why is my car keeps pulling to the right? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Tubbyc · 05-07-2004, 08:31 PM

the story goes like this, I lowered my car about 6 months ago, however, I didn't have an alignment done back then. My car travelled pretty straight, it didn't pull to the right or left and there was no shaking or vibration at high speed. I changed to a new set of wheels+tires (from 16" to 17") last week and they were balanced. The car was still neutral and travel in a straight line. However, I decided to get an alignment done today, the shop told me that the alignment was off and they fixed it. But my car starts to pull to the right, people in the shop couldn't figure out the reason. They told me to wait 1-2 weeks to see if it will correct itself. I was wondering is it normal? The car drives fine before I have the alignment done.. I don't get it. Help!

88 LE · 05-07-2004, 08:48 PM

Take it back to the alignment shop and have them fix it.

If the wheels are balanced, then it sounds like your toe in / out is messed up.

clocknite · 05-07-2004, 10:21 PM

i had the same problem as you... after i got it aligned, it started pulling to the left... but after 2 days it went away... so it might be normal?

i didn't get my camry aligned until a few months after i lowered it too

foompla · 05-07-2004, 10:25 PM

did they rotate your tires? sometimes tires will wear more on the inside, and if they criss cross them when they rotate them, it will give you a pull. It usually goes away after a few days (after the tires are reshaped)

tavalon · 05-07-2004, 10:25 PM

alignment

war0827 · 05-07-2004, 10:28 PM

same problem here. except i changed my tires from a 14 to a 18 and the wheel would turn to the left or right everytime i braked. i took it in and got an alignment done and made sure the wheels were balanced and well pressurized. I still get it every once in awhile, but the more i drive, the more i notice it only does it when i'm slowing down or coming to a stop on a road that's pretty badly paved (pavement is not straight and one side might be higher than another).
Either way, i noticed th car picks up on even the slightest bit of uneven road surface. i just ignore it now.

***Silver Streak*** · 05-07-2004, 10:46 PM

^ that's probably normal for your car, cuz you probably switched from a 195 to a 225 width tire...it'll just pick up every freaken line in the road. When i went from a 205 to 215 width tire, I noticed I had to almost steer the car straight on a lot of roads that I wouldn't normally had to do with my 205 tires.

Tubbyc · 05-08-2004, 12:08 AM

thank you guys for the response. The tires are brand new, just got them installed last week along with the 17" wheels, so it is probably not due to unbalanced wear. After I installed them last week, the car still behaved normally, it didn't start to pull toward right until I had my alignment done today.. so that's pretty much what puzzles me. I can only hope my car will behave like clocknite's car that the problem can disappear by itself... worst case scenario, i guess I will have to bring it back to the shop if the problem does not go away. thanks guys!

war0827 · 05-08-2004, 12:19 AM

this is dumb of me to say, but maybe you're so used to driving not so perfectly straight, so it seems like your pulling left when you're really not

j/k

Nick · 05-08-2004, 12:21 AM

my car drives straight and true with 215/60r15, but it does pick up the cracks in the road a lot more

***cam2Xrunner*** · 05-08-2004, 02:39 AM

The alignment is not what is causing a pull. There is no adjustment on a camry to stop a pull. Caster is what causes pull when you're alignment is out. If it wasn't pulling before you got the tires than your caster is ok. Even if your caster was out there really isn't much you can do since there is no adjustment. The prob that you're probably having is that one of the tires on the front has more air presure than the opposite tire. OR you can have whats called a radial pull. To find out which tire is causing the pull rotate the right front tire to the rear and drive the car. If it doesn't pull anymore than you can be sure that it is the right side front tire that was causing the pull. And vise-versa for the other side. Also what you can do that sometimes fixes it is to remount the right front tire to go on the left side(if your tires are directional, if not just cross the two front tires). Sometimes that will cancel out the pull or cause the car to pull the other direction. If doing this doesn't fix the problem then you will have to get the tire that is causing the pull replaced. I worked for goodyear for 2 years and had to deal with this at least 2 times a week.

foompla · 05-08-2004, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by trdcamry2003
The alignment is not what is causing a pull. There is no adjustment on a camry to stop a pull. Caster is what causes pull when you're alignment is out. If it wasn't pulling before you got the tires than your caster is ok. Even if your caster was out there really isn't much you can do since there is no adjustment. The prob that you're probably having is that one of the tires on the front has more air presure than the opposite tire. OR you can have whats called a radial pull. To find out which tire is causing the pull rotate the right front tire to the rear and drive the car. If it doesn't pull anymore than you can be sure that it is the right side front tire that was causing the pull. And vise-versa for the other side. Also what you can do that sometimes fixes it is to remount the right front tire to go on the left side(if your tires are directional, if not just cross the two front tires). Sometimes that will cancel out the pull or cause the car to pull the other direction. If doing this doesn't fix the problem then you will have to get the tire that is causing the pull replaced. I worked for goodyear for 2 years and had to deal with this at least 2 times a week.

camber causes pull

misaligned thrust line (toe) causes pull

Erbe · 05-08-2004, 08:40 AM

mine seems to be pullin right too...not after springs though....i guess it needs to be aligned...yet another thing on my list of fixups

amerikim · 05-08-2004, 11:36 AM

Is it a heavy pull or just a drift?
Take into account that most roads slant towards the outside for drainage.If your previous alignment was slightly off to the left, your car was countersteering for you. This is in steady cruise right? Notice how your handling has also changed with a wider tire. Road irregularities seem more pronounced?
Give it a few weeks. Take it into a Toy dealer if you still are not satisfied.

Tubbyc · 05-09-2004, 10:44 AM

it is a moderate pull, when my steering wheel is at the central position, the car travels toward the right, I have to steer my steering wheel a little to the left to keep my car travel in a straight line. since I have those tires bought and installed at Costco 2 weeks ago, I guess I will just bring the car to them to see if they can rotate and remount the tires for me next week. or I can put my stock tires back on, to see if my problem come from those 17" tires.