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Anybody getting constant pulling in one direction?

2043 Views 23 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  mitchogaard
One thing first: Sorry if this is a repost, but I searched "pulling to the right" and other variations of that, but the search strips the words "to", "the", and "right". "Pulling" is not a very good search criteria.

Anybody getting a pulling while driving? My car pulls to the right, causing me to have to hold the steering wheel turned to the left. I thought this was road crowning at first, but the situation is this: Right lane = pulls to the right, noticeably; Left lane = depending on amount of crowning, the car either drives straight or still pulls a liiiiiittle to the right.

Here's the kicker! Right before I got the winter's put on, the car was driving straight. I told my service guys to take a look when I went in for an oil change one time and they rotated the wheels and drove it and then put the wheels back and said it was noticeably better. It was... for about 10 miles. The General Altimax Arctics are a directional tire, so they can only be rotated front to back.

I'm stumped. I would rather not pay $100 for an alignment if it's not fixing my problem.

Ideas? Your own experiences?

Much appreciated.
1 - 20 of 24 Posts
Tire pressure good and even? A 3 pound difference can cause the car to drift slightly.
Sears and most other shops will check the alignment for free. If you've never had it done then most likely that's the problem.
im having the same problem. i got an alignment done n didnt help at all, but i think my situation has to do with 10-03-09-001: Vibration/Pulsation/Thrumming TSB, its posted on the other board.
Just had the whole vibration TSB completed and they went through wheels, tires, brakes, alignment, and so on and I still have a slight pull to the left. Suspension and bushings are fine also.

I might have to try an independent alignment place now.
If the lower control arms are bad (which is common on the G8) then the alignment can vary since they control the position of the front wheels.
Hmm. Well, I am starting to get the famous clunk on the driver's side now. I am pretty sure the tire pressures are even (though I haven't checked that recently), because I took the bait on the Nitrogen deal and had 'em do that on my winters. I assume that the machine they use can be set to pressurize to a specific PSI, and I assume they did all the wheels the same. I told them, "36 all around, puhlease!" I think I will stop in and see if somebody can take a listen so I can get that LCA replaced.

Update: Damn. I went in to see if I could have a tech come take a ride and listen. My regular service guys were out to lunch, and this guy was not very helpful. He wanted to schedule an appointment and write up a work order. Blah. Just as well. I couldn't get the clunking to go today except for on one "driveway" about 5 minutes from the dealership. A little frustrating. Doesn't feel like the problem is too bad yet, but I definitely want to nip this thing before it becomes a safety issue.
there are lots of things that can cause a drift or pull. You can try rotating tires first to see if it changes. If not, you need to get a true alignment,. Not just setting it to specs.

mike
dms
One thing first: Sorry if this is a repost, but I searched "pulling to the right" and other variations of that, but the search strips the words "to", "the", and "right". "Pulling" is not a very good search criteria.

Anybody getting a pulling while driving? My car pulls to the right, causing me to have to hold the steering wheel turned to the left. I thought this was road crowning at first, but the situation is this: Right lane = pulls to the right, noticeably; Left lane = depending on amount of crowning, the car either drives straight or still pulls a liiiiiittle to the right.

Here's the kicker! Right before I got the winter's put on, the car was driving straight. I told my service guys to take a look when I went in for an oil change one time and they rotated the wheels and drove it and then put the wheels back and said it was noticeably better. It was... for about 10 miles. The General Altimax Arctics are a directional tire, so they can only be rotated front to back.

I'm stumped. I would rather not pay $100 for an alignment if it's not fixing my problem.

Ideas? Your own experiences?

