I’ve had a constant pull to the right in my car for 5 years. I’ve always just accepted it but I’d like to see if some knowledgeable people on here can help swing me in the right direction to get it fixed.

Setup:
-02’ with 42k miles
-17X9.5 +47 Volk CE28’s with 245/45 RE71 tires square (tires and wheels were purchased in 2020 so both are going on 6 years old but only about 8k miles since I don’t drive the car a lot) still plenty of tread life on the tires since I only street drive it)
-BC Racing DS coilovers purchased brand new in 2019 so they have about 10k miles on them)
-everything else suspension wise is factory

after mounting the wheels and tires, I had the car aligned. Noticed the pull to the right (whether braking or driving straight it doesn’t matter always pulls to the right) almost immediately. Had the car aligned again and still had a constant pull to the right. Alignment is -1.5 camber up front and -3 camber in the rear. 0 toe in front, 3/32 toe in rear. And 8.2 caster.

Rotated tires, still pull to the right. Checked all tire pressure was correct. No change. Even went as far as swapping in a brand new AP2 EPS torque sensor thinking something was wrong with that. No change. No EPS light on either.

I even went back my stock wheels to see if that helped. It pulled slightly less to the right but still did it. The problem with putting the factory wheels on is I’m sure my alignment was not right for those wheels since they are way smaller so that probably wasn’t a good test.

The pull to the right is greater under braking and also dependent on the crown in the road I’m on. Sometimes I feel like car tracks hard depending on the road and sometime the pull isn’t there. It’s weird.

could the issue be I’m running too wide of a wheel and tire with maxed out camber setting so it negatively affects straight driving?

ive never heard anyone bring up this issue with this size wheel but I know a lot of people just deal with the negative aspects of changing the oem setup for track performance or sheer aesthetics. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Nothing in your post indicated this problem existed when the car was in OEM condition.

If I read your post correctly you only note "pulling to the right" after going to aftermarket wheels with incorrect offsets set up in a non-standard square wheel-tire pattern, and was acerbated by an "alignment." Those non-standard changes seem to have caused the problem.

The S2000 is notorious for its unique wheel offsets which are almost impossible to duplicate after market, you didn't. Tire outside diameter did not measurably change between the older 16" and newer 17" wheels. The sidewall profile had to get lower.

An offset of +47 is significantly out of spec for either the front or rear but shouldn't make the car pull to one side or the other. Same for "car show" inch+ wider 245mm front tires (I'll willingly admit they look good.) The car was engineered for staggered/different size front and rear tires, it wasn't due to a shortage of tire sizes.

Sure you don't have a bent axle or spindle? Dragging brake or bearing enough to "pull" would cause some heat.

(Sorry for rambling.)

-- Chuck

 

You can ignore Chuck, anything other than a Hondata with a Gernby tune and Tanabe Medallion exhaust ruins the car to him. The S2000 doesn't have a magic chassis that requires stock suspension and wheels.

None of the parts you installed should create a pull. You said it was there on the stock wheels too but less. More camber and sticky tires will make it more sensitive to the crown in the road and the car will follow cracks in the road more but it shouldn't be constant pull.
When you installed the coilovers did you clock all the suspension bushings? I wonder if there is some binding there causing the car to pull to the right. Since you mentioned braking makes it worse take a look at the top and bottom of your compliance bushings.

 

Drive it on something not crowned, like a parking lot. Does it still pull to the right? Also, get on a divided highway and get in the left lane, does it now pull left?

If the pulling changes with the crown of the road then this is like tramlining which the wider tires will make a bit worse. A good alignment should get rid of a lot of it though. Your settings look ok. Most tend to run more camber up front than in the rear for performance reasons but that is not causing this issue you are describing.

My car is on 255's, 17X9 + 63 with -3.5 degrees of camber up front, -3.0 in the rear and a small amount of toe in in the rear. I do notice some pulling due to road crown but not significant.

Wheel offsets have nothing to do with it and your sizes are within reason.

One big reason that companies will use more stagger (or in some cases like SUVs also spec a lot of rear camber) on RWD cars is to make the more prone to understeer (typically safer for the average driver) and less prone to oversteer. The AP1 already experiences more bumpsteer in the rear and hence can be made to oversteer more easily and is likely a bit part of the reasoning for running the large amount of stagger, to sacrifice front grip and make the car less prone to spinning. It is not like changing that stagger is suddenly going to make the car pull to one direction or the other. Best overall grip in these cars is typically achieved running a square setup for example.

You can check for dragging brakes but that should be pretty evident. A quick check with an IR thermometer after driving should show significantly higher temps on the right side if the brakes are causing it.

Checking over bushings and joints is a good idea. Pretty low mileage for that to be the issue but is not impossible.

