Pulling Problem - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Sean89 · 03-08-2010, 11:57 AM

I started having this pulling problem on my car around 10K miles. I had it taken in for an alignment which did not fix the issue. The service manager tried to tell me that he was not seeing an issue and what I was probably feeling was the road crown. Recently the issue has become really bad. I have 45K miles on my car now. Just got new tires on and went to do an alignment again hoping it would fix it (alignment from Sears). The issue is still not resolved. I brought it into Sears 3 times and finally I had the tech drive the car. He told me that its not an alignment issue and it may be something with the front end? No clue. Anyway here is what is happening:

Steering wheel defaults to a tilted left position.
If I straighten the wheel out, car goes to the right.

Whenever I mention it to Toyota they always interrupt me and go ALIGNMENT!!! I told them I would gladly pay $80 to them to do an alignment if they can guarantee me that it would be fixed. They said they could not do that. What should I do?

Redline_Me · 03-08-2010, 12:07 PM

how was it before you changed the tires?

Maybe they messed with the toe too much on one side?

Sean89 · 03-08-2010, 12:12 PM

It wasnt as bad before the tire change. Like I said it was slightly to the left but it was bearable. Now the wheel just defaults to the slanted position. Should it be something I should take up with the people that changed my tires?

03-08-2010, 12:16 PM

^where the hell have u been? welcome back man

**PRINCESS PEACH** · 03-08-2010, 12:19 PM

tire balancing. if your tires are true and balanced

then it has to be alignment. go to a reputable hand alignment shop.

Sean89 · 03-08-2010, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Kenny-

^where the hell have u been? welcome back man

Been busy putting miles on my car :P. I see that you have moved up the chain here haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRINCESS PEACH

tire balancing. if your tires are true and balanced

then it has to be alignment. go to a reputable hand alignment shop.

Thanks for the reply. So this would be something the tire shop would have to do?

PS: Car is looking sick! Yours too Kenny.

johnnyzee · 03-08-2010, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRINCESS PEACH

tire balancing. if your tires are true and balanced

then it has to be alignment. go to a reputable hand alignment shop.

took the words out of my fingers...
alignment is the most probable cause and your best bet is a good HAND ALIGNMENT shop.

**PRINCESS PEACH** · 03-08-2010, 12:25 PM

well when my car was pulling, i took my car to like.. 4 different places for alignment. i finally took it to the last one and they managed to fix it.

Sean89 · 03-08-2010, 12:27 PM

Did you end up getting refunds from the people who could not fix it?

**PRINCESS PEACH** · 03-08-2010, 12:28 PM

yeah i did. or you can check this out.

Vehicle Pulling to One Side - Revised 3/21/07

03-08-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean89

Been busy putting miles on my car :P. I see that you have moved up the chain here haha.

Thanks for the reply. So this would be something the tire shop would have to do?

PS: Car is looking sick! Yours too Kenny.

thx man, things changed a lot man. so anything planning for yur car?

TAZCOOLS · 03-09-2010, 01:07 PM

Swap front tires, if the pull changes, then its a defective tire. Whats called a radial tire pull. It should be covered under tire warranty. also do your test on freeway and try all lanes. Also i think you said it pulls to the left, Not to be mean as i am a big guy myself and weight can cause pulling. If you are bigger you have 2 options, Be in the car dring alignment or put some weigt on right side of car. You don't need equal weight, but at least half.

Redline_Me · 03-09-2010, 01:18 PM

or a simpler fix than that, would be to ad about 1 PSI of air to the driver side tires.

***lammydi*** · 03-09-2010, 01:18 PM

Meet up with someone who has the same car that has no problem like you have.
Put their wheels+tires onto your car and go for a test drive. If problem goes away then it is your tire.
If problem still exist then it's not your tire and now you can look at the alignment.

***judge34411*** · 03-09-2010, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean89

I started having this pulling problem on my car around 10K miles. I had it taken in for an alignment which did not fix the issue. The service manager tried to tell me that he was not seeing an issue and what I was probably feeling was the road crown. Recently the issue has become really bad. I have 45K miles on my car now. Just got new tires on and went to do an alignment again hoping it would fix it (alignment from Sears). The issue is still not resolved. I brought it into Sears 3 times and finally I had the tech drive the car. He told me that its not an alignment issue and it may be something with the front end? No clue. Anyway here is what is happening:

Steering wheel defaults to a tilted left position.
If I straighten the wheel out, car goes to the right.

Whenever I mention it to Toyota they always interrupt me and go ALIGNMENT!!! I told them I would gladly pay $80 to them to do an alignment if they can guarantee me that it would be fixed. They said they could not do that. What should I do?

Sounds to me like you are not saying it always pulls but when you are going straight the wheel in the car is not centered? Right.

If so, when they do an alignment make sure you ask them to align the car with the wheel in the right centered/leveled position. An do not forget they may never get it perfectly centered. An its no biggy because when you go down the road due to the crown in it you will always be pulling to left or right a bit.

There is a difference between a pulling steering wheel and a centered wheel.

An all alignments are hand done. An do not forget to get a 4 wheel alignment not just the front tires.