I just recently bought my first cobalt a 2008 SS/TC. It appears to me that a previous owner may have replaced the front strut asseblies with FE1 struts instead of FE5. It appears to be a quick strut assembly and seems to sit a little high in the front. On top of this I seem to have excessive torque steer at higher rpms. Does this sound like it could all be related?

 

Well the torque steer is most likely related to worn trailing control arm bushings, but having FE1 shocks and springs probably doesn't help either.

The Cobalts have a MacPherson style strut in the front end, so you could get away with just getting the FE5 shock, the valving will be off but not to serve to impact driving. Or you can get an upgrade and go with Powell Race Shops YYZ v5 or v6 (not sure which he's on, v2 and up are all the same)

 

I just had the control arm bushings checked by my mechanic and he said they are fine. Im aware that these have Macpherson struts in them, however I dont think I follow what your saying about shocks? Are you saying I can replace the strut and not the spring? Where is a good place to buy FE5 struts other then a dealer if I decide to replace mine?

 

Ment to say spring, but typed shock.

I'm still betting on the bushings being the problem, they wear over time and when you accelerate hard the deform due to a loss in stiffness allowing the wheel center to move back tweeking alignment for that acceleration.

Some torque steer is expected since it's a fairly high powered FWD car, you'll eventually get used to it.

 

Ok, so I put new tires on the car last night. When they were balancing the new tires they found a warped rim that was on the front. They put that rim on the back and now the crazy left and right pulling seems to be gone.