AWD, AdvanceTrac pulling on accel & decel

[Philco]

05 Explorer AWD, AdvanceTrac RSC. While driving the veh. it will turn to the right upon acceleration and turn left on decleration. Any suggestions or lead me to a thread.

 

[Flag Gibby]

This really sounds like a tire/alignment issue to me.

 

[Philco]

New tires.

 

[Flag Gibby]

Not sure what you mean by "new tires", but if you didn't get an alignment along with the new tires then that could be causing the pulling left/right. Also, tires that are out of round can cause the car to pull left/right.

 

[Philco]

Not sure what you mean by "new tires", but if you didn't get an alignment along with the new tires then that could be causing the pulling left/right. Also, tires that are out of round can cause the car to pull left/right.

 

[Philco]

All 4 tires are new. Alignment was performed. Just discovered a blown RR strut. Is it possible a blown strut could cause this type of actions.

 

[Flag Gibby]

Sounds possible, depending on how hard it is pulling since when accelerating the vehicle would load down more in the right rear corner pulling it to the right and when letting off it unloads faster pushing briefly to the opposite side. More than anything, the blown shock on that corner should make the vehicle feel "unsettled/wobbly" in the back corner. I think that the shop that did the tires/alignment would catch the blown strut since they usually look at all the steering/suspension as a part of the alignment check, so it is possible that it just recently failed (possibly by hitting a large pot-hole or something) throwing your alignment off along with the other issue that I mentioned. Replace the shock and see if it goes away. If still there then verify alignment and check tires for out of round.

 

[Flag Gibby]

I should have reccommended in my last post for you to just replace all of the shocks when you replace the blown one.

 

[Philco]

Thanks. I'm going back to the tire dealer and have them ck the alignment and the circumference of all 4 tires. As far as the shocks, when I accelerate the RR does dip a little and pull right. That may be the culprit.

 

[Flag Gibby]

So any follow up on what the final fix was???

 

[Philco]

All trails lead to a blown shock on the RR. Took it to AAMCO to have a rear AWD transfer case seal replaced and asked them about it. They said Explorers are real sensitive to shock travel and a blown shock may cause that type of reaction. Since I have no troulble lights from the computer I feel confident the shock could be it. Damn things are expensive. I've been studying some DYI sites and since I live in South Texas I wont have removal problems with rust. I'll keep you informed of the progress. Thanks.