2013 Fiesta ST Steering Problems

[Chris2410]

Hi Guys, 

I'm new to this forum and am having a few issues with my 2013 Fiesta ST. Essentially the car does not drive straight when the wheel is straight. 

I thought this would be an easy wheel tracking and alignment fix but this has turned into multiple trips to 3 seperate dealers to try and get this sorted. Unfortunately, the issue still isn't sorted. 

The problem: on a perfectly straight road with no camber, to go straight I have to hold the steering wheel to the right. If I align the ford badge on the steering wheel with the TRIP computer on the instrument cluster (I.e. Hold the wheel straight), the car drifts to the left. This is highly frustrating and makes the car clumsy and difficult to drive, especially when I'm doing 100 miles a day. I find im constantly correcting the steering to counteract this and even more so, the faster I go. 

Has anyone else ever had this problem? Or can suggest any possible solutions? 

In addition to the alignment, I've had all wheels matched up (Bridgestone) with same tread depths on each axle. 

PLEASE HELP ME! 

Thanks,

Chris 

[E5GDM]

Have you lowered it, or changed the wheels or tyres?

How are the pressures in the tyres?

Have you hit a kerb or traffic calming hump etc?

[The Dark Knight]

Any vibration at all through the steering wheel? I had a buckled wheel on my car once that gave me some grief.

How long have you had the car and where did you buy it from?

[Ian Lanc]

Also check to see if the front suspension springs are good! a broken one will cause the car to pull to what ever side has a snapped spring.

Look at the wheel to wheel arch and measure them both that both sides are equal.

[Chris2410]

Thanks for the responses guys! 

I've had the car for around 3 months and bought it through a franchised seat dealer who received it as a part-ex. 

Car is completely factory standard, with original suspension and alloys. All tyre pressures are fine (although all garages seem to disagree as to what the pressures should be!) and all tyres have good tread depth 4mm plus. 

The car is super smooth when driving so I don't think the wheels are buckled however the car does sometimes lurch from side to side, which I've assumed is from the corrective steering im doing. When driving down a motorway, it feels as though the two front tyres aren't pointing in the same direction. 

Thanks Ian, I'll park it on some level ground and have a measure. I have been told by one garage that the near side strut is leaking slightly however they didn't seem too concerned. Is this a potential issue? 

Thanks for your help! 

 

[Bobr]

Have a look at the tyre wear and check if there is any feathering.   It sounds like the tracking is out.