I took the 2003 V-6, auto., base, coupe to get it aligned at NTB and they said they couldn't align it properly because there is no way to adjust the castor. It is pulling to the right. They said it was a common Ford Mustang problem to this year model. NTB recommended taking it to a Ford dealership because they kept secrets from them (and other alignment shops) so customers have to go to Ford for alignments.
Has anyone else encountered this problem and, if so, what to do about it? Is there a fix?

 

that story is crap. go to a different alignment shop immediately. caster is adjustable to a point in stock form, after thats caster/camber plates are needed. if this shop doesnt know that, they have no business performing alignments.

 

I'll take it to another. I was not impressed with NTB. Thanks for the quick reply jwog666.

 

Caster has nothing to do with the car pulling to one side. Caster is the angle of the upper strut mount in relation to the lower ball joint front to rear.

 

Ive only seen three things cause a pull one way or the other.

1. Under inflated tire
2. Scrubbing brake pad
3. Bad alignment

 

incorrect. ^^^^^^caster and camber will BOTH cause pulls. a vehicle will pull towards the most + camber and the most - caster. for example your camber is.5 deg on both front wheels, but the left caster is 2.5 deg and the right front caster is 4.5 deg, the negative caster split of 2 deg will cause the car to pull left. this is all assuming of course that there are no mechanical issues like brakes, low tires etc. causing the pull. this will be 100% evident by reading the alignment measurements taken.

trust me, i do this for a living, if thats not good enough, watch this video

 

and camber pulls

 

Here's a fun fact, most OEM's adjust caster slightly different between the driver and passenger side for just the reason that Jwogg666 described. It creates a slight pull to either side depending on which side has the least amount of negative caster. In most cases OEM's will set the caster a little more negative on the drivers side. Can anyone guess why?














Time's up, most roadways in the US have a slight peak towards their center (Crown) so that water runs off into the ditches and gutters. A slightly higher negative caster on the Drivers side helps to offset that so that the car tracks forward better.

Don't believe here, here's one point of reference. Many others are out there. Last section titled Road Crown and Custom Alignment. 2006 Ford Escape from the factory is set with more negative caster on the drivers side.
http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/176

 

4. rotational pull of a tire's broken belt/uneven tread
5. unevenly worn pair of tires
6. severely worn wheel bearing
7. damaged steering damper
8. heavy load on one side
9. wind
10. broken parts(i've seen alot of scary ones)

 

I was going to mention the peaked road but didn't think it was enough to matter.