Pulling to the Right, Tire wear, now feedback in Steering wheel....

[Haney]

I am hoping someone can help me .....

I have a 2010 3500 4x4 CC DRW. Truck has 9x,xxx miles. When I bought the truck, the previous owner had put 35's on it, 2" lift on back, and leveling kit on front. It was a beast and drove like CRAP! I took the blocks off the back (restored to normal height) but left the leveing kit up front. I put on a new set of stock size tires and had the alignment checked. All was good except a pull to the right. If you let go of the wheel it has a definite pull to the right. Had it checked twice. I noticed the front tires "cupping" on the out side edge pretty bad, so I had them rotated to back inside and aligned again at a different shop. Said the alingment was fine. Now it has started cupping the outside edges on these two tires. Still pulls to the Right.

Now after a 500 mile trip, I have noticed a wobble feedback in my steering wheel at low speed turns. It is not as bad but feels a little like turing this truck on pavement while in 4x4. The Wobble feeling. Or maybe a little like when a rack starts going out in a FWD vehicle.

I have done a lot of reading on several sites and here is what I have boiled it down to.

1. Right Pull could be the leveling kit OR the steering damper is worn out. Would this cause wear on my tires when two differnt shops says my alignement is fine? Would taking off the leveling kit fix this?
2. Is the new wobble wheel u-joints? If so, how do you check?
3. Could both these issues be a Powersteering issue?

I just want my truck to drive straight and not wobble on a turn. Can anyone help?

Thanks,

 

[gsbrockman]

Read this thread in it's entirety.....particularly post # 10 and post # 11.........

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/247741-Steering-Problem-At-the-dealer-now

 

[Haney]

Read this thread in it's entirety.....particularly post # 10 and post # 11.........

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/247741-Steering-Problem-At-the-dealer-now

I have and thank you. But the OP of that post did not have a pulling to the right problem. I think I actually have two problems: A pulling problem and a wobble. I will check the u-joints tonight. Can they be one in the same? Can the u-joints cause the truck to pull and wear tires? I would not think so but.........

 

[rscurtis]

IMO, if it has a pull, it has a caster angle difference between the two front wheels. The side it's pulling to does not have enough caster. It might be correctable with adjustable upper ball joints. The tires are cupping because you have to force them to go straight ahead.

 

[gsbrockman]

I have and thank you. But the OP of that post did not have a pulling to the right problem. I think I actually have two problems: A pulling problem and a wobble. I will check the u-joints tonight. Can they be one in the same? Can the u-joints cause the truck to pull and wear tires? I would not think so but.........

You do indeed have TWO problems. Get your alignment printouts and verify your caster settings. If there's a significant difference in caster from side to side, have that adjusted, and test drive again. Since you're now running stock tires, remove the leveling kit and throw it in the TRASH. The leveling kit will offset the axle unless an adjustable track bar has been installed, and might just be a source of the problem as well.

 

[cerberusiam]

On a typical crowned road you will always have a pull to the right, that is simple physics. A problem with pull depends on how hard the pull is and how much you have to correct with the wheel to go straight.

A stock damper does not preload to the left like some higher end units, that might help. If the damper is worn it will want to go that way faster, but, it won't cause tire wear.

The tire wear is something else. How much play is ther ein the BJ's? How are the wheel bearings? What are the alignment specs? One of the biggest problems with the stock type BJ's is the vertical play allowed in them. With the amount of force applied to the tires under power and slack in there it will allow the lower balls to walk out of the socket and change alignment. It will spec out perfect on a machine then change going down the road to where the toe and camber are both off and you get feathering and cupping on the outside if the tires. This out of alignment is made worse by the leveling kit as it changes the angle of attack on the ground and stresses the BJ's even more. In addition, with an adjustable track bar the fornt end is now out of line with the rear causing more problems.

The wobble in the steering is likely a bad u-joint, you can check that as described. Set the front end on jacks and spin the wheel by hand with the wheels turned and it easy to feel. That won't cause the tire wear so it is just one thing to check.

 

[EDankievitch]

I have found that on some of these trucks, and some alignment shops will give the truck too much caster. Yes caster is what returns the steering wheel back tward center. However if you have too much caster the truck want to follow the crown of the road more , a lot more. I have found on some trucks with a leveling kit that with the caster adjustment cams maxed out will still have almost 7-9 degrees positive caster and will cup the outside of the tires quite a bit. I use a caster camber gauage I bought from Summit performance. Ity is adjustable to allow for the shop floor not being level. I set the caster at 3.5-4.5 degrees positive. Toe in between 1/16"-1/8" measured at the inside rim bead front to back. Too much toe in and the outside of the tires will wear really fast. too little and you'll wonder all over the road. When I set a truck up with these numbers I find light feathering to be even and equal on the out both outsides of both tires. And the tendancy to follow the crown not so bad. When the upper ball joints fail the camber will go from positive to neg the truck will pull to the wheel with more neg camber. Hope this helps.

 

[Dalton Wickett]

Did you ever figure the problem you were having with the truck pulling to the right and wearing the front tires?