pulls to the right

[Thompsonpd]

My dealer seems to be having all kinds of problems to get my truck (2015 4x4 crew cab and 5000 miles) align. It been there twice and before I left on the second time I took the service Mgr for a ride and confirmed it still pulls (maybe even drives) to the right. Has anyone had this type of problem? The dealership keep blaming it on is alignment rack but there are 10 different dealers by the same owner on the same street. So why not go next door and get a second opinion? Or are they just blowing smoke someplace?

 

[Bruce Beard]

You may actually have a tire issue. Frequently, a "pull" to the right or left can be attributed to a tire with increased rolling resistance.
Unless something happened to the truck that makes you or the dealer believe that it is somehow grossly out of alignment (a suspension mod? Or an accident???) I'd start looking at the tires. A Hunter RoadForce balancer can pick out the offending tire or sometimes a simple tire swap or even a rotation will allow you to identify the culprit.
Tires cause more "pull" issues than alignment.
That's a fact!
Bruce

 

[Thompsonpd]

that's what I told the service Mgr I would do if I were him (with some input from my friend the Toyota master mechanic). Now we will just see if they acutally do it or not

 

[dfb]

Take it to an alignment shop

 

[Hoefler]

Swap front tires side to side, if then pulls left, you know you have a tire issue.

 

[Bruce Beard]

Swap front tires side to side, if then pulls left, you know you have a tire issue.

You'd be surprised but a rear tire can create pull too!
Bruce

 

[mpaulson]

Swap front tires side to side, if then pulls left, you know you have a tire issue.

I had a pulling issue after putting on my winter tires last fall and this is what I did and the result was a perfect straight line drive afterwards.

 

[EDankievitch]

I've found that too much caster will make the "pull to the left or right" feel worse. When in the left lane on the highway does it still pull to the right? If it does not or pulls to the left then you might have too much caster.

 

[Thompsonpd]

well after 3 days at the dealer... They moved tires all around front to back side to side and corner to corner, balanced rebalanced and road forced and did something with the drag link. That's what I know because they were still doing the paper work when I pick the truck back up. It's better but, still wants to turn right. I hold the wheel straight on a flat road after a 100 or so yard we are heading for the ditch. Also it seems if the steering wheel has a dead spot (sloppy) in the center. I would describe it as say you need to turn a left and you turn the wheel to the left and need to turn a little more then it goes too far to the left now we are going back the other way. Its like we hit the yellow line then we are hitting the white line all the way down the road. It's a good thing I don't drink. I have contacted Dodge customer service.

 

[Bruce Beard]

well after 3 days at the dealer... They moved tires all around front to back side to side and corner to corner, balanced rebalanced and road forced and did something with the drag link. That's what I know because they were still doing the paper work when I pick the truck back up. It's better but, still wants to turn right. I hold the wheel straight on a flat road after a 100 or so yard we are heading for the ditch. Also it seems if the steering wheel has a dead spot (sloppy) in the center. I would describe it as say you need to turn a left and you turn the wheel to the left and need to turn a little more then it goes too far to the left now we are going back the other way. Its like we hit the yellow line then we are hitting the white line all the way down the road. It's a good thing I don't drink. I have contacted Dodge customer service.

One more tool to consider as you are searching for the answer might be to drive another similar Ram.
Sometimes, I become focused on something mechanical and I become a little obsessed... then I loose objectivity.
A ride in another truck might show that what you are feeling is simply part of the trucks normal behavior or it might show just how bad yours is...
It will give you a clear A/B perspective though!
Bruce

 

[Thompsonpd]

One more tool to consider as you are searching for the answer might be to drive another similar Ram.
Sometimes, I become focused on something mechanical and I become a little obsessed... then I loose objectivity.
A ride in another truck might show that what you are feeling is simply part of the trucks normal behavior or it might show just how bad yours is...
It will give you a clear A/B perspective though!
Bruce

that is another option, I was going to have a friend of mine who has a 2013 2500 4x4 diesel drive mine to get his thoughts. I really can't imagine that it's normal.

 

[dfb]

My 2015 also pulls right and so did my 04. Thing to do is to drive on a level are with no crown. If it drives straight on level groun there is no problem. However, an alignment shop can bring Ito pull slightly left so on a crowned road there would be no pulling.

 

[MJWenrich]

I have been to the dealer several times with mine and it's going again on Monday. My main problem was the steering not returning to center out of turns and a very heavy feel. Also, you could turn to the wheel until it stopped and then turn circles without touching the steering wheel. It would not return to center. Like you, it looked like a drunk going down the road because you have to steer into the turn and then steer out, then steer back to center and so on. It tracked pretty well initially but after going thru an alignment it was pulling to the right. Took it in again and the dealer contacted whomