Road wander

[GaryRN1972]

I lost a caliper bracket bolt and the caliper came loose on the right front and locked up any forward movement. I could backup but not go forward. I was doing around sixty at the time and it made a heck of a noise and then squealed to a stop. Before this happened my grand prix hugged the road like it was glued to it. Now It wants to wander like it's hydroplaning. I pulled the tire and rim off along with the caliper and rotor and you could see damage to the inside of the rim caused by the caliper as well as the rotor. A mechanic said it was an alignment issue but when I turn left it makes a sound like the halfshatf might have been damaged. I put the rotor back on and secured it with a couple lug nuts and I couldn't feel any movement of the rotor or wheel bearing. The steering wheel is also slightly off center to the left. I just had a four wheel alignment done not long ago. It drove great after that. It has four new tires and new struts and coil springs front and back. I also replaced the outer tie rod ends.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[JUSTA6]

Welcome to FP.   Sorry about your trouble.  You need to measure the front side of your tires, side to side. Outside edge of the tread to the other.  Measuring tape, string, long enough piece of wood, ect.  Then measure the backside.  Will tell you if your alignment is off.  At least you'll have a starting point.

[Last Indian]

On 6/29/2022 at 3:17 PM, GaryRN1972 said:

I lost a caliper bracket bolt and the caliper came loose on the right front and locked up any forward movement. I could backup but not go forward. I was doing around sixty at the time and it made a heck of a noise and then squealed to a stop. Before this happened my grand prix hugged the road like it was glued to it. Now It wants to wander like it's hydroplaning. I pulled the tire and rim off along with the caliper and rotor and you could see damage to the inside of the rim caused by the caliper as well as the rotor. A mechanic said it was an alignment issue but when I turn left it makes a sound like the halfshatf might have been damaged. I put the rotor back on and secured it with a couple lug nuts and I couldn't feel any movement of the rotor or wheel bearing. The steering wheel is also slightly off center to the left. I just had a four wheel alignment done not long ago. It drove great after that. It has four new tires and new struts and coil springs front and back. I also replaced the outer tie rod ends.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You need to pull the whole assembly out. Strut, knuckle, Aarm, brakes all of it, which means you need to take the knuckle off the half shaft. 
without seeing it I would guess you bent or damaged something. That is a tremendous load to exerted instantly on that assembly! If you were running stock type struts, not good. Knuckles are aluminum, again that’s a big load & the Aarm bushings, especially the front one is an abortion. 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Last Indian