2006 Caravan - Hit curb Is it just Misalignment ?
#1
04-04-2007, 02:23 AM
2006 Caravan - Hit curb Is it just Misalignment ?
Hello folks,
Was driving down the road last night at around 25 - 30 kph. Roads were slippery due to snow. The car ahead of me applied brakes so did I and forgot that my caravan doesnot have ABS - my other car does. Long story short, the van spun 75 degrees and right side front wheel hit the curb at may be 15 kph with wheel in locked position (I think). There is no damage to the tire or wheel itself other than a small rub mark on wheel cover and the rim. Today after snow melted from streets, I parked the van straight in the middle and looked for anything obvious with tires parallel to each other, didn't notice a thing. Van has only 8,000 kms on it.
What I noticed after my episode that I had to press accelerator pedal a little more to maintain speed and if I would let go the pedal, the van would decelerate more quickly than before hitting the cub. I also noticed the drive is not that soft anymore. To check my theory of misalignment, I took it to highway and drove at 110 kph. Did not notice a rattling steering wheel but noticed that road vibrations are a little obvious now. Steering wheel is straight. But while driving at highway speed, my van veers to the right. I have booked an appointment with the local Dodge delaer for Monday but just crious what may be wrong. I hope a simple alignment will fix this. Same thing happened with my brother's Corolla last year and he got away with just an alignment. I discussed this with him and he had same kind of driving experience like mine.
Should I be riving the van to run errands. I plan not to use it until Monday but have to take family tomorrow someplace. City driving, 30 kms round trip.
Any thoughts?
Was driving down the road last night at around 25 - 30 kph. Roads were slippery due to snow. The car ahead of me applied brakes so did I and forgot that my caravan doesnot have ABS - my other car does. Long story short, the van spun 75 degrees and right side front wheel hit the curb at may be 15 kph with wheel in locked position (I think). There is no damage to the tire or wheel itself other than a small rub mark on wheel cover and the rim. Today after snow melted from streets, I parked the van straight in the middle and looked for anything obvious with tires parallel to each other, didn't notice a thing. Van has only 8,000 kms on it.
What I noticed after my episode that I had to press accelerator pedal a little more to maintain speed and if I would let go the pedal, the van would decelerate more quickly than before hitting the cub. I also noticed the drive is not that soft anymore. To check my theory of misalignment, I took it to highway and drove at 110 kph. Did not notice a rattling steering wheel but noticed that road vibrations are a little obvious now. Steering wheel is straight. But while driving at highway speed, my van veers to the right. I have booked an appointment with the local Dodge delaer for Monday but just crious what may be wrong. I hope a simple alignment will fix this. Same thing happened with my brother's Corolla last year and he got away with just an alignment. I discussed this with him and he had same kind of driving experience like mine.
Should I be riving the van to run errands. I plan not to use it until Monday but have to take family tomorrow someplace. City driving, 30 kms round trip.
Any thoughts?
#2
04-05-2007, 01:42 AM
RE: 2006 Caravan - Hit curb Is it just Misalignment ?
there are alot of differant thing that my cause what is going on . you may have damaged the tire and it has raidal pull now or loose or worn tie rod. low air presser. the caravans have no caster adjustment so there no way to make it go stright. you can use camber to try to stop the pull but that lead to tire wear. frist thing we do at work if a non adjustable car pulls is to cross the front tires and set air psi then retest drive to see if it goes the other way. there are a lot of tires out there that pull right out of the box so to say. you might fine a tire store that has a good rep. for wheel alignment frist before you go to the dealer. good luck alan