alignment? stills pulls to the right!!

[fatvdub]

Just had an alignment done by the 2nd shop and the truck still pulls to the right? WTF... I recently did lower ball joints, new shocks, and a sway bar kit.
What do I need to do to get the truck to drive in a stright line?

2000 4dr AWD Explorer

 

[RangerTampa]

Check your brake caliper slide pins on the right side. If the pins are binding, the caliper won't release fully. Also, check the wheel bearings on the right side. If the castle nut is too tight, that could cause it to pull. That was the problem on my truck.

 

[pauley]

if that don't fix it try switching the two front tires from right to left a crappy tire will do this to.

 

[BBQ Bandit]

If there is no mechanical binding/uneven wear... take it back to the alignment shop to redo it on the house. They should have given you a before/after printout and reasonings.

 

[pauley]

actually if its a good shop you should take it back before you touch any thing and ***** about the alignment. i know at my shop when our work is accused of being less than perfect we have to find the problem so we can prove weather or not it was our fault. so if you feel like being lazy just take it back. let them deal with it.

 

[corkey]

this can be a problem spot for most alignment shops,,
they let the vehicle go , back to the customer as long as it is within the spec called for by the manufacturer, that includes Ford, , trouble is the spec is just not that tight , and there can still be a pull one way or the other, or weird feelings in the steering wheel.

i worked at an alignment shop all through high school,, long time ago, how long ?? we used to bend radius arms to set caster is how long,,
and we came up with a setup that always seemed to work, and had little complaints,
1/2 a degree lead on the passenger side wheel for caster is usualy what it takes to keep most vehicles going in a straight line.that is accounting for road crown,

but, and this is big, most vehicles specs are not close enough to that to get the lead right on all the time, and that can also cause a pull,


i would say , take it back and have the shop manager drive it around the block, go with him, make him see that it is not right,,


pull is usually caused if based on alignment ,the one wheel being closer to the front of the vehicle, meaning it is the first one being pushed causing it to be the source of drag,thus drag equates pull ,

 

[konaboy]

I'd take it back and have them double check. Just had two new tie rods and alignment done on the wife's car. Started pulling to the right a week later. Turned out to be the front tires, they wore unevenly. Shop switched the fronts side to side and it started pulling in the opposite direction. Two new tires and problem solved.

 

[Cobraguy]

if that don't fix it try switching the two front tires from right to left a crappy tire will do this to.

Best advice in this thread. Try this first. If it doesn't change anything, go back to the shop.

If you have a brake hanging up enough to cause a pull, that rotor will be hot as hell after a short drive. No need to pull anything off...just carefully check rotor temp.

 

[volver]

My X was pulling to the right. I replaced the tie rod ends, this fixed the problem. I had also done a TT up 1- 1/4 inches months earlier. I figured it was time for an alignment. I had them check the alignment first. It was set up the way I wanted it. .7 negative camber. 3 degrees caster and toe was within tolerance. So I only paid 10 dollars to have the alignment checked. All measurements were equal right to left. This is a street/handling set up. Opposed to the specs for the stock Explorer, which have numbers in the opposite direction of mine. The stock setup actually makes handling worse around corners but keeps the car going in a straight line and reduces tire were.

On flat surfaces the truck handles well going in a straight line. You can corner harder before understeer starts. The down side is that I have to point the wheel towards the center of the road slightly. The car slid down the crown of the road.

I do have a problem when stopping. If I apply the brakes it pulls to the right even on level surfaces. I think it is my rear passenger side brake. The tapered part is staring to wear into the rusty portion of the disk. I think this causes more friction, harder braking. The front brakes was recently replaced with slotted rotors and carbon mental high friction pads.

Any ideas? I would like to replace the rear with slotted maybe I should try that first.

 

[ExploringNC]

Just had an alignment done by the 2nd shop and the truck still pulls to the right? WTF... I recently did lower ball joints, new shocks, and a sway bar kit.
What do I need to do to get the truck to drive in a stright line?

