Pulling to the left

[randol3]

I recently had front end work performed on my 94 Dodge 2wheel drive. It has 250000 and never had any problems. Shop put new bushings idler arms and tighten up the wheel bearings, which didn't need grease. front end was aligned and was spot on, took it for a test drive and it wants to veer a little right, you have to have just a small amount of pressure on the left side of the wheel. Shop is thinking about wear in the steering box. The truck does not wander just pulls a little right. Any suggestions?

 

[BigPapa]

I'm not clear on your statement of "tighten up the wheel bearings, which didn't need grease". Your wheel bearing DO need grease, and I would not attempt to "tighten" them. If the bearings are worn enough they need "tightening", they need to be replaced or at the least inspected and repacked. If the wheel bearings were not repacked and they tightened them, you could have one side seizing up causing the pull.

A slight pull can be normal due to the crown of the road. Find you a nice straight, smooth road without a lot of traffic and swap over to the left lane and see if it affects the pull.

 

[petersonj]

Since you mention wheel bearing adjustment, I would verify that the right wheel bearing is not adjusted too tightly. The bearing should have a tiny bit of free play. If it is too tight, it could damage the bearing and contribute to a light pull to the right.

front end was aligned and was spot on,

Was the alignment adjustment "spot on" without any adjustments? Or, were adjustments made and then the alignment was "spot on"?

If the steering and suspension components are in good working order and adjusted properly and the tires are properly inflated and are in good condition, then a cross caster adjustment may be needed. This will make allowance for the crown of the road. If caster angle is equal on both sides, a vehicle will always drift to right due to the crown of the road slanting to the right. A correct change of caster angle on one side or the other will offset the drift to the right and allow the vehicle to track straight.

- John

 

[randol3]

I'm not clear on your statement of "tighten up the wheel bearings, which didn't need grease". Your wheel bearing DO need grease, and I would not attempt to "tighten" them. If the bearings are worn enough they need "tightening", they need to be replaced or at the least inspected and repacked. If the wheel bearings were not repacked and they tightened them, you could have one side seizing up causing the pull.

A slight pull can be normal due to the crown of the road. Find you a nice straight, smooth road without a lot of traffic and swap over to the left lane and see if it affects the pull.

they were packed and retighten.

 

[randol3]

Since you mention wheel bearing adjustment, I would verify that the right wheel bearing is not adjusted too tightly. The bearing should have a tiny bit of free play. If it is too tight, it could damage the bearing and contribute to a light pull to the right.



Was the alignment adjustment "spot on" without any adjustments? Or, were adjustments made and then the alignment was "spot on"?

If the steering and suspension components are in good working order and adjusted properly and the tires are properly inflated and are in good condition, then a cross caster adjustment may be needed. This will make allowance for the crown of the road. If caster angle is equal on both sides, a vehicle will always drift to right due to the crown of the road slanting to the right. A correct change of caster angle on one side or the other will offset the drift to the right and allow the vehicle to track straight.

- John

alignment was corrected after new parts.

 

[randol3]

Since you mention wheel bearing adjustment, I would verify that the right wheel bearing is not adjusted too tightly. The bearing should have a tiny bit of free play. If it is too tight, it could damage the bearing and contribute to a light pull to the right.



Was the alignment adjustment "spot on" without any adjustments? Or, were adjustments made and then the alignment was "spot on"?

If the steering and suspension components are in good working order and adjusted properly and the tires are properly inflated and are in good condition, then a cross caster adjustment may be needed. This will make allowance for the crown of the road. If caster angle is equal on both sides, a vehicle will always drift to right due to the crown of the road slanting to the right. A correct change of caster angle on one side or the other will offset the drift to the right and allow the vehicle to track straight.

- John

I will carry it back and talk to them ,steering is nice and tight like it was when new, I drive mostly secondary rds, probably was doing all the time with the worn out parts and I was correcting it.

 

[Mark31]

Having been down a long related ruff road, I suggest getting an infrared heat gun to measure heat differentials to see if there is ANY brake drag

 

[petersonj]

@randol3, I just noticed the title of this thread says, "Pulling to the left", but your first post mentions, "it wants to veer a little right" and, "just pulls a little right." The quotes don't change the validity of the responding posts - just pointing out the different statements.

- John