1989 Mazda 626. I replaced the lower control arm on the pass side in
> December, and while it resolved the ball joint issue, the steering wheel
> was cocked to the passenger's side and pulling to the right.
>
> My computer decided to blow it's brains out last night, and I was up until
> 3:30AM putting the old one back in service and reloading Linux YET AGAIN,
> so when I got up at 10 I figured, I'm gonna PAY someone this time and
> relax, and get it lined up all at once. Every shop I went to..."If you had
> come last week..."
>
> It got up to 64 degrees in Massachusetts (they said t was going to be 46,
> so I had planned to do it today anyway, and 65 was just a bonus...) so I
> pulled into the yard, got the jack, stands and tools out and went at it.
> Wasn't as easy as the other one, and, see later for an aside question.
> The only thing I couldn't get out was the sway bar link from the old
> control arm, and AutoZone went from $4.99 to $18!!! But, it's all
> together, and...the wheel is STRAIGHT and the pulling is GONE! All I did
> was just put it back in where the other one was, and it drives straight
> down the road, no pulling, no nothing, just nice and smooth. I figured
> this might happen, but I was betting more on having the alignment go WAY > out.
>
>
> BTW, there was something on the driver's side not on the passenger's side:
> a "Black Box" I had to remove to get the rear bolts out. It had no
> connections on it, just bolted to the frame, and appears to be a big
> magnet. It attracted my tools when I set it down.
>
> The car does not have ABS or 4 wheel steering (some did). Any ideas? >
>
Sounds like a light trip magnet. Used on vehicles that don't have enough steel to reliably trip traffic lights and other magnetic switch items.
I have them on my motorcycles so you don't need to wait for the timer.