car jerks when I let off gas

[viber15]

When I am accelerating, whether quickly or slowly, my steering jerks to the right when I let off the accelerator. Has anybody else had this problem? It can be quite scary at 70 mph.

[vibrologist]

Something wrong with the brakes: right side caliper does not release.

Also possible: worn out suspension bushings.

Do you hear clunking noises too? Is the right rotor hotter than the left when you come to a rolling stop without the brakes applied?

[circuitsmith]

It's called torque steer, unique to FWD, and I had it once (in a Honda) due to a dry ball joint in the front suspension.

[jolt]

What year car and what transmission do you have? How do the front tires look? Is the tread smooth, cupped, feather edged? Have you checked the air pressure in the tires? Are there any sounds or noises coming from the car when this happens?

[viber15]

Tire pressure is fine, no noises, brakes are equal, but I think I do have an idea. I think it might be torque steer to the left and when I let off the gas, the tension is gone and I jerk the wheel right. The only thing is that I am not hard accelerating, just normal keeping-up-to-speed accelerating and it feels the same way.

[vibrologist]

That points to suspension bushings, in particular at the control arms. But you need to check everything on both sides.

[jolt]

Jack each wheel up off the ground and turn each wheel by hand, one at a time. Have the car in neutral and block the rear wheels so the car does not roll away on you when you jack a front wheel up. The amount of force it takes to turn each wheel should be the same. If one wheel turns harder then the other, you have a drive line and/or brake problem.

Is the steering wheel straight when you are driving straight down the road? If the steering wheel is off in one direction or the other when driving straight, that is a sign of worn out tie rod end, and/or lower ball joint, and/or control arm bushings. The greater the wear, the great the steering wheel will be off from center.

Torque steer, for the most part, only happens under hard acceleration. Under normal operation you do not feel this as not a large amount of power is being transferred to the front wheels. You could also have something wrong with the power steering too, but I did not see where you have said what year this Vibe is as the power steering systems are completely different between the first and second generations of Vibes. How many miles or km are on the Vibe?

[lannvouivre]

Are you sure the brakes are equal? Driving on a level surface, with hands off the steering wheel, the car should maintain a straight path when you press and release the brakes. Use a parkinglot, as roads usually have a crown in the middle. If you have a bad brake line, it can have constant pressure on one side.

Also make sure you listen to jolt, because it could be that you have a drivetrain issue.

If you're not very handy, you may well want to take it to a mechanic because issues like this can be really difficult to diagnose if you aren't familiar with everything involved.

I will list the bushings and joints, though:
Lower ball joints (there's no upper one on these cars)
Control arm bushings (front and rear where they connect to the crossmember)
Outer tie-rods

You may also check the sway bar links and bushings, but I'd expect you'd have a ton of noise if those went out.

I think you could also have an alignment issue. The reason your steering wheel returns to center is because of a relationship between the weight of the components and the caster angle. Also keep in mind that the crown in roads can cause the car want to turn to the right to go downhill.