 

Thanks for all the responses. To answer some of the questions: I’ve driven the car on a straight flat road and the car will still pull to the right. It’s odd. If I let go of the steering wheel at all, it immediately clocks to the right. I always have to keep constant pressure on the wheel to the left. If not, immediate turn to the right.

if the road is crowned an im braking it’s a HARD pull to the right! If the road isn’t crowned it’s not as hard of a pull.

my brakes aren’t dragging I’ve checked. I clocked the suspension bushings before and after noticing the issue and nothing. I believe I did it correctly but who knows. How would I check to see any binding? I had this same suspension when I had a set of RPF1’s on the car and I didn’t notice this pull with those wheels.

one thing I forgot to mention, I had these same tires on a set of RPF1’s prior to mounting them on the Volks. Do you guys think the mounting, removing, and then remounting of the tires on different wheels caused some damage in the tire? Are the 245’s too stretched on a 9.5 wheel?

I thought that may be an issue so I swapped tires from side to side and front to back to see if the pull changes and it did not. Steering wheel still clocks immediately to the right if I let go and the car pulls right.

 

There is a thing called radial tire pull which is a pull caused by the internal belts in the tires being misaligned but you've already rotated tires and tried your OEM wheels with no success so it isn't that.

Post 482 in in this tread had as similar issue which was fixed by bushings
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/automoti.../#post24668113

The OP also fixed their pulling issue with new bushings. You can see what their original compliance bushings looked like in post 475
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/automoti.../#post24667868


Are you sure you are 245/45 and not 245/40 because that makes a big difference, I'd think the 245/45/17 would have rubbing issues as well.
According to Tire Rack the RE71-RS in 245/45/17 as a tread width of 7.4'' and max recommended wheel size of 9j and the 245/40/17 has a tread width of 8.4'' with a max recommended wheel size of 9.5j.
The 245/45/17 would be a bit too stretched on on a 9.5j but the 245/40/17 would be fine. Though either way I don't think that would cause the pulling

 

Have you had alignment checked at a different shop? Otherwise I am thinking worn suspension components. If it only did it under braking I would say brakes or shocks but it is happening all the time. And since you have swapped the wheels side to side and front to back I think you can rule out it being the tires.

 

Yes my apologies, my tires are 245/40 not 245/45.

I have not taken it to another alignment shop since I last had it realigned. Same place did it twice. It’s a common shop in my area that a lot of S2000 guys take their car too.

I read through some of those linked threads that showed new compliance bushing fixed the steering issue. I know my car is going on 24 years old but with only 42k miles I was hoping that is not the issue with mine. Seems like a massive pain in the ass to take everything apart to have new bushings installed lol.

I don’t want to just throw money at the car though in hopes something works. The AP2 torque sensor (which people told me would fix the issue) cost me $500 and didn’t fix it so I’m hesitant to replace more things randomly without knowing.

Would the bushings have any visual indication of damage or being worn? I’ve taken a look at all of them and they appear fine with no visible tears. I don’t have any odd or clunking sounds when turning the wheel. No notchiness in the steering also. Not sure if worn compliance bushings would cause any other steering issues or odd sounds but I have no other issues.

Just to reiterate, this only started happening after I replaced my RPF1’s with the Volks and removed the tires off the RPF1’s and onto the Volks. I’ve had the same coilovers on the car the entire time. How likely is it that during that process, all 4 tires somehow got radial pulls causing this issue? The RE71’s are 6 years old so even though they have a ton of tread left, could they have all unevenly worn also possibly causing this issue? Being 200TW and softer, could they maybe have deformed a bit since my car tends to sit in the garage for long periods of times without being driven?

apologies for all the questions. Just trying to sort out what I should do first. Although buying new tires is just throwing money at it, im more inclined to do that since I’ll also get another alignment after and regardless if it fixes the issue, I still have new tires which last me a long time since the car doesn’t get driven often. And replacing tires is a lot easier than taking everything apart for new compliance bushings.

at the end of the day though, if based on what you guys are reading you think the most likely culprit are my bushing, I’ll just suck it up and do that.

 

Dismounting and remounting a set of tires shouldn't cause any issues.

Do you have any friends with wheels that would fit on your car to try? Perhaps they could try your wheels on their car too. That would rule out tires, even though you've already rotated and used your OEM wheels. If there were something wrong with the tires it seems unlikely that the pull would always be to the right.
You could try pulling the EPS fuse to rule that out as well too.

Yes, that can cause flat spots but should work themselves out with some driving, again its odd that it would always pull to the right.

The compliance bushings are by far the easiest to see tearing in and usually the first to go. My car is on 07 my bushings were torn very badly the other year with about 55k miles on them. I did have some track days on them though.

 

hmm that’s not a bad idea. I do have a couple friends that may let me use their wheels to see if the issue persists! I’ll try that.

as far pulling the eps fuse, that just disables the eps so I have no steering assist correct? If that works and the car doesn’t pull to the right anymore, does that mean my eps module is bad and I need a whole new one?