear.
A sagged or broken spring may be doing about the same thing in effect.
I would spend the hundred or less bucks and put new rear springs in then go from there, has to be done to get a level stance to do a proper alignment in any case, even if there are bad front end parts. My rear coil springs took me about 15 minutes to a half hour, just about one of the easiest suspension parts to replace, in the rear that is.

 

Scalloping on the tire, and it's sagging on the same side in the front. To be honest sounds like a worn out shock.

 

Sag on the rear of the car? Easy fix. Get new coil springs and install them. I had to do that on my car when the back end started dropping. It only takes a little over an hour. While you're doing that, if you need new shocks on the back, it's the perfect time to do that to. quick tip for shock bolts? Don't try to undo them. Bust them off by overtightening and then install new replacements.

If you do the rear shocks, may as well do fronts too. Do it yourself and save some big bucks. Didn't think about the caliper sticking. Mine did too; and on the right side. I think it has something to do with that side of the road always has the most crud that gets picked up on the car. Anyway, it was way more convenient and faster to replace calipers than clean and rebuild them.


Rob, note: he got a new set of tires. About the alignment? Yes I've seen them done wrong too. Also, was this a front wheel only or 4 wheel alignment?

 

Rear wheel drive car so front wheel alignment only.

Looks like there is a bit of confusion here on the sagging.

Sags: Left rear
Abnormal tire wear: right front

Otherwise, the insight here is wonderful. I really appreciate it!!! Keep the thoughts coming.

 

Take the body out of the trunk . we wont tell

 

TTT
Did you ever get "Morty's" problem resolved?

 

wow my 84 olds delta 88 did that do, it turned out the center link and idler arm were completely gone, replaced it realligned and good as new, not saying thats your problem but it might be something to look into