Car pulling to the right after the first 5000 mile maintenance.

[Dongbeiren]

Truck pulling to the right after the first 5000 mile maintenance.

Guys,

After having my 12 limited maintained at the dealership for the first time, I noticed that the truck is slightly pulling to the right on the road, it was just a 5000mile regular maintenance, Im not really sure what they did exactly to it. The pulling is very slight but definitely noticeable, I asked them to check it, but they only swapped the front tires and the problem is still there. I checked the tire pressure and they are all same at 41psi. Since I just saw a thread about tire pressures and seems like higher pressure tends to cause the car to have a 'floating' feel and all the suggested pressures are lower than 40, so could my problem be because of the high pressure? And what's the manufacturer suggested pressure on the stock 20" Dueler tires?

Right now I pretty much need to hold the steering wheel slightly to the left to counter the pulling all the time, I did try to find a flat surface and the car seems to be better, but I'm still not completely sure it's straight..

Has anybody experienced the similar problem and what could possibly be the cause? It's driving me nuts!!!

 

[K O]

Stock pressure is printed on the sticker in the door. I think it's less than 40 though.

 

[Dongbeiren]

I think the high pressure migh have made the tires too stiff thus they become too sensitive to the road surface, as most roads are dipping to the right, that's probably why the car is pulling to the right, lemme recheck the pressure tomorrow.

 

[toytruck]

Something as little as rubbing your tire up on a curb can possibly throw your alignment off. Just a thought.

 

[Dongbeiren]

Something as little as rubbing your tire up on a curb can possibly throw your alignment off. Just a thought.

read the maintenance report again, and seems like they checked the alignment and it's good, I'll check the tire pressure again and see if it can be solved, otherwise, I'll bring it back to check the alignment again.

 

[RubiconSS]

Yes the natural camber of a road is to the right for drainage. Drop the air pressure, 41 is too high.
Just a suggestion, "Truck", not car (-:

 

[Dongbeiren]

Yes the natural camber of a road is to the right for drainage. Drop the air pressure, 41 is too high.
Just a suggestion, "Truck", not car (-:

Title corrected, thanks for pointing it out :jump:

 

[Qjake]

read the maintenance report again, and seems like they checked the alignment and it's good, I'll check the tire pressure again and see if it can be solved, otherwise, I'll bring it back to check the alignment again.

Highly doubt they checked the oil nevermind the alignment specs. The 5k service consists of tire rotation and some BS multipoint checklist. As already pointed out 41 psi is much to high for the OEM Dunflops, Lower it to 32-34 you should be fine. If you are still pulling have the alignment checked.

Good luck!

 

[Bay33saw]

Guys,

After having my 12 limited maintained at the dealership for the first time, I noticed that the truck is slightly pulling to the right on the road, it was just a 5000mile regular maintenance, Im not really sure what they did exactly to it. The pulling is very slight but definitely noticeable, I asked them to check it, but they only swapped the front tires and the problem is still there. I checked the tire pressure and they are all same at 41psi. Since I just saw a thread about tire pressures and seems like higher pressure tends to cause the car to have a 'floating' feel and all the suggested pressures are lower than 40, so could my problem be because of the high pressure? And what's the manufacturer suggested pressure on the stock 20" Dueler tires?

Right now I pretty much need to hold the steering wheel slightly to the left to counter the pulling all the time, I did try to find a flat surface and the car seems to be better, but I'm still not completely sure it's straight..

Has anybody experienced the similar problem and what could possibly be the cause? It's driving me nuts!!!

I had mine done not too long ago and now mine pulls a little to the right also, I will check my tire pressure tonight and see what it is set at. I am almost positive that I set it at the recommended PSI it says on the inside of the door, I know for sure it was balls on accurate when I picked her up, and it has only started pulling since my 5K service.
No bummped curbs or any bad off road excursions also.
Dongbeiren did you get yours fixed yet?

 

[RubiconSS]

Not sure if we said it or not but, Tire pressure on an LE with 20" is -32psi
I have experimented and am currently running 35 psi but will now be incrementally tweaking in that range (32-35) to see about ride/handling/wear/MPG

* When I drove mine home from the dealer they were at 45psi !!

 

[Bay33saw]

Not sure if we said it or not but, Tire pressure on an LE with 20" is -32psi
I have experimented and am currently running 35 psi but will now be incrementally tweaking in that range (32-35) to see about ride/handling/wear/MPG

* When I drove mine home from the dealer they were at 45psi !!

Yeah I checked mine when I drove off the lot there were set at 45psi also, I lowered them to the factory specs, but I haven't checked them in a month or so, I will check them tonight and see what they are at.

 

[nevada]

Not sure if we said it or not but, Tire pressure on an LE with 20" is -32psi
I have experimented and am currently running 35 psi but will now be incrementally tweaking in that range (32-35) to see about ride/handling/wear/MPG

* When I drove mine home from the dealer they were at 45psi !!

yeh, theres no way i would run that low of pressure on 20's.

you dont have much cushion from the tire with that large of a wheel, unless you're running oversize tires.
to keep the wheel from impacting the road when going over expansion joints, or any other bumps in the road, you need to run a higher pressure.

