Pull to right - Suggestions?

[MLimpert]

My truck is pulling slightly to the right. The crown of the road doesn't seem to be causing it, because it will do it if I drive right down the center of the road as well.



The dealer aligned it this morning, and the only thing out of specs was 1/4* of right side toe. It is now set back to Chrysler specs and is still doing it.



I switched the right and left front tires to see if that would switch the pull, and it did not. Tire aire pressures are equal side to side.



Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'm thinking about taking it to a top notch independent shop in town to have them look at it.



Everything is all stock except for BFG All Terrain T/A tires. 12,000 miles on the clock.

 

[Cattletrkr]

Dad's 03 was aligned at dealer a few months ago. Pulls right.

My '04. 5 was aligned by independent 2 weeks ago, still pulls right.



Both are bad enough they'd be off the road in about 100yds or less. Only thing "wrong" with mine is the rear axle toe??? Something like . 37. Basically my rear axle is bent somehow. Tires are wearing OK given the amount of pull so I'm kinda wondering wassup too.



All suspension and driveline conponents were checked out at dealer a month or so ago when I had new ujoints put in. Nothing seems to be wearing funny or handling unsafe, so for now I'll live with it until it's bad enough to be diagnosed. Of course by then I'll be off warrantee.



Edit: Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread. Just chiming in with a similar problem.

 

[fkovalski]

... The crown of the road doesn't seem to be causing it, because it will do it if I drive right down the center of the road as well...

Not trying to be a smarta$s, but try driving on the left side of open road to verify it is not the crown causing the pull (i. e. pull to the left. ) With aggresive tires it can do funny things. I had tires like yours one time on my truck and did not like the handling at all. I switched to Mich LTX M/S and it fixed my wandering issues.

Just my $. 02

-frank.

 

[JCleary]

The problem with the Dodge trucks pulling right has nothing to do with toe adjustments. Toe only changes tire wear.



Pulls to the right or left are caused by either radial tire pull, or a caster problem.



In my truck, it pulls to the right. The solution is to install an offset ball joint, increasing the caster on the opposite side of the pull.



Once caster differential is introduced, say -1 to -2 degrees, it will usually cure the problem.



IFS trucks are easy to fix. Ford trucks have some way of adjustment, Dodge does not.



Swift Dodge in Sacramento, CA, has a fix using a modified 2nd gen ball joint. I just haven't had time to take a day and bring it in. It's a 4 hr. round trip.



The pull to the right doesn't affect tire wear, so I just learned to live with it.

 

[QWaller]

I have had the same problem in the past with 2nd gen trucks. Mine liked the left side of the road though. Just be thankful it is to the right (to avoid oncoming traffic), that got really old really fast.

 

[DPKetchum]

This has been posted and dicussed many times in the past. LOTS of them go right including mine. Do a search. You'll find lots of reading about he going right issue.

 

[MLimpert]

I have had really good luck with the BFG A/T in the past. This is my 5th set over the years. I need more traction occasionally than a Michelin LTX can muster in the snow (as I found out with my 02 a couple winters ago) :-laf , so going back to them is not really a choice, although I really liked their low wear rate.



I tried driving on the wrong side of a quiet road tonight. It reduced the pull, but its still there to an extent. I think the combination of whatever is wrong and the crown of the right side of roads make it seem worse than it is.



I scheduled with the independent shop tomorrow for an alignment/test drive/inspection. They do specialize in alignment and do a lot of high end cars/trucks, so hopefully they can point me in the right direction.



Did anyone have better than factory alignment specs for a 3rd gen? I remember seeing a post about second gen alignment some time ago.

 

[hasselbach]

The problem with the Dodge trucks pulling right has nothing to do with toe adjustments. Toe only changes tire wear.



Pulls to the right or left are caused by either radial tire pull, or a caster problem.



In my truck, it pulls to the right. The solution is to install an offset ball joint, increasing the caster on the opposite side of the pull.



Once caster differential is introduced, say -1 to -2 degrees, it will usually cure the problem.



IFS trucks are easy to fix. Ford trucks have some way of adjustment, Dodge does not.



Swift Dodge in Sacramento, CA, has a fix using a modified 2nd gen ball joint. I just haven't had time to take a day and bring it in. It's a 4 hr. round trip.



The pull to the right doesn't affect tire wear, so I just learned to live with it.

Not true about the toe. Adding more toe to the front will help with the pulling. Think about it, with the right crowm in the road, more weight is biased torward that side, which will help pull it to the left. I've done it on several trucks decreasing the toe slightly and all trucks stopped pulling to the right. Also, adjust the caster for more positive adjustment. Helps a lot.

 

[MLimpert]

Well I got my truck back tonight, and found there wasn't much they were able to tweak. It's almost perfect now, with just an ever so slight right pull. The alignment shop said they could add an adjustable ball joint setup to one side to allow adjustment of camber. I think they said it would cost around $395. This problem isn't bad enough anymore to mess with, but has anyone tried these ball joints for when replacement time comes around?

 

[LSteiner]

Found this on the web some time ago. Maybe it will be worth persueing for those

with 4x4's



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Specifications (my personal settings for every Ram I align): all specs below are in degrees.





Left Wheel Right Wheel

-------------- ----------------



Caster 3. 2 3. 5



Cross Caster -. 3



Camber -. 10 - . 10



Cross Camber 0. 0



Toe - standard specs, (maybe a little out if you tow a lot, they will pull in as the front end lifts up).



Brent

ASE Certified

Gold Certified Chrysler tech

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[DPKetchum]

Some dealers modified slightly the older adjustable ball joint and their D. C. rep approved signed off on the repair. Lots of this discussed many moons ago.

 

[JCleary]

Found this on the web some time ago. Maybe it will be worth persueing for those

with 4x4's



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Specifications (my personal settings for every Ram I align): all specs below are in degrees.





Left Wheel Right Wheel

-------------- ----------------



Caster 3. 2 3. 5



Cross Caster -. 3



Camber -. 10 - . 10



Cross Camber 0. 0



Toe - standard specs, (maybe a little out if you tow a lot, they will pull in as the front end lifts up).



Brent

ASE Certified

Gold Certified Chrysler tech

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A Ha! Someone agrees with me. Caster differential *is* the key! Not toe.