Had some new wheels and tires installed recently and the car is pulling to the right ever since. Went back to the alignment guy and he explained that the car is aligned correctly and that I could have a 'tire pull'. He explained sometimes a tire will pull to a side and the way to fix it usually is to just switch the tires. But I have directional tires and that wont work. Does this 'tire pull' sound accurate?? Should I take it into the dealer and check the alignment?

 

Yes. Take it somewhere else.

 

First check tire pressures. Then make sure that the little clips that hold the rotors on the hub were taking off. After that I would make sure that they balanced the tires correctly. If it wasn't pulling before the new wheels/tires, it has to be somewhere in the new combo you put on.

 

Go to a better front end guy. My mechanic tweaked the alignment from the stock specs and even with 245/40 18s in front, the car rolls perfectly, no "getting stuck in the cracks" etc..

Mike E

 

If your car did not pull until you put the new tire/wheel combo on then it could very well be a bad tire...assuming the alignment was done correctly. All he probably did was adjust the toe which would not cause a pulling problem, if there was a camber/caster adjustment done incorrectly then that could be the problem. If you got a print out of the alignment specs after it was done you could tell if the alignment was the problem. This sounds like you have a bad tire though.

 

To answer your question ...Yes, it is possible to have what is called a "tire pull". I have not had this issues on my Stang but did have it on my truck. It is caused by the alignment of the belts inside the tire. Usually happens on older tires with alot of miles on them. But I suppose it can happen on a new tire also. Only way to fix it is to replace the tire that I know of.
Scott

 

+1

+1 And yes, it happens with new tires also. Usually only under warranty in the first 2/32's of rubber on the tire.

You can cross the tires just to see if the pull goes away or to the other side, its not going to hurt anything. Or even once side front to back swap if not staggard.

I swear I replied to this thread before, maybe another forum.......