Hello everyone!

Just passed the 10,000 mile mark so I had the tires rotated. For some reason, I have to steer a few degrees to the left to continue straight. Most people probably wouldn't notice but I do and it bothers me a bit. Has anyone else experienced a slight pull to one side or the other after having the tires rotated?

Jon

 

you might need to rebalance your wheels,, i got my wheels rebalanced and rotated,, that might help

 

Mine has pulled to the left ever since I put on new wheels & tires. Even after rotating them to see if the new wheels or tires caused it, it still pulls left. No one has been able to figure out what's wrong. An alignment didn't help at all.
If you figure out what's wrong PLEASE let me know.

 

I think I'd give them a hundred miles or so to allow them to wear to their new positions. When I rotated mine, they didn't track well for a couple of days either. Hopefully the place that rotated your tires used a torque wrench to tighten the wheel nuts properly.

 

I sure hope so as I had the tires rotated at Lincoln-Mercury dealership near my home. Just got back from Indianapolis and they have improved, still have to turn the steering wheel ever so slightly to the left to continue going straight. Gonna have an alignment done early this coming week. Hopefully that will cure the slight pull to the right.

I'll post the results as soon as I have them.

Cheers,
Jon

 

Jon,

Check your tire pressures to make sure there is not a side to side variation...sometimes little things will be overlooked when a car is in for service. Also, I have had tires that have a pull or drift one way, but not the other way. If your pressures check out, have the tires swapped side to side to see if the pull or drift goes the other way. If it does, it is most likely a tire issue.

I hope this helps.

Tony D
Retired Tire Dealer

 

Checked the pressures already. In fact I started running more in the left side to try to compensate for the pull.
I rotated front to back, but since they are directional I'll have to pull the tires off the wheels to swap side to side. Even with the front to back rotation, if it was a tire problem I should've noticed a difference. What are the chances that I not only got two bad tires, but I put them both on the same side? Very slim.

 

This may sound stupid, but did you check to see that all 4 tires are the same size? Also, the same model?

I had a car come in with new tires on it, one tire was the right size, same brand, but different model. There was a slight difference in overall diameter that was causing the pull.

In another instance, I had a tire on the back of a car that was causing a problem. I replaced both front tires and the problem persisted, I replaced one of the rear tires and the problem disappeared.

Also, check the rim widths to make sure they are the same, at least in pairs (front/Back).

I hope it helps.

Tony D

 

Just went out and checked just to be on the safe side. Yes they're all the same.
Wheels are also the same. They only make them in one size anyway.

If it were a problem with one of the back tires it would've gone away when I rotated them.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Without the car and an alignment rack, I cannot guess any more. If the alignment was checked, did the technician tighten the tolerances? On the Hunter Alignment machines, they have a feature that will decrease the allowed tolerences, which on Fords is too generous for my tastes.

If toe-in is in spec and the steer ahead (centerline) is correct, sometimes the tolerances will allow enough of a variation on camber from one side to another that can cause a pull or a drift. The old rule of thumb was no more than a half a degree of difference in camber from one side to another.

Also, is the thrust angle correct? If not, it can be corrected with adjustable lower rear control arms. If thrust angle is off a material amount (no car is perfect) you will have to turn the wheel slightly to go down the road straight.

Make sure your test section of road is flat. Many roads will have a high crown and cause a car to drift to the right. Down the road from my old tire store was the flattest section of road that I used for test rides. The section of highway immediately in front of the store had a high crown that dropped about 5-6 inches from the centerline to the white line.

I hope this helps.

Tony D

 

****. Wish I was in MD. I'd bring it by and let you do it.
It was a Ford tech that checked the alignment. (one free under warranty) He said it was within Ford's specs. That could be the problem.

Maybe I can find an alignment guy around here that's as knowledgeable as you are... as well as one that gives a

Thanks, Tony!

 

StangNut,

I no longer have the tire store...I just sell parts for the S197 Mustang, Ford Focus, and other cars.

You hit the nail on the head, you have to find someone who cares to do the best job they can and have time to do it. You maybe better served by going to a good tire/alignment shop than a dealer. Someone who does alignments all day long would have the potential to do a better job diagnosing the problem than someone who aligns a car or two a week.

Tony D
sometimes I miss turning the wrenches...just sometimes!

 

I had a runaround with ford service department after warranty service on tierod ends and having them replace brakes on wifes windstar- long story short, they accidentally swapped tires right to left side- a no-no with radials. they wanted to drill out spotwelds/realighn caster/camber- I said 'not unless you wrecked it', and took as-is to local NTB that has a great alignment tech- he checked it out, said fine, asked why/what they did, says' i bet they switched tires, and you got some ply steer'- he rotated fronts and steering wheel was back on center(was off 45-60 degrees!). what really shocked me was when I went to pay, 'oh theres no charge- we check for free/rotate tires for free' I about fell over. dealer wanted to f'up my wifes car by drilling thru galvanizing/realigning(wouldnt have helped anyway) and discount it for only 100 bucks. last time they will ever touch one of my cars- three strikes.

 

Since when? Ive worked for Goodyear since I was 16(15 years) and radials have been recommened for rotations front to back side to side, it doesnt matter.

Recommended rotation for the Mustang is cross the fronts to the rear, and the rear go straight forward. Unless you have changed tires or wheels to a directional design.

NewEdge is right on

 

The stock Pirelli tires aren't directional?
I know the Goodyears used to be.

 

Newp, but they are assymetrical, meaning must me mounted with the marked sidewall facing out.

 

Oh well. Doesn't matter for me anyway. BFG KDW's on mine now. Unidirectional.

 

Stoenr,

Thanks!

Tony D

 

Be careful of uneven pressures. You will have different rolling resistance on either side, and that could spell trouble at high speeds.

Because of work, I go to emergency driving schools fairly regularly. The instructors always stress even tire pressures. They make us drive improperly inflated tires to demonstrate, and the results are bad. Underinflated tires are really scary. I've taken to running my work car at 10psi over, because it corners best that way, and corrects out of a spin faster.

Drag racers stagger the air pressure front to rear, but they are looking for straight line grip in the rear, and minimum rolling resistance in the front, not cornering performance. Using air pressure to mask an alignment problem or mechanical problem makes me nervous.

 

thanks Stoenr- did some reading found a link that explained plysteer pretty well, my bad- thought it was rotation, from how I recalled the guy describing it, but just positional...interesting, never heard of 'conicity' before either...

http://www.toyo.com.au/TechInfoPDFs/...e%20Action.pdf