omelet1978 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I bought a 2010 Fusion Sport last month only to find that it pulled to the right as if the alignment was off when driving. I test drove a regular 3.0 V6 Fusion and it did not have the same problem and drove straight. However, when I test drove another Sport it also had the same problem. I made Ford fix it, but it took some doing. They ended up replacing a couple of control arms and that took care of it and it drives straight now. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this. Great car btw! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdii Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I bought a 2010 Fusion Sport last month only to find that it pulled to the right as if the alignment was off when driving. I test drove a regular 3.0 V6 Fusion and it did not have the same problem and drove straight. However, when I test drove another Sport it also had the same problem. I made Ford fix it, but it took some doing. They ended up replacing a couple of control arms and that took care of it and it drives straight now. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this. Great car btw! Mine drove straight from day one, it stays glued to the road, cant say the same for the Camry I had, that thing was all over the road. Maybe Ford had a run of some bad parts, wouldn't be the first time(toyota). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Hi guys. :D Not a completely uncommon problem for all Fusion/Milan/MKZ models. Short version: Due to production variances and tolerances, when certain suspension parts that are on the far ends of the variance/tolerance scale are placed together on a particular vehicle, their inherent manufacturing variances can add up to a drift problem. While it does not happen often (in the grand scheme of things), It has happened often enough that there is a TSB that alerts Dealer Service Departments of the problem and the simple fix. When the problem is covered by this particular TSB, it is not actually a defective part issue, just a matter of manufacturing variances adding up to a misalignment. Hope this information helps. Good luck. :beerchug: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blizzard35 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Hi guys. :D Not a completely uncommon problem for all Fusion/Milan/MKZ models. Short version: Due to production variances and tolerances, when certain suspension parts that are on the far ends of the variance/tolerance scale are placed together on a particular vehicle, their inherent manufacturing variances can add up to a drift problem. While it does not happen often (in the grand scheme of things), It has happened often enough that there is a TSB that alerts Dealer Service Departments of the problem and the simple fix. When the problem is covered by this particular TSB, it is not actually a defective part issue, just a matter of manufacturing variances adding up to a misalignment. Hope this information helps. Good luck. :beerchug: Would you happen to know what the TSB # is as I am having a similar problem? Cheers! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omelet1978 Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Would you happen to know what the TSB # is as I am having a similar problem? Cheers! I don't know what tsb it was but it involved replacing a control arm. The first arm they replaced didn't do it so they replaced a second one and it solved the problem. You just have to keep on the service department to make them fix it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdii Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Makes sense. The cars don't go on an alignment rack when being built. Since all the parts are new, they should all line up correctly when put together and set the same. It is only after a car is built and has some wear on it that replacing a part requires an alignment. When you consider a rack is the same size every single time, a tie rod is also the exact same sixe, it is only fitting that when you have the dimensions of a rack on a properly aligned car, and set a jig to reproduce those measurements, then ever rack put together off that jig will be exactly the same, so when you bolt it to the car, its perfectly aligned. But, if the control arms have some tolerance issues, where it can affect alignment by a degree or two, and that is all it really takes to cause a car to pull, then I can understand the problem. It sounds to me the vendor who made the control arms has some QC problems. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenzfusion Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 mine pulled to the right, but after 1000 miles its going straight now 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdii Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 mine pulled to the right, but after 1000 miles its going straight now Tires. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svtenthusiast Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Mine has tracked straight since day one, and still does after 13K miles. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe68gt390 Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 Got just over 500 miles on my '10 Sport and it drives straight as an arrow. I even changed to the aftermarket 18" TSW Mondello wheels and tires from my '06 SE 5spd when I traded and they track straight as an arrow as well. I always wait about 5000 miles after purchasing a new car and have them aligned after everything settles in. They put these cars out so quickly they just set the toe on the assembly line and that is it. The Fusion has no adjustment to the caster and camber from the factory. The only way to change it is to replace the upper control arms with different arms. They make several different length arms to give a range for proper alignment. There is always room for improvement over the "slapped together" factory alignment. Just take the car to a competent alignment shop. I recommend someone other than the dealer!! Most dealerships don't have the best alignment guys. A good shop that specializes in alignments and front end work would be your best bet. