Steering/Alignment Question...2002 Corolla LE

[cement406]

I have a 2002 Corolla LE. When I drive on the interstate, I have to keep the steering wheel turned a few degrees to the right to get the car to go straight. If I let up on the accelerator, then I have to center the steering wheel to get the car to go straight. (If I kept the wheel turned the same as before, then the car will veer to the right.)

In addition, when I'm driving at city speeds (i.e., 35 mph or less), I usually have to center the steering wheel or turn it ever so slightly to the right to get the car to go straight.

Any thoughts on this? Is my alignment off? Or could it be something else?

Thanks.

[rezzle]

Three thoughts.

Tire pressure

Torque steer

The fact that you may be driving on the left side of the road crown while on the highway (fast lane)

[freakinbox]

My first thought is tie rod... Thats whats wrong with my car and the stuff is REALLY similar...
With constant changes like that I would say more something has worn out. Jack the car up and see if there's play in the wheels.

Now if you move the wheel and it has play from left to right and EVERYTHING, Like I mean the rotor, wheel, brake caliper, steering nuckle, moves then you need a tie rod end...
If you get play up and down and everything moves
then it's a ball joint
Finally if you get play and just the wheel and brake rotor move then you need a wheel bearing.

Now of course the easiest way is to have someone watch the tie rod end/ball joint to see if they have play when you wiggle the wheel, or if you have larger rims that have alot of openings you can just look at it when you wiggle it

[DoubleEdgedWomb]

Sounds like torque steer to me. It's "normal" in FWD vehicles.

[DoubleEdgedWomb]

Sounds like torque steer to me. It's "normal" in FWD vehicles.

[cement406]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I believe I can rule out the crown of the road on the highway. That's because when I'm in the right lane I still have to turn the steering wheel to the right a few degrees. I would suspect that if the crown was the issue then I'd have to turn the wheel to the left.

I also thought about torque steer. But, when I accelerate from a stop (sometimes a hard acceleration) I don't have to turn the wheel much if at all. That leads me to think that torque steer may not be the issue either.

I've made an appointment at my local Toyota dealer. I've told them the same thing verbally that I wrote in my first post and they are perplexed. Of course, it's sometimes hard to diagnose car troubles over the phone. Any suggestions for what else to tell the dealer? I've never had this happen before with my Toyota.

Thanks.

[90 GP]

I had a pulling issue on mine and it turned out to be a bad tire. Try rotating front tires to back and see if still have the problem. Another possibility could be a caliper that is not fully releasing. As mentioned earlier any difference in tire pressure could also cause it.

[cement406]

My local Toyota dealer looked at my car today and discovered that the problem was with the tires. My car's alignment and wheel balancing were great. On the other hand, the tires had some problems including being out of round, pulling and some (abnormal) side-to-side wobbling.

I was surprised and disappointed. I have taken care of these tires since I bought them, including maintaining correct air pressure, rotating them every ~6,000 miles and driving conservatively. All four tires were Goodyear Assurance ComforTreds. I bought all four of them and had them installed at the same time from a different retailer. They have ~30,000 miles on them which place them roughly halfway through their tread life warranty. Since these tires were priced relatively high I expected much better performance from them.

Even though I purchased road hazard coverage with these tires, I decided to have my Toyota dealer replace them with four new Yokohamas. My research indicated that they are good tires, and I have had good luck with the Yokohamas on my 2002 Sienna. I could have gone back to the retailer from whom I bought the ComforTreds, but the combination of less than satisfactory customer service from them along with the fact that I’ve heard of similar ComforTred problems from others led me to make the decision to cut my losses and start off elsewhere.