Car Pulls left

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nakedpeanut

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So my little polo is pulling left quite a bit.
When driving you need to hold the steering wheel straight and give it a slight right turn every now and then.
When you let go the wheel the it turns left and then you go well left.

I went to a twt and the guy tried everything but we couldn't get it right. They didn't charge me cause he couldn't figure it out.

What we tried:
Alignment,
checked tire pressure,
Switched front tires (tires are the same all round and I always replace two at a time if need be),
Setting the steering slightly to the right,
Changed the caster (pushed the left slightly forward)

And still nothing :(
While under the car I see i need to have my left cv boot replaced but that shouldn't affect the car pulling.
My shocks or just over a year old so i doubt it's them. The guy said it could possible be my engine mountings or the left brake is sticking a bit. Disks and pads were replaced last year so maybe.

The car pulls left when:
Coasting, braking, accelerating and maintaining speed.

It's more noticeable when maintaining your speed or coasting than breaking and accelerating.

Could low power steering fluid or faulty pump cause this?

So any other suggestions? Or ideas that could fix this. I'm taking my car for it's 120k service this week so I'll ask them to fix whatever it is that could be causing this. I'm going to ask them to check the engine mountings just as a precaution.
 
Its not just the angle of the road? All cars veer left
 
Haha no it's very noticeable, I've checked in parking lots, off camber turns everything, it always goes left.
 
I can't see it being anything other than wheel alignment. I'd try another wheel alignment place or a suspension specialist. I haven't lived in Jo'burg for over 15 years, but Van Zyl's Spring Works in Selby were pretty good back then.
 
When you did the alignment was the car able to get all the wheels aligned properly?

I remember with one of my old cars the car used to pull badly also to the left and took it in for alignment. Was found that one of the wheels struts were bent and so the guy took a hammer to it to straighten it. Eventually after him sweating (and swearing) profusely he got the strut straight enough to align all the wheels. That car used to make all the mechanics curse. :D
 
Ya all the wheels align perfectly every time. It's just when you drive and let go the steering wheel it kinks left and off you go :(

I'm taking it in tomorrow for the service, i'll ask them to check if any of the struts or control arms are bent.

The bushes looked good when i was under the car. so meh will just see what they can do.
 
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I have heard of this problem. Can sometimes happen when you hit a big pothole and the shock actually bends. Was told before to replace the shocks to get it sorted and it worked on my older car.
 
How much does your wif...I mean..passenger weigh?

I had a similar issue after fitting new tyres. The fitment center had to rotate the tyre on the rim to fix the problem.
 
I've been looking online and watching a couple videos, I think it's definitely something in the steering rack, either the torsion bar connection to it or the inner tie rods.

Anyone know of an estimated price for replacing the steering rack in a polo? I'm thinking this is going to be expensive :/

edit: I'll make sure they check all the control arm bush like Haldex suggested. Always start with the small simple things before the expensive ones :D
 
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So the guys at VW Benoni who changed my bushes last put the left one in upside down, wtf... :confused:
 
Interesting, I came here to post a very similar thread about my Sandero. Hit a pothole a year ago andreplaced the steering rack, shocks, etc.

Took 3 alignment places to get it right, and then it was great.

Now I took my car for it's 10000 alignment and off it goes veering again. All wheels perfectly aligned and camber adjusted slightly. The caster is way out but appearently this doesnt matter too much and cant be adjusted?

Any place anyone can recommend for me? Happy to attach the alignment reports from when it didnt veer and since the adjustment.
 
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