Car pulls to left after alignment

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I recently took my snow tires off; the wheels were badly rusted to the hubs, so I had to beat them off with a mallet. Ever since then, the car has pulled to the left. 2 shops have tried aligning it, but it still pulls.

Could this possibly be a tire issue? I looked online and saw suggestions for swapping the front tires side to side, but leaving the rears where they are. Would that be the next logical step? Or front to back???

Thanks for any help!
 
I'd rotate them to the back and see if the pull goes away.🤔. If you bent the rim beating on it I'd think it would act like it was unbalanced hopping from 45 on up. I always lay on my back and kick together with both feet to knock mine loose. No chance of bending a rim that way.
CHECK THE DATE CODES ON THOSE TIRES. You might have a broken belt. My daughter had some 10 yo Hakkipalitas snows I'd had for years. One year I stuck them on and she mentioned them pulling suddenly. I tried it and drove it hard all over the place finding nothing. After some more complaining I took it and drove it a while. Suddenly wham it tries to head for the ditch and I mean hard, worse than a blowout then normal again. I take it in and tell the best front end guy in the area of its tricks. He checks alignment and finds it spot on just being 10 YO. I had him take it for a ride and he came back and said it tried to snatch the wheel out of his hand all at once just like I said. We looked it all over and couldn't see any visible signs besides some age cracking. It was a broken belt all along , just happened with no damage or reason.go figure.
 
Put 2-4 lbs additional pressure in the front tire, on the side that it pulls. If your pull goes down, then it could be the tire but this is not a perfect test.
 
Always wondered about that term. I assume it doesnt mean radia tire it means direction of pull which doesnt make sense to me either.

Belts layed off -center before the stack was pressed into the mold during tire production?

I just had an alignment too on the VW and the caster was off on the left and it is still off on the left - out of spec.

VW doesn't have a 1 yr 12 month adjustment period. I thinks its just 1 month 1000miles. If I knew that I would have gone in sooner.

They said because you know people hit potholes. I said I didnt hit anything unusual and there was no tire bruising or wheel damage,
The alignment should hold. But of course it wont since front end on most cars now are garbage, My old '65 Buick used to have a "brake force reaction rod" fron the front frame perimeter to the lower A- arm.. Don't see this necessary part used anymore.

I would try swapping tires left to right.

What did the alignment look like? was cross camber over 1/4 degree?
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
I just had an alignment too on the VW and the caster was off on the left and it is still off on the left - out of spec.

What did the alignment look like? was cross camber over 1/4 degree?

[Linked Image]

How does that look compared to yours?
 
I just saw this. I'll take a picture and post it. Yours was fine tough you have a 1/4 deg cross camber which will steer the car. against the crown which can be desireable as long as you dont spend lots of time in the fast lane on the interstate. Your BEFORE toe was fine - as was mine at near zero - the out reading is just where the tech put the steering wheel - the smallest movement to the RiGHT and the spec would be in. No tire rod twisting needed.

I like it centered a about 5 degrees turned to right to make up for crown countersteer as I drive a lot of crowned backroads.

Now we both have more toe in than we need but not excessive.

BTW my left caster was out at 6.8 deg right was 7.1. Must be a bent LCA.

I have a twist beam rear in the 2019 not IRS. Though the numbers look similar.

How did the fronts look as far as feathering inside or out?

Thanks - Ken
 
Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
I just had an alignment too on the VW and the caster was off on the left and it is still off on the left - out of spec.

What did the alignment look like? was cross camber over 1/4 degree?

.....
How does that look compared to yours?

See what I wrote above. Ill try to post a pic. I think the papers are in the Jetta glove box.
 
The car had 1,352 miles on it when the alignment was done. I was having shaking problems, so for some reason they decided to align it. Had to get rid of the flat spotted OE Bridgestones to get rid of the terrible shaking.

I haven't ever noticed any kind of irregular wear.
 
[Linked Image]


They let it go out of spec. I wonder if they put 235 lbs in the DS if the caster would come into spec
smile.gif

It didnt need any adjustment. I felt now difference behind the wheel. after.

They said well you probably hit a pot hole, you know. I said nothing you would need a ladder to climb out of ... can you show me a bruised tire or damaged rim?. Had to pay the 100 bucks.

Then I read my warranty for adjustments Alignment is one month 1000 miles only. Barely time for chassis to settle in.

I'm used to the 1 year 12k miles from the "old days"

Ill bring it back again. I got this.
 
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You changed tires, and that is when the issue started. Your tires are at fault. 99% of the time, tires cause pull and has nothing to do with alignment.

FYI, I am a BMW alignment tech, I see this all the time.

If you go to a shop with a higher end Hunter wheel balancer, they can measure the radial pull of each tire and see if one is bad, or put two with similar pull on the front that cancel each other out to reduce pull. All tires have some pull.
 
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