Pulls to left

[WmWatt]

My '89 Festiva has stared pulling a bit to the left. Applying the brake makes no difference. It's worse in the left lane (on the left side of the pavement crown). Not long ago when it was up on jack stands I noticed the left tire hanging an inch (I measured) lower than the right. The Haynes manual says it could be a spring. Last summer the left control arm broke and dropped the wheel on the pavement (at very low speed) but I didn't notice any steering issues after replacing the control arm.

I'm thinking it's the spring. Does that sound about right? I'm also curious to know if a bad spring always makes the car pull to the side of the bad spring. I haven't looked at prices yet. Should I be looking for a subassembly containing both spring and shock absorber? From the manual it looks like a pain separating them.

Thanks.

[David88]

My wifes 90LX was pulling to the side and I took it to the ford dealer to have the alignment checked. They said it was all in specs and also said it was a tire pull. I had never heard of that. Kinda thought BS. Tires have great tread and no shake at speed. Doubting, I rotated the tires and sure enough the pull was gone.

[FestYboy]

yeah, if the belt shifts inside the tire carcas, it'll cause a pull even if the tire looks good. seen it way too many times.

[worfdog]

They call it Radial Drag around here.

[LubeTechJared]

Yeh, you could cross rotate the front wheels and see if the pull changes sides or disappears to verify its indeed a tire pull...

[gdawgs]

My wifes 90LX was pulling to the side and I took it to the ford dealer to have the alignment checked. They said it was all in specs and also said it was a tire pull. I had never heard of that. Kinda thought BS. Tires have great tread and no shake at speed. Doubting, I rotated the tires and sure enough the pull was gone.

I've also had this happen. It was quite severe too. But when I rotated the tires it pulled just as hard in the other direction. Took it back to Sears, they replaced the tire and then it was good.

[WmWatt]

That appears to be what's happened. The tires swapped sides yesterday and it's pulling a bit to the other side, plus I now hear the "thump, thump, thump" I associate with a slipped tire belt. Thanks for the helpful information.