A few months ago I had a professional alignment done to the car. This was because I hit a curb in a parkinglot and the steering wheel had to held crooked to go straight. If I let go of the steering wheel with the car going straight, the car continued to drive straight. So after getting the alignment fixed, the car would go straight with the steering wheel held straight and also would go straight.

But over time in a few thousand miles, I noticed I started having to put more and more correction into the wheel to go straight. I also noticed that if I let go of the wheel with the car going straight, the car veer. Yes, I tried this on both sides of the crown of the road.

So now my steering wheel is pointing just as crooked as it was prior to the alignment just to go straight...but this time it veers when letting go.

I jack up the car and adjusted both tie-rods. I placed tape on the tie-rods for reference. I then loosened the nut away from the piece the tie rod threads into. I rolled each tie-rod a 1/4 of a turn towards the front of the car and retightened the nut on each side of the car. Now the car drives straight with the wheel held straight and still veers when I let go of the wheel.

So, it has me wondering, what could cause this to happen? Is there another place to check to see if something is loose?

 

How many miles and how much time has passed since your alignment was done? You might check with the shop that did the alignment as there is a warranty period for the alignment. 3 months?

Does anyone else drive your car? If so, did they hit a curb or pothole?

Are all of the wheels OK- any rims bent or out of round?
Are all of the tires OK- any flatspotted or worn more(cupped)?

Do you have stock suspension or any added suspension upgrades?

 

3 or 4k miles. Have been carpooling and not taking as many trips as I did the first year.

I'm pretty sure its about three months. Will have to check the date on the repair bill.

Just my wife. I don't think she'd tell me if she hit anything, so asking her is pointless LOL J/K

They're alumninum rims with 35k miles, so being out of round might be in the realm of possibility. The last time I had them checked for roundness, was about 10k miles ago.

The tires are fairly new. Never spun the car, so I don't think they've been flat-spotted. Cupped? I dunno. I'll have one of my friends look at them.

Stock suspension. But will be getting a/m springs and sway bar by end of month.