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omelet1978 Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 Got just over 500 miles on my '10 Sport and it drives straight as an arrow. I even changed to the aftermarket 18" TSW Mondello wheels and tires from my '06 SE 5spd when I traded and they track straight as an arrow as well. I always wait about 5000 miles after purchasing a new car and have them aligned after everything settles in. They put these cars out so quickly they just set the toe on the assembly line and that is it. The Fusion has no adjustment to the caster and camber from the factory. The only way to change it is to replace the upper control arms with different arms. They make several different length arms to give a range for proper alignment. There is always room for improvement over the "slapped together" factory alignment. Just take the car to a competent alignment shop. I recommend someone other than the dealer!! Most dealerships don't have the best alignment guys. A good shop that specializes in alignments and front end work would be your best bet. Thats exactly how they fixed mine by replacing the control arms. When I test drove a regular Fusion it did not turn to the right, but my Sport did. I'm wondering if it's like on of those first year bugs (yes I know it wasn't a complete re-design this year), so hopefully they fix it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdii Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Thats exactly how they fixed mine by replacing the control arms. When I test drove a regular Fusion it did not turn to the right, but my Sport did. I'm wondering if it's like on of those first year bugs (yes I know it wasn't a complete re-design this year), so hopefully they fix it. Could very well be, the suspension is slightly modified over the rest of the line up, so anything is possible, I am happy to say, mine drives on rails. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roccod Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 My 2010 sport also pulls to the right. It took a while to notice but it def does. The car has almost 700 miles on it now and the condition hasnt changed. What will happen if i just leave it? I hate having the dealer pull the car apart. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roccod Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Tires. So are you saying that this car had a tire issue not a suspension issue? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdii Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 So are you saying that this car had a tire issue not a suspension issue? Tires can cause a car to pull, and after they wear in a bit, the pull can go away or get worse. I used to be ASE certified in alignments, and ran across several cars that would pull no matter how I set the specs, and found moving the tires around the car would cause the pull to change. Sometimes just rotating the tires from front to rear is all it takes to get rid of the pull. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roccod Posted March 26, 2010 Share Posted March 26, 2010 Tires can cause a car to pull, and after they wear in a bit, the pull can go away or get worse. I used to be ASE certified in alignments, and ran across several cars that would pull no matter how I set the specs, and found moving the tires around the car would cause the pull to change. Sometimes just rotating the tires from front to rear is all it takes to get rid of the pull. Interesting. THanks man. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roccod Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 My car was pullin to the right. So I switched the two front tires. Then car pulled to the left. Ended up being a slipped belt. Thanks for your input all,. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roccod Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 My car was pullin to the right. So I switched the two front tires. Then car pulled to the left. Ended up being a slipped belt. Thanks for your input all,. Problem diagnosed yesterday. So the dealer put the bad tire in back. Car drives fine. Today they replaced the bad tire and put it back in front. The pull is back. So I will bring it back tomorrow. It has to be a rim. One thing I recomend is numbering ur rims. I numbered them 1 through 4 with a sharpie. This way I can keep track of which rims are where, while dealing with this pulling issue and the dealer. And yes i marked them on the inside. And i also suggest cleaning off any dirt from the area ur gonna write on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Makes sense. The cars don't go on an alignment rack when being built. Since all the parts are new, they should all line up correctly when put together and set the same. It is only after a car is built and has some wear on it that replacing a part requires an alignment. When you consider a rack is the same size every single time, a tie rod is also the exact same sixe, it is only fitting that when you have the dimensions of a rack on a properly aligned car, and set a jig to reproduce those measurements, then ever rack put together off that jig will be exactly the same, so when you bolt it to the car, its perfectly aligned. But, if the control arms have some tolerance issues, where it can affect alignment by a degree or two, and that is all it really takes to cause a car to pull, then I can understand the problem. It sounds to me the vendor who made the control arms has some QC problems. I realize that this is from a couple