 

[Dongbeiren]

I had mine done not too long ago and now mine pulls a little to the right also, I will check my tire pressure tonight and see what it is set at. I am almost positive that I set it at the recommended PSI it says on the inside of the door, I know for sure it was balls on accurate when I picked her up, and it has only started pulling since my 5K service.
No bummped curbs or any bad off road excursions also.
Dongbeiren did you get yours fixed yet?

I've brought the truck to them three times already. But they said there's nothing wrong every time. And since the alignment was within the specs, they wouldn't redo the alignment for me.

I did try to drive on the left side of the road and seems like it did pull to the left so I think it is probably just too sensitive to the road crown, and that's what the dealer kept telling me. But I've never driven a car/truck that's so sensitive, and I still feel that it just goes to the right so easily. And it wasn't like this before the first maintenance ...

I'm about to put on my 17" wheels with winter tires on. Lets see if that'll fix the problem.

 

[Bay33saw]

Yeah I checked mine when I drove off the lot there were set at 45psi also, I lowered them to the factory specs, but I haven't checked them in a month or so, I will check them tonight and see what they are at.

OK So I checked them this morning 29 PSI cold, I guess that's the culprit, I won't know for sure until I inflate them a tad more (didn't have time this morning)

 

[janefennell147]

Something as little as rubbing your tire up on a curb can possibly throw your alignment off. Just a thought

 

[Jtraskell]

I've brought the truck to them three times already. But they said there's nothing wrong every time. And since the alignment was within the specs, they wouldn't redo the alignment for me.

I did try to drive on the left side of the road and seems like it did pull to the left so I think it is probably just too sensitive to the road crown, and that's what the dealer kept telling me. But I've never driven a car/truck that's so sensitive, and I still feel that it just goes to the right so easily. And it wasn't like this before the first maintenance ...

I'm about to put on my 17" wheels with winter tires on. Lets see if that'll fix the problem.

Dongbriren, notwithstanding air pressure, sensitive steering is one of the main reasons to have your "Castor" set as close as possible to +4.0. Not sure where yours is set at now, but I suspect it is closer to 2.5 or 3.0. Factory spec's says 2.5-4.0 is "acceptable". Yea, well, anything below 3.5 is too low for me. If you get the Castor changed, you will notice a big difference in "sensitivity". You will actually feel some resistance and not have to be correcting the steering every 1.1 seconds while driving on a relatively straight road.

Now, since your stealer says's your alignment is "within" spec's, they will most likely NOT adjust to your request. This one will be out of your pocket. But having it done by a reputable alignment pro, is well worth the money. Good luck and Be safe.

Edit, do not be surprised if the "Pro" adjusts your Castor to say, 4.0 on th drivers side, and 3.8 or the passenger's side. He/she is doing that to compensate for the crown in the road issue. It is all good.

 

[orcking]

Good point.
However caster on the right side should be a little more positive to compensate for raod crown and not the other way around
The car pulls to the the side with least caster.

My pilot is very sensitive to the raod crown to the point it makes my shoulder numb sometimes.
I tried adjusting the camber to be 0.5 degrees more positive on the left side to compensate but it didn't help much. The caster is not adjustable and its 4.0 on both sides. Not sure what else I can do besides trying to add more camber on left side again.
The difference of camber on both sides now is 0.5 degrees.

 

[Dongbeiren]

Dongbriren, notwithstanding air pressure, sensitive steering is one of the main reasons to have your "Castor" set as close as possible to +4.0. Not sure where yours is set at now, but I suspect it is closer to 2.5 or 3.0. Factory spec's says 2.5-4.0 is "acceptable". Yea, well, anything below 3.5 is too low for me. If you get the Castor changed, you will notice a big difference in "sensitivity". You will actually feel some resistance and not have to be correcting the steering every 1.1 seconds while driving on a relatively straight road.

Now, since your stealer says's your alignment is "within" spec's, they will most likely NOT adjust to your request. This one will be out of your pocket. But having it done by a reputable alignment pro, is well worth the money. Good luck and Be safe.

Edit, do not be surprised if the "Pro" adjusts your Castor to say, 4.0 on th drivers side, and 3.8 or the passenger's side. He/she is doing that to compensate for the crown in the road issue. It is all good.

Now I have my winter tires and 17" wheels on, and everything still feels the same, I'll check the caster after work and see what are the actual specs on each side, thanks for the reply!

 

[hec983]

Now I have my winter tires and 17" wheels on, and everything still feels the same, I'll check the caster after work and see what are the actual specs on each side, thanks for the reply!

UPDATE on mine!!!! I had same problem dealer said its all correct. They suck balls!!!!!. Took it to a local mechanic shop that a friend recommend me and yes it was misaligned!!! Now its perfect. Screw the stealership and find a good shop even if you have to pat

 

[TX - Longhorns]

UPDATE on mine!!!! I had same problem dealer said its all correct. They suck balls!!!!!. Took it to a local mechanic shop that a friend recommend me and yes it was misaligned!!! Now its perfect. Screw the stealership and find a good shop even if you have to pat

I had the same problem after one of my oil changes/tire rotations, i can't remember which one - maybe 10K. Anywho, they realigned and the pull went away...