SAAB 900 steering/alignment fault

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fatboybrando - 25 Jan 2005 18:25 GMT

Hi folks

Wondered if someone could help. i have an N Reg SAAB 900S Turbo which has
been giving me some problems in the steering area. The car was pulling to
the left so I got the alignment sorted after having the tracking rods
released but it was still pulling to the left.

I then replaced a seized caliper but it's still pulling to the left. I
reckon I have to drive with the steering wheel between 5-10 degrees to the
right in order to counter the pulling.

After the repplacing of the caliper I was told that they didn't want to
touch the track rods as they would probably sheer as this is a common
fault/problem with the position of the rods etc.

Can anyone tell me if the degree of pull is likely to be alignment or a
problem with steering or something completely different?

Cheers
Sean

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gw - 25 Jan 2005 19:30 GMT

Switch the tires from left to right. Test.
Switch tires from front to rear. Test.

> Hi folks
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> Cheers
> Sean

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Dave Hinz - 25 Jan 2005 19:50 GMT

> Switch the tires from left to right. Test.
> Switch tires from front to rear. Test.

...unless of course they're directional, in which case skip the
left/right swap.

Me, I'd jack up the front of the car, and see if both wheels spin
freely or not. That'll tell you a number of things depending on
what you find - at least it will eliminate or point to a drag
problem. It's probably best, though, to take it to an alignment
shop or a Saab specialist if nothing obvious is evident when you
do that.

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The Malt Hound - 25 Jan 2005 21:31 GMT

>> Switch the tires from left to right. Test.
>> Switch tires from front to rear. Test.
>
> ...unless of course they're directional, in which case skip the
> left/right swap.

No. It does not hurt to run directional tires backwards, especially if it
is for a short time such as this, testing to see if it changes the direction
of the "pulling".

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tiretech/pulling_tire_diagnosis.pdf

-Fred W

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saabyurk - 26 Jan 2005 15:51 GMT

> been giving me some problems in the steering area. The car was pulling to
> the left so I got the alignment sorted after having the tracking rods

> released but it was still pulling to the left.

After trying all of the other suggestions in this thread, as a last
resort maybe, have the rear wheel alignment checked. I've had GM cars
do this with FWD cars that came from the factory with misaligned rear
wheels. They can be aligned with shims, even though no adjustments have
been provided for. NTB did mine to perfection some years back. This
page describes how the shims work, scroll down to REAR SHIMS:
http://www.babcox.com/editorial/bf/bf20044.htm

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