Much appreciated.
I've had mine aligned by the dealer twice, each time about a week later it will start pulling to the right. Not sure why...my car even sits higher than other G8's, which is super weird. I noticed the pulling to the right during winter, I feel like my summer setup never pulled to the right.
If you have worn lower control arms the alignment will vary after it's set.
If you have worn lower control arms the alignment will vary after it's set.
Any tips on how I get the dealer to prove this to GM? Can they look at the control arms and tell if they are worn. My car has been aligned 4 times and it's still pulls. I've suggested other suspension problems but they say "everythings ok".
Any tips on how I get the dealer to prove this to GM? Can they look at the control arms and tell if they are worn. My car has been aligned 4 times and it's still pulls. I've suggested other suspension problems but they say "everythings ok".
It is true you will have alignment variations with balljoint looseness. But you will also have noise complaints as well. Right now, GM is only looking at the condition of the boots and not actually checking balljoint looseness, unless there is a specific noise type complaint and even with that, they may not check thed balljoints for looseness.

You should post your alignment specs. Excluding tires and memory steering issues relasted to upper strut bearings, the alignment issues that I have seen are as follows:
1. improper caster bias, The way the facotry does the caster adjustming, most GM dealers do not even know how to adjust caster, and when they do, there is not enough flexibility to fine tune it. Pedders now offers eccentric adjusters for the G8 that not only increase caster, but allows you to fully adjust caster to any bias you want

2.Influences from the rear Having the rear cambers and toe and set backs off and not balanced may influence drifts and pulls

3. Excess rear bump steer It is possible to get excess bump steer on the rear. This is influenced by the positioning of the upper rear control arm bracket. Bump steer is the change in toe during suspension travel.

So post your align specs. If you do not have them, go to your GM dealer and get them. They have to save them if your alignments were done under warranty

mike
dms
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So post your align specs. If you do not have them, go to your GM dealer and get them. They have to save them if your alignments were done under warranty

mike
dms
Hmm. I don't have my specs, so I'll have to go back and get them. I had the alignment done 1 time: after my accident. Thanks, Mike.
After the dealer installed new lower control arms and did an alignment on my car it drives straight as an arrow. So either it's a combination of the two or my dealer has a good alignment technician.
Thanks, I'll try to get the alignment records from the dealer. I have no noises, and that is why they say there isn't a problem. They keep adjusting the caster/toe to try an get it right. First time they aligned it, the steering wheel was cocked right when driving on perfectly flat pavement. Then they aligned it the second time it was wwaaaay far turned left when driving straight. The 3rd time it was just a little left, now the 4th time its worse than before. Its really starting to get annoying to say the least.
It's apparent that nobody at your dealership knows how to do an alignment properly. You should try another dealer or a wheel & tire shop.
One thing first: Sorry if this is a repost, but I searched "pulling to the right" and other variations of that, but the search strips the words "to", "the", and "right". "Pulling" is not a very good search criteria.

Anybody getting a pulling while driving? My car pulls to the right, causing me to have to hold the steering wheel turned to the left. I thought this was road crowning at first, but the situation is this: Right lane = pulls to the right, noticeably; Left lane = depending on amount of crowning, the car either drives straight or still pulls a liiiiiittle to the right.

Here's the kicker! Right before I got the winter's put on, the car was driving straight. I told my service guys to take a look when I went in for an oil change one time and they rotated the wheels and drove it and then put the wheels back and said it was noticeably better. It was... for about 10 miles. The General Altimax Arctics are a directional tire, so they can only be rotated front to back.

I'm stumped. I would rather not pay $100 for an alignment if it's not fixing my problem.

Ideas? Your own experiences?

Much appreciated.
Try searching 'memory steer'.
There seems to have been a few with this same issue.



Always.. to the right for me. Sometimes a fresh alignment fixes it. this is why i have the lifetime with firestone :)
You should never make assumptions on alignments. ALWAYS get copies of them for your records. Describing potential alignment issues and not having your alignment numbers makes it challenging to assist.

thanks
mike
dms
You should never make assumptions on alignments. ALWAYS get copies of them for your records. Describing potential alignment issues and not having your alignment numbers makes it challenging to assist.

thanks
mike
dms
Noted. I will be asking for the records from now on.
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