Got new tires, now pulls to the left but ONLY WHEN BRAKING..?

[RustX7]

I am going to take the 01 LeSabre back to the tire place this week and have them recheck the alignment they did, but I am confused as to why there would only be an issue during braking. When I'm not braking, the car drives straight and smooth. Brake and it pulls noticeably to the left. This problem coincides exactly with my visit to the tire place.

Could an alignment issue possibly cause this, or did they do something else wrong? I want to be armed with a BS-o-meter when I talk to the guy in case he tries to worm out of this.

[enslow]

Brakes on one wheel are not gripping. This could be a seized caliper which seized coincidently. Or if they lubed your ball joints they got grease on one of the brake disks. I've had that happen before.

[imidazol97]

Originally Posted by RustX7

I am going to take the 01 LeSabre back to the tire place this week and have them recheck the alignment they did, but I am confused as to why there would only be an issue during braking. When I'm not braking, the car drives straight and smooth. Brake and it pulls noticeably to the left. This problem coincides exactly with my visit to the tire place.

Could an alignment issue possibly cause this, or did they do something else wrong? I want to be armed with a BS-o-meter when I talk to the guy in case he tries to worm out of this.

The suspension on the 2001 leSabre has NO ball joints to lube, so that won't be the problem.

The most likely problem is a caliper that's either dragging or hung up. That will cause a pull. Are you getting an uneven braking? That could be from a drag heating up one rotor to the point of warping it.

[RustX7]

Braking feels smooth. How could a caliper suddenly start sticking the moment I get new tires but be fine before it? Doesn't that seem like a huge coincidence? The lube theory makes sense though... whatever, they better just fix it.

This is an excellent example of why I'm terribly reluctant to take my car to anyone for any reason. It always ends up turning into multiple trips. God I wish I had my own tire mounting, balancing and alignment equipment.

The guy there said he was pretty sure I have ball joints, though I believe you over him. I hope that doesn't mean that there's no such thing as a 4-wheel alignment for my car.

[enslow]

Take a look at each brake disk. Check for anything that may have contaminated the disk. Maybe you don't have ball joints that can be lubed, but look to see if there is anything on the disks. If it's pulling to the left, look on the right side because that would be the brake that's not working. If it were a left brake dragging, your brakes would heat up and you would feel them warping.

[RustX7]

Well I took it into them and they discovered that the rear bushing on the front passenger side control arm is shot. The whole arm is a $70 part on rockauto and looks like a pretty straightforward bolt in which I intend to do myself. They said they couldn't realign it til that issue was resolved, but that they'd realign it for free when it is. I'm still struck by the fact that the car behaved just fine until I brought it to them. I've never seen an alignment machine, but does it seem like this is something they could have caused while aligning it? There's no obvious trauma to anything else under there.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by RustX7

I am going to take the 01 LeSabre back to the tire place this week and have them recheck the alignment they did, but I am confused as to why there would only be an issue during braking. When I'm not braking, the car drives straight and smooth. Brake and it pulls noticeably to the left. This problem coincides exactly with my visit to the tire place.

Could an alignment issue possibly cause this, or did they do something else wrong? I want to be armed with a BS-o-meter when I talk to the guy in case he tries to worm out of this.

are all 4 rims the same? if not they may have switched them around? i was going to say have them switch front rims right to left could be bad tire and it may pull the other way or not pull at all and that tells me bad tire but you say it does this when you hit brakes if it's that it could be caliper not sliding or bad caliper or rubber line going to caliper they colaps inside. but i agree never done it before tires were put on so i would switch right to left like i said.
good luck.....

[Jrs3800]

To the OP, no offense intended... But

You want to blame the tire shop for whats a wear and tear item? I see these wear out all the time... Its very normal and I will be replacing the lower control arms on my Bonneville in the near future... The shop could not have caused any issues with the control arm bushing unless they took the car curb hopping

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by Jrs3800

To the OP, no offense intended... But

You want to blame the tire shop for whats a wear and tear item? I see these wear out all the time... Its very normal and I will be replacing the lower control arms on my Bonneville in the near future... The shop could not have caused any issues with the control arm bushing unless they took the car curb hopping

you never know and you sound like a guy that you cant please and i stay away from people like that.

[RustX7]

I don't want to blame anyone for anything, I just want to be informed enough not to get cheated in a world of people who seem to exist only for the purpose of cheating. I have never been to this particular shop, so I don't know them from Adam despite how slick the guy behind the desk made them sound when I went in for the tires. Since I am not informed enough about these components I was asking whether I had in fact been cheated. If the answer is no, then that's great. I will now fix the item on my own dime.

Clearly they didn't put the 108,000 miles on that bushing, but they did take a car from me that lacked a problem and gave it back to me with a problem, and at a significant cost to me. I have bushings on another car (different make and model) which are from the 1980s and have no problems; that's the extend of my knowledge on these bushings. I am at the very least curious why it may have decided to go at the exact time that they worked on the car. But hey if it's normal for these things to go around this time then whatever, no big deal.

Thanks for your answers and sorry if I sounded like I'm looking to blame anyone. That's not what I'm about at all.

[inafogg]

the only problem i see with the shop, is they aligned a car that cant be
aligned right, in the condition that its in!!! aka.... bad control arm bushings

[Jrs3800]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

you never know and you sound like a guy that you cant please and i stay away from people like that.

Really? Yes I can actually be pleased, but when it comes to cars I am very picky.. I like to work on my own cars... And I have worked on a lot of other cars for many people... Its not a good day when people throw blame at you for issues that have nothing to do with you...

I am not trying to sound that way, but this is the internet without tones, gestures or any kind of sarcasm.. Maybe sometimes I am brutally honest?

[Jrs3800]

Originally Posted by RustX7

I don't want to blame anyone for anything, I just want to be informed enough not to get cheated in a world of people who seem to exist only for the purpose of cheating. I have never been to this particular shop, so I don't know them from Adam despite how slick the guy behind the desk made them sound when I went in for the tires. Since I am not informed enough about these components I was asking whether I had in fact been cheated. If the answer is no, then that's great. I will now fix the item on my own dime.

Clearly they didn't put the 108,000 miles on that bushing, but they did take a car from me that lacked a problem and gave it back to me with a problem, and at a significant cost to me. I have bushings on another car (different make and model) which are from the 1980s and have no problems; that's the extend of my knowledge on these bushings. I am at the very least curious why it may have decided to go at the exact time that they worked on the car. But hey if it's normal for these things to go around this time then whatever, no big deal.

Thanks for your answers and sorry if I sounded like I'm looking to blame anyone. That's not what I'm about at all.

I appreciate that, and thank you for clearing that up...

Lets take an example or two... My 95 Bonneville is at 188,000 Miles, it has stamped steel lower control arms with Bushings that are pressed in... These bushings see next to nothing for wear.. Only thing that will really happen is that the rubber could crack up and get mushy... With that said I have never replaced a set on and GM H body from 86-99... My 95 Trans Sport has the same set up... Body has 200k on it.... The bushings are still in good shape...

The later H body( G body design ) like the 00+ LeSabre and Bonneville use an aluminum lower control arm and has a different set up for bushings. Mainly smaller if that makes sense... I have heard of these having issues with the control Arms... I think in your other thread I said I was going to be replacing mine to for issues with the right front.. I have done everything but that and still have problems.. I am going to do both control arms and the front struts and then have my alignment reset...

It just seems to me that the older LeSabres and Bonneville seemed to be built more Heavy Duty than the newer stuff...

When they did the alignment the first time this is something they should have noticed..