Hey guys,

1989 Volvo 360 GLE with a welded diff, I've had it for a week now and bought it as it is.

My cars pulling to the left consistently, steering feels fine though. Took it to two tracking places today and neither could find the problem... even had it up on the ramp to check underneath, suspension all looks tight and sound, although the left balljoint had been replaced quite recently by the looks of it. Took both wheels off today myself and brakes don't seem to be sticking, it brakes in a straight line, tyre pressures are fine, tyre weights are fine... really at a loss as to what it could be? I have to hold the wheel at about 1 o'clock to get it to go straight, the wheel feels normal though, it self centres fine and sits straight but the car pulls left when the wheels straight, and you can feel the castor wanting to self centre the wheel when it's held at 1'oclock. Does anyone have any ideas? No odd tyre wear either...

Anyone have any ideas on what it might be, how to troubleshoot it, how to fix it, etc?

Edit, turned out to be a dodgy steering knuckle. Fixed and shortened them for straight steering and more lock to boot!

Its not uncommon, usually a bush or bent suspension and road camber. The chassis is fairly tough but you need to check for weakness from corrosion in a car this old. Small depth dents in the soft wing or front valence are not much to worry about. Ripples near the front radius arm mounting mean the car is scrap.

Check the front crossmember, but distortion can be hard to detect. Check the wishbone bolts, the top of the struts, radius arm mounts. Measure and compare dimensions either side.

Another idea is the rear axle, its has a rotational alignment set by the rear radius arm. I'm still not sure if this happens or not, but its common to see uneven toe-in on the rear axle, partly due to the rotation position being wrong and camber turning into toe in. Try looking down onto the rear wheel arch and comparing wheel direction.
It maybe that the axle is bent, or just that when badly adjusted (radius arm position), the springs twist the axle sideways a bit. This can happen over time as the rear radius arm bushes become distorted or not adjusted properly on re-assembly.

Adjustment is another thread but I think the bottom of spring plates should be horizontal when viewed from the side (not jacked up, weight on the wheels etc) but not entirely sure.

Brake drag dissappears when you brake.
Tracking can be picked up easily by tyre places
So its probably something more tricky.

A proper 4 wheel alignment will detect if things are out. It is then a question of finding out what is causing the problem. If the chassis is bent then you should be able to make some slight adjustments to the position of parts or you might be able to jack it almost back into shape.