MichM3

Dear,

my GT3 has left the workshop today and I had my first drive since buying the car second hand. I purchased it in Germany last year in december and while driving home I already noticed a severe pulling to the right from the steering. No problem, I thought it would be a problem related to the geometry.

My car is put on the scales this week, corner weighted and has got an alignment. The result is great on paper, but in reality the car still pulls severely to the right. The pulling is quite strong, I actually can't believe iet's related to an alignment problem.

Is it possible that the power steering is faulty? Only pushing to 1 side, problem with the valves??!!! Is this a common problem on 996 or GT3 or am I searching in the wrong direction?

kind regards,

Mich

va122

bent tie rod? steering off center? Front toe? last time mine did that the front toe is off.

you know if it's an alignment issue if you drive in a straight line get off the throttle and back on with your hands off the wheel. If it pulls then its likely a toe issue.

edrewitz

Have you checked the tire pressure?

tlarocque

MichM3- I have the same issue right now. I had my mechanic look at the alignment and that wasn't the issue. I'm going to take it to another shop as he too suggested it may be a toe issue.

Porsche917K

+1 on toe. Since I put a track alignment on my car, it darts around pretty bad due to the near 0 toe.

Carefree

If it is "definite pull" on a smooth flat road, then it is most likely a "radial" pull. Having spent many years in the tire industry, this could be the cause.
Simply swap front tires/wheels and if the pull follows the swap, then it is a tire.
If not, then it is mechanical.

Hope this helps, very simple to narrow down at this point.

MichM3

thanks already fo the replies

- we already swapped the front tires but the problem persists

- toe related issue? I'm now on slightly toe-in. When picking up the car in december, it was slightly toe'd out (nearly 0°)..the pulling to the right was present already then and hasn't changed since. Anyway, I'll change the toe to 0° as I found it nicer driving

- no one believing in what I assume in the first post => problem with power steering?? Or isn't this a common problem on 996RS?


So when I'm driving the car on a smooth and straight road and I back off my hands from the steering wheel, the wheel immediately turns slightly to the right until the point it comes to a "rest" position and then it remains there. To my feeling, it seems that the wheels should be aligned straight when the steering wheel is in this position and the wheel itself also should be put straight. Then the car would drive ok.
Can one center the steering rack itself of the GT3 (not the wheel) from underneath the car before doing the alignment?

wxseed

You are correct, they didn't centre the steering wheel rack and lock it prior to setting the toe, that is why the wheel is off centre when you drive in a straight line. I believe that the steering box has alignment marks on it that you line up and then lock the rack before doing an alignment.

Leigh2

I'd take another look at the rear toe as these cars are ultra sensitive to the rear toe. I've had mine aligned three times in the past couple of months hunting down the same problem. The first alignment machine had one head out of calibration, the second printed out perfect numbers but the car still wasn't right. I finally had it done a third time on the new "John Beam" 3D alignment machine and indeed the left rear was toed in the right amount but the right rear tire was at 0 toe. This was enough to make the car pull to one side and was wiggly under braking. Bottom line don't trust a single set of numbers; find another alignment rack and check the toe F & R again

va122

I had the same issue, turns out it was what he said above.

Note: 0 toe the car will tram (follow the road irregularities)

NJ-GT

Problem may likely be on rear tires with different diameter. Swap the rear tires left to right. Drive the car, if the car pulls to the opposite side, then your problem is on the tires.

Some defective tires come out of spec on diameter. Some owners have a flat and replace just one tire, this is a mistake, you need to replace them by pair in the back due to the LSD.

This problem can also come from a defective differential.

You've already checked the alignment (geometry), so most likely tires or diff.

Dave S

Long shot: Wheel bearing drag?

johnr265

I'll echo what was previously said. The car is VERY sensitive to alignment, both front and rear. When I bought mine, there was violent pulling both on and off throttle. When I suggested it might be alignment, the dealer laughed and said that's "just a GT3". They also replaced just one rear tire while the other was "within spec". Needless to say, after replacing the other tire and getting a proper alignment (don't want toe more than .01 degrees off between sides), the car was like a new machine. I could get on or off the throttle with no ill effects.

Note, the car is so sensitive that after letting it sit for only a few weeks over the winter (and having had a proper alignment a month or two prior), the car is already "off" again and needs to be realigned. Once you feel when it is right though, you will know immediately when it is off. Keep trying as others have said and find a shop who can really get it perfect.

MichM3

rear tires => indeed, great suggestion!! will check on that one!!

faulty LSD => I doubt it, the car has received an overhaul of gearbox and LSD + new clutch.

I performed some checks today and I see that the left front is 9mm lower than the right front. The left front wheel gives me the impression also to have slightly more camber than the right side. I find this rather strange. The papers of the alignment show an equal camber left and right. Also the 9 mm difference frightens me a bit.

Secondly I checked the center position of the steering rack. The wheel is indeed out of center, but according to me to the wrong side when comparing to my problem. If I want to center the rack, I have to turn the wheel slightly to the left. My car however, pulls to the right!!! So I don't know it's related to this.

I checked shock settings of the KW IIII and the tire pressures...everything ok, no issues there.

My feeling: I assume it has to do with the difference in right height left-right front and the difference in camber...in short, alignment!
I surely will check as well on rear tires!!!

Leigh2

Hadn't thought of a corner balance problem as that could certainly be the gremlin and would account for the ride height difference. Sounds to me that it should go back on the alignment rack with some scales.