hard to keep car in a straight line

[habiv]

HI guys. I find it very hard sometimes to keep my 90 mustang going in a straight line. I notice it most when I am driving on the highway. The tires on the car get stuck in indents in the road and the car gets pulled to the left and right. It is not being violently pulled to the left and right, rather it is more of a slight pull when I go over an indent in the road or a lot of holes. I have a tower brace and a lower brace underneath the engine and these didn''t seem to help much. It's definitely not the allignment. It just feels as if the steering is very"loose" at higher speeds. Is this a normal thing for fox bodies or is there something else going on here? Thanks.

 

[5.0 Nostalgia]

One of my cars does the same thing. What size tires do you have in the front? I have 245's on 5 stars and think it may be a little too much. The other foxes I have or had used the stock tire size and are fine.

 

[habiv]

I have the factory ponies on the car with 225/55 R16 which is the stock size. My father has a 93 cobra and his pulls to the left and right a little but not as much as mine. However, my 90 GT has 94k on it and his 93 only has 20k so I'm thinking it's just something getting worn out. Would the control arms have anything to do with this problem?

 

[MustangMuscle86]

Maybe you suck at driving.

LOL,j/k!You might need an alignment.

 

[crazypete]

Short of alignment, you could always drop under the car, loosen the tierod adjustment nuts and give each a few turns inward to increase the toe-in of the car. This will stabilize it.

 

[RsStanG1987]

Try alighnment or its possible you have worn out ball joints, or tie rods.

 

[BlackGT89]

There is a coupling under the hood where the steering comes through the firewall. Make sure that bolt and nut is tight. I got a little slack out of mine that way by tightening it up. But yeah, a combination of warn parts will generally degrade the steering quite a bit.

 

[iwashmycar]

My 90 does the same....I will tightening that coupling bolt though.......but it also feels like driving a Rado-flyer wagon, because it seems as if there is NO suspension left. Mine has 85k on it. I also have 225's on the front.

My guess would be worn tie-rod ends, and ball-joints, which are allowing minimal, but noticable movement of the car at those speeds. It's just like when you spin a bike wheel in the air, it takes a lot of force to turn it, and all the force that your wheels are making, is using the "play" created by the worn parts

 

[Funanin]

If it only does it when u are cruising with ur foot on the gas then ur frame is twisting (mine did this) and u need subframes welded on.

I would also carfax ur car and make sure it wasnt in any kind of accident where the unibody was bent.

 

[JB66]

Make sure the INNER tie rod ends are tight also.

 

[Jameasun]

just a side note: Us highways are not level. While they may appear to be, there is actually a slope. Usually high in the center and slopeing to the passenger side. Also with all the heavy trucking across america, roads often have groves in them also.

You should check your tire pressure. Make sure they are all up to spec'ed pressure. Usually around 35psi. The difference in 5 psi from tire to tire can make the car pull to one side or the other.

 

[HISSIN50]

in addition to what others have said, i would also had that caster being out of spec can allow a car to follow ruts in the road (caster really had no other noticable side effects, like tire wear, etc).

many shops do free or cheap alignment checks - might be worth it.

good luck.