2000 4dr AWD Explorer

Does it pull when at a constant speed, accelerating or braking?

 

[robertoa1a]

If they aligned it to zero then the sloping run-off of the right side of the road can make it seem to drift a little to the curb. They are supposed to adjust the caster on the passenger side 1/2deg to compensate. Does it pull on the highway driving on the left side?

Secondly you may have a brake dragging or frame dammage from a crash (though doubtfull).

I would take it back. The owe you a good alignment or an exclamation for the money you paid.

 

[fatvdub]

thanks everyone for your responses
the truck pulls to the right all the time the brakes look good and the truck was doing this even before I got new tires.

sorry for the late response, I have been with out the net for a few days.
I will be taking this back to the shop for further inspection.
thanks again

 

[EXPLORERSNOW]

My truck does exactly the same thing! It was doing it with the old tires ! I went and got new tires, and wheel alignment, and it still pulls right, the shop told me that I need an upper " a " arm, but that they set it up so it would not ruin the tires, but it's pulling bad! When I hit the breaks it really doesn't pull! I am taking it to sears to see what they think!

 

[imp]

If nothing is "dragging" on one side or the other, "pull" is caused by the "toe-in" setting of the front wheels. Toe-in basically makes the front of the vehicle "plow", sort of like the "Vee" shape of the front of a ship. If toe-in is set at exactly ZERO, that is, both wheels straight head, there will be NO PULL. Also, no stability.

What allows the toe-in to "pull" the vehicle to one side or the other is UNEQUAL CASTER ANGLE from one side to the other. Once CASTER is set to the same amount on BOTH SIDES, the vehicle will track nice and straight. The actual AMOUNT of the caster angle is less important than that both sides be EQUAL. Alignment shops don't understand these basics; they set 'em up according to the numbers given them.

So, yeah, get it back to an alignment place that understands the term "caster split". Ford gives a tolerance for this number in it's specs, something like both sides must have equal caster within + or - 1/4 degree of angle. imp

 

[deweyville65]

And only one post that even vaguely mentioned camber.

 

[RomeovilleIL]

My truck does exactly the same thing! It was doing it with the old tires ! I went and got new tires, and wheel alignment, and it still pulls right, the shop told me that I need an upper " a " arm, but that they set it up so it would not ruin the tires, but it's pulling bad! When I hit the breaks it really doesn't pull! I am taking it to sears to see what they think!

If you have a bad upper control arm, either the ball joint or the bushing are shot. In both cases that is adding slop to your alignment. Keep in mind even 1/8" of alignment on one side will have a significant impact in handling and tracking. You cannot adjust away worn parts. Replace the upper control arm.

 

[imp]

And only one post that even vaguely mentioned camber.

Camber will not materially affect the tendency for a vehicle to "pull" to one side or the other when driving straight ahead. imp

 

[deweyville65]

Camber will not materially affect the tendency for a vehicle to "pull" to one side or the other when driving straight ahead. imp

Really? And who told you that? Why do you think a proper alignment has Positive camber on the left, and straight up or negative camber on the right? I don't know about where you live, but here in Az most roads have a pretty good crown. The front ends are set up to allow for that. Another reason I do my own.I find I can do better with a tape measure and a level than most shops around here do with all their high priced equipment.

 

[swshawaii]

http://www.aa1car.com/library/steerpul.htm

 

[Maniak]

Camber will not materially affect the tendency for a vehicle to "pull" to one side or the other when driving straight ahead. imp

The Camber "split" can affect pull. I just had to work on our Mustang thanks to the bad camber split.

Turned out we had -1.5 degrees on one side and -.5 on the other as I didn't check the alignment after changing the strut mounts last time.

When I set the camber to -.75 on both sides the pull went away now that the camber split was taken care of.

Just to clarify though, -.5 to -1 is "my" spec for camber on the mustang as the front end handles much better with that camber BUT that isn't the factory spec.

~Mark