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My car is pulling to the right
i recently bought a used car and was talking to my moms boyfriend about it. It pulls to the right and he said it could ither be the wheel alignment or tires. i know the back tires need to be changed but my question is whcih one is it more likely to be and if it is the alignment how long can i wait until it will start messing up my wheel barrings? im a little tight on money so i wont beable to do it right away
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It sounds at this point that its more of an alighnment problem but know this alignments can cause tire wear and tire wear/pressure can eventually lead to alignment problems but not too severe ones. You can also have an idea by looking at the wear pattern (if there is one on the tire) feathered, bald spots, outter/ inner tire wear and center tire wear, these wears can give you a clue . Accidents can deffinetly throw an alignment off , but so can hitting the curbs, baja driving an accord or honda off road, pot holes, and even normal every day street driving which is considered normal ( the everyday street driving) you should also be aware that if the car has been in an accident it may not align right or within the manufactures specifications there are shims available from the after market but some are limited to what angles they address usaually camber. there is toe in/ out, caster, camber, forward thrust, just to name a few, worn out linkages, ball joints, wheel bearings will also contibute to the alignment geometry change. My advice is DO NOT IGNORE THIS even if the cars cheap and get a carfax or vehix car report...put it this way since alignments can eat up tires whats the use of getting a car that you cant align or afford to align and worse off itll eat up the tires fast and youll end up either 1. not carring until you pop a tire and realize it when you are having a personal close encounter with a tree in the rain or 2. when your wallet gets starved from all of the buying youll have to do. Here in california alignments usually go for about $ 89.99 for a two wheel alignment and as much as $300.00 for a full 4 wheel alignment. Hope this helps
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I know this answer is a bit late, but I need to say this: Solidadvice4teens is quite off base. %75 chance all you need is an alignment, %15 it is tires. This happens to cars ALL the time for no dramatic reason. Just normal wear and tear and it is absolutely nothing to be super concerned about. SolidAdvice is blowing it way out of proportion. In no way shape or form does it being out of alignment mean that its AUTOMATICALLY had some sort of major front end damage. (read: SolidAdvice4teens doesn't know jack about this matter. Perhaps other topics, but certainly not cars)
Alignments are pretty cheap, just call a local shop for their price. As for checking your tires, if you can feel a substantial pull then you can tell if its your tires merely by looking at them, you'll see significant wear, especially along the sides of the tread.
Good luck, and feel free to ask further questions.
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I hope you haven't bought it outright yet and require it to be certified. When a car pulls to the right or to the left it's for one reason only. It's been in a front end accident.
Not only is the alignment screwed but a lot of other things might be too that you have no idea about. Odds are the damage was substantial and repaired and perhaps the car partially or completely rebuilt.
I'm NOT out to scare the shit out of you but it could also be a salvage vehicle in a very big wreck completely reconstructed and sold to someone unsuspecting as a used vehicle. Sadly, it happens. But yes, if it's pulling to the right or the left and undriveable you've got big time problems that don't start nor end with wheel alignment.
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That recently happened to me when I was driving. You mostlikely need a re-alignment, thats what I got! Usually you feel the pull on more well traveled roads because you are going faster. I felt a pretty big pull at 60mph. To check to make sure its not your tires, you can buy a little needle looking thing with a meter at the end that measures the air pressure. But Im pretty sure you need an alignment recheck :-)
Good luck!
ps
as for how long you can wait, its going to be a harder pull the longer you wait, but if you arent being effected by it, I wouldnt worry. :-)
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