Still pulling right after alignment

[Hbryanlopez]

Just took my car to a Goodyear shop and got my alignment told them I would like my caster at 4 and right away he advised against it. Tech said that due to the way the road was built the right caster needs to be slightly higher than the left. .2 degrees or so. Long story short and he brought my caster up the camber turned red and he brought it as close as he could to 4. The photo is the before and after but my car is now pulling slightly right. Can someone advice on this or is this normal. I have 5100 up front and it set to second ring which I think is at .75 or near that number and back are stock.

 

[INSW20]

the tech is correct in that typically there is a caster split to account for road crown. however, it looks to me like your truck "should" pull to the left slightly. camber pulls positive (left side is more positive and should pull that direction) and caster "pushes" negative. again, caster is slightly lower on the left, so it should pull that direction.

unless you mean your steering wheel is off to the right? :noidea: did they adjust toe at all?

 

[Hbryanlopez]

the tech is correct in that typically there is a caster split to account for road crown. however, it looks to me like your truck "should" pull to the left slightly. camber pulls positive (left side is more positive and should pull that direction) and caster "pushes" negative. again, caster is slightly lower on the left, so it should pull that direction.

unless you mean your steering wheel is off to the right? :noidea: did they adjust toe at all?

i'm not sure if they adjusted the toe, but the car pulls to the right. when driving and i let go of the steering wheel, the vehicle just goes to the right.

 

[rydr1]

Take it back and let them know your issue. even if the readings are within specifications, there can be special circumstances causing your pull or drift to the right. Have him lower your left side caster a bit and then try it again.

Toe angles will go out of adjustment if caster or camber are adjusted, shoot toe may deviate slightly from pulling the car off the rack and back on, so toe adjustments may always be needed.

One other thing, tell him to please give you a before and after printout with bar graphs instead of the screen shots. These print outs will give you the true readings, and the shop needs to verify caster after all adjustments. So the screen shot on your print out may actually be different from the actual caster readings on your truck.

 

[1engineer]

Make sure you check your pulling issue on several different roads.

 

[Hbryanlopez]

Take it back and let them know your issue. even if the readings are within specifications, there can be special circumstances causing your pull or drift to the right. Have him lower your left side caster a bit and then try it again.

Toe angles will go out of adjustment if caster or camber are adjusted, shoot toe may deviate slightly from pulling the car off the rack and back on, so toe adjustments may always be needed.

One other thing, tell him to please give you a before and after printout with bar graphs instead of the screen shots. These print outs will give you the true readings, and the shop needs to verify caster after all adjustments. So the screen shot on your print out may actually be different from the actual caster readings on your truck.

thanks, ill be taking it back.

 

[JamesA13]

I am having the same issue on my 92. Every time i take it in to have alginment done they tell me the toe is good and that the caster in the left front should make it pull left. But im still pulling to the right as soon as I let go of the wheel. Am wondering if I have a bad caliper hanging a brake pad, bad CV, bad wheel bearing, ball joints, I cant figure it out for the life of me.

 

[Saker]

I am having the same issue on my 92. Every time i take it in to have alginment done they tell me the toe is good and that the caster in the left front should make it pull left. But im still pulling to the right as soon as I let go of the wheel. Am wondering if I have a bad caliper hanging a brake pad, bad CV, bad wheel bearing, ball joints, I cant figure it out for the life of me.

Definitely check all of those items first.... it is possible that the belts in one of your front tires has separated and shifted, causing this issue.

See this!

 

[Cheers!]

tire pressures all good?

 

[gm350reratliff]

the tech is correct in that typically there is a caster split to account for road crown. however, it looks to me like your truck "should" pull to the left slightly. camber pulls positive (left side is more positive and should pull that direction) and caster "pushes" negative. again, caster is slightly lower on the left, so it should pull that direction.

unless you mean your steering wheel is off to the right? :noidea: did they adjust toe at all?

Take it back and let them know your issue. even if the readings are within specifications, there can be special circumstances causing your pull or drift to the right. Have him lower your left side caster a bit and then try it again.

Toe angles will go out of adjustment if caster or camber are adjusted, shoot toe may deviate slightly from pulling the car off the rack and back on, so toe adjustments may always be needed.

One other thing, tell him to please give you a before and after printout with bar graphs instead of the screen shots. These print outs will give you the true readings, and the shop needs to verify caster after all adjustments. So the screen shot on your print out may actually be different from the actual caster readings on your truck.

I agree with both posts.

Make sure you check your pulling issue on several different roads.

This is important as well.

 

[Kennyr44]

Pulling can usually be fixed by swapping or rotating the 2 front tires. They get a wear pattern going that causes this. Not always but in my long history this has fixed it for customers 90% of the time. Alignment is a waist of time and money for this since its usually not the cause. Ive seen steering racks pull to one side but that's not very common. A smart alignment mechanic will swap the front tires when someone complains of pulling so he doesnt get a comeback on his alignment.

 

[Saker]

Pulling can usually be fixed by swapping or rotating the 2 front tires. They get a wear pattern going that causes this. Not always but in my long history this has fixed it for customers 90% of the time. Alignment is a waist of time and money for this since its usually not the cause. Ive seen steering racks pull to one side but that's not very common. A smart alignment mechanic will swap the front tires when someone complains of pulling so he doesnt get a comeback on his alignment.

Kenny, would you agree if this is done and it pulls in the opposite direction, it may actually be the tire with shifted internals or not?

 

[Kennyr44]

Kenny, would you agree if this is done and it pulls in the opposite direction, it may actually be the tire with shifted internals or not?

Usually it's not a bad tire and swapping them just works like magic. Usually it won't pull in the other direction. You still have the rear tires to play with on the front but the best way is to swap the fronts first. Service writers etc won't tell people this, they sell alignments to feed their families.