Neon Dynamic Alignment changes

In February I purchased a 99 Neon R/t. Since then I have replaced front struts with konis and mounts by kyb. Rear struts and mounts by KYB. And poly motor mounts and a master bushing kit from Energy Suspension. The master bushing kit made a huge difference in handling.

I had the alignment set by Goodyear and when I got it back the steering wheel was maybe 5 degrees off center left. I have noticed that after aggressively taking on ramps that sweep right, the steering wheel is aligned about 5 degrees off center right. Handling gets really twitchy but still tracks relatively straight. By the time I turn left into my driveway the wheel is back to off center left and the twitch is gone.

To diagnose this I have verified that all the parts I have changed are properly torqued to spec. I can grab the tires and they have no play, up down, left right, or on the diagonal. There is also an infrequent pop from the front end that I haven't been able to chase. The master bushing kit includes end links, sway bar, and control arm bushings. Shortly after doing the kit, the thunk went away for about a week.

Any ideas?

I spent a while chasing alignment specs over a tire with a broken belt, perhaps rotate the tires if the alignment is in spec?

I've had identical problems after putting coilovers, a front strut brace and new front LCA bushings on my AE92, but it's due back in the shop for a post-break-in re-check.

preloaded front swaybar maybe? with how much you've changed in the suspension it could need some adjusting. were the end links connected/adjusted while the car was on the ground with weight in the driver's seat?

In reply to coll9947:

Yes, per the book the end links get connected finger tight without weight but torqued with weight. My fat butt was not in the seat while we were torquing them.

I'm thinking ball joints might be the culprit. The other option is that I somehow screwed up the strut install but I aligned the struts and mounts per the book.

Steering rack came loose on the K-member?

On the older Dodge FWD rigs, the stupid bolts would back out over time and wallow out the mounting holes in the K-member, the Neon uses a similar system (the racks are interchangeable with a little work) so it might be worth taking a look at.

Otherwise, your struts might have loosened up on the knuckles. Had that happen on our ChumpCar, eventually destroyed an axle and the handling went to crap. Replace the bolts, use proper torque specs and loctite.

After a proper alignment the wheel should be centered . A common failure of many aliginment places. That being said, there are many things that can cause "twitchyness".
Unequal tires and or pressures for one, plus most of the things others have mentioned.

In reply to iceracer:

But twitchyness after after sweeping right that goes away after a left would not be caused by tire pressures. And I failed to mention some of the other egregious things those fine folk at Goodyear managed to do. Like tight all the lug nuts over 140 Ft Lb

In reply to turboswede:

Wouldn't either of those scenarios give noticeable play at the tire?

In reply to Johnboyjjb:

Not necessarily as the loads placed on the components by a car at speed are not easily replicated by a human being gyrating on the wheel in the driveway.

Basically, if they are only a little loose, there may be enough tension in place to cause them to not move by hand.

My CSX had the problem really bad. Ended up with the wheel moving about a quarter turn under boost and keeping the car pointed straight was interesting, especially when you lifted to shift and the wheel went back the other way. I unfortunately got really good at managing this due to being poor and working too much at the time. Eventually I fixed it by drilling holes in the K-member and rack to mount 1/2" bolts and nylock nuts. In a subsequent rebuild, I replaced the K-member with a newer one that I welded tabs on to help hold the lateral loads.

On the older Dodge FWD rigs, the stupid bolts would back out over time and wallow out the mounting holes in the K-member, the Neon uses a similar system (the racks are interchangeable with a little work) so it might be worth taking a look at.

This was my thought as well. It's happened to several of mine. Only owned one Neon so far though, and it didnt do this, so cant say 100%.

Johnboyjjb wrote: In reply to iceracer: But twitchyness after after sweeping right that goes away after a left would not be caused by tire pressures. And I failed to mention some of the other egregious things those fine folk at Goodyear managed to do. Like tight all the lug nuts over 140 Ft Lb In reply to turboswede: Wouldn't either of those scenarios give noticeable play at the tire?

I'll bet they used torque sticks to tighten your lug nuts. Went round and round with my Jeep dealer over that.

Total red herring. No amount of lug nut torquing will cause the wheel to be off-center OR change the direction it's off center in.

Are the KYB's slotted to allow camber adjustment? Stock Neon struts (even most of the ACR Konis) are not slotted, so camber adjustment isn't the issue on those unless you use crash bolts or slot the struts.

But if the KYBs are slotted, then they can slip under load and put your camber out of whack. Camber adjustment changes toe at the front of the Neon... and toe changes steering angle. If your struts are creeping under load, that could do what you're talking about.

If the KYBs are not slotted, I'll throw my chips in with Vigo and turboswede.