months back, but it's just so inaccurate I can't leave it. First of all, all cars go over an alignment rack at the end of the line. It's a fancy laser device that costs about a million bucks. But only toe is adjustable, though camber and caster is recorded. If the plant sees a trend of camber/caster drifting, they can quickly feed that back up the line and make adjustments. Secondly if you think you can build two steering racks or tie-rod ends with the exact same dimensions every time, you're living in a dream world. Every part has it's tolerances, no matter how well you make it. Thrid, the main issue with Fusion drifting is not caused by bad control arms. It's caused by uneven caster between the left and right sides. Caster in the Fusion is determined by the tolerances in the lower control arm, the connection of the control arm to the subframe, tolerances in the subframe itself, the attachment of the subframe to the body, the location of the the subframe locators on the body, the variation in the body from the lower frame to the shock towers, the varation in the location of the upper control arm mounts to the body, the variation in the holes in those mounts, the variation of the control arm installation into those holes, and then finally the variation in the upper control arm itself. Even if each one of those is off of nominal spec by just a fraction of a millimeter, it can add up to an undersireable condition, even though everything is actually within specification. Rather than spend millions of dollars trying to control each of those points to a rediculous level, Ford has just released a control arm with offset bushings that allows a level of caster "adjustment" to compensate for all those tolerances. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drolds1 Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 I realize that this is from a couple months back, but it's just so inaccurate I can't leave it. First of all, all cars go over an alignment rack at the end of the line. It's a fancy laser device that costs about a million bucks. But only toe is adjustable, though camber and caster is recorded. If the plant sees a trend of camber/caster drifting, they can quickly feed that back up the line and make adjustments. Secondly if you think you can build two steering racks or tie-rod ends with the exact same dimensions every time, you're living in a dream world. Every part has it's tolerances, no matter how well you make it. Thrid, the main issue with Fusion drifting is not caused by bad control arms. It's caused by uneven caster between the left and right sides. Caster in the Fusion is determined by the tolerances in the lower control arm, the connection of the control arm to the subframe, tolerances in the subframe itself, the attachment of the subframe to the body, the location of the the subframe locators on the body, the variation in the body from the lower frame to the shock towers, the varation in the location of the upper control arm mounts to the body, the variation in the holes in those mounts, the variation of the control arm installation into those holes, and then finally the variation in the upper control arm itself. Even if each one of those is off of nominal spec by just a fraction of a millimeter, it can add up to an undersireable condition, even though everything is actually within specification. Rather than spend millions of dollars trying to control each of those points to a rediculous level, Ford has just released a control arm with offset bushings that allows a level of caster "adjustment" to compensate for all those tolerances. Our club was treated to tours of the (now closed) Wixom plant twice and all cars did indeed go on an alignment rack at the end of the line. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roccod Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Got the car back today after an alignment and its fine. Ended up just being a bad tire. THank all!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffWS Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 What is the build dates for the cars that pull? I have driven three cars with build dates March and April of 2010, and they didn't pull. If you have the tires checked, be sure the dealer has a road force balancer. This balancer will match the tire and wheel, and be able to check the tire for any ply issues. Jeff 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roccod Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 What is the build dates for the cars that pull? I have driven three cars with build dates March and April of 2010, and they didn't pull. If you have the tires checked, be sure the dealer has a road force balancer. This balancer will match the tire and wheel, and be able to check the tire for any ply issues. Jeff Thats exactly what they did. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omelet1978 Posted August 2, 2010 Author Share Posted August 2, 2010 You know its funny, I'm the OP and they fixed the right pulling problem a few months ago. However, I hit a curb and the right turning returned b/c the car was apparently out of alignment. I had it aligned and the tires rotated and now it drives straight as an arrow. Not sure which one did it but it drives a straight line for much longer now then when they originally fixed it... Any thoughts? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DontBeEvil Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Check your tire pressures. a half pound difference in the back for example can cause a fair amount of pull. Whenever I get a little pull, I check/rebalance the tires. This should be done at least once a month, and preferably every time you fill your tank. Plus you will get better gas mileage and have a better ride quality.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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