03 Alignment

[M36]

I have about 1100 miles on my new truck and the alignment has been off since we picked it up. Wheel cocked to the left, pulls right. Kind of like my 2001 did, and the reason was "it is following the crown of the road". Anyone else have the front end out of alignment on your 03, or run into this BS excuse when talking to a dealer about alignments?



Jim

 

[4xquadrod]

I have 9600 on mine and it still pulls to the right after two independent alignments. The tires don't appear that the truck is out of alignment but I do have a slight pull to the right.

 

[MMeier]

Same here, **ealer said "radial pull", I said B. S. rotated tires on front and it still goes off to the right on it's own!! Might stop by my friendly Goodyear shop and see if they are capable of aligning the beast !! Mark

 

[M36]

I am not a big fan of Michelin truck tires, and have suspected them having something to do with the pull. I may be wrong, but I couldnt wait for them to wear out on the 2001 so I could replace them just to see if something changed. I guess I ll wait another 3 years or so. I havnt gone to the dealer yet on the 03. I'm disappointed that someone else is getting the same run around, and even more disappointed that independent front end shops are saying the same thing.



Damn,



Jim

 

[rbattelle]

FWIW, I agree with the "following the crown of the road" excuse. It's a solid-axle front end... they have a tendency to pull in the direction of the crown. I notice when I'm inn the far left lane on the highway, it pulls slightly left. When I'm in the far right lane, it pulls slightly right.



Just my opinion... I could be wrong.

 

[Steve G]

I only have 4300 miles on mine, but this truck tracks straight as an arrow.



Steve

 

[EBramwell]

My 03 has pulled to the right from day one! I took it back to the dealer, and they had it for three hours trying to align the front end. They finally gave up, and here is what they told me.

They suspect that when the truck was sent from the factory they dogged it down to tight and tweaked the frame on the passenger’s side?!?! They would need to get it in the frame shop to see if it was to speck.

Anyone heard of that one before?

 

[Prairie Dog]

Mine went straight down the road until I left it at the dealer for two days . Now it pulls to the right even when I'm in a lane that slants to the left. I've got an appointment for Sat. to have it checked out.

 

[Duck]

Mine started pulling much harder to the right after I put the BFG's on. I took it to an alignment shop and they said they couldn't get that pull to the right out of it either. I blamed the lift and/or tires for it.



It took me a while to figure out that it was actually "pulling away from the crown" since most roads slope to the right around here. But once I found a road that sloped to the left, there was no question.



I just had my tires rotated @ 6k miles and they were worn perfectly even, so I don't worry about it anymore. Once you know what's causing it it's slightly less annoying.

 

[EBramwell]

Interesting how many of us that have a 03 4x4's are having this problem!?!

I wonder if this "radial pull" isn't what's wrong with mine? I've never heard of (radial pull).

 

[ImagesThatSing]

FWIW

3000 miles, no alignment problems at this time.

 

[David Muench]

Mine definitely follows the road a bit. If I'm on an un-crowned road (or the middle lane) it always tracks perfectly straight. Night and day improvement over my 2nd gen.

 

[MMeier]

Does not seem to matter what I'm driving (2-lane, interstate, city street, etc ) or what lane I'm in, it goes off to the right no matter what!!

 

[EBramwell]

MMeier, I'm having exactly the same problem your having!

I've rotated the tires, and had the front end checked twice, it didn’t make a bit of difference.

 

[MMeier]

Trying to get to Mr. ***aler in the next week and try to get them to pay for a trip to a frame shop and see what's going on up there in the front of the beast and go from there!!!

 

[PCline]

Mine tracks perfectly straight also as long as I'm in the middle lane (on top of the crown). It's amazing how much wheel I have to put in when I'm off the center of the crown (left or right).



I'm sure glad D/C got rid of the tie-rod-end on the drivers side of the track bar, but I still think the bushings they used are too soft. As soon as I get the chance I'm going to replace them with a combination of polyurethane and AL-NI-BR (assuming I can machine the polyurethane). It's going to be an AL-NI-BR center with about a 5/16 polyurethane "donut" around that. The donut will be machined to have a slight interference fit with the bushing and track bar rod end.



That should make it nice and tight with just the right amount of give.

 

[Mr.Goat]

Took delivery of mine on Oct. 12th. It tracked as strait as a die until Feb. 4th when she got hit head on. It was a beautilful handling truck, I only hope it's replacement which is the way, is of the same guality. Pete

 

[hdfxrsconv]

I have over 9K miles on my 03 2500 4X4. It tracks straight as an arrow. Does not wander at all. Same pulling an enclosed trailer 4K miles. Perfect handling.

 

[Elk]

5k and straigt as an arrow. now my Dads 00 pulls to the left unless he put a little extra air in the left front tire.

 

[FM]

It used to be that when a vehicle was aligned to "spec" that it would drift right off normal road crown for "safty" reasons. I don't know if Dodge specs their's to do the same but many do. I've come to expect that kind of drift but if on level ground it should track straight. My 03 has 2900 on it now and it does just like described above. Oh yea, I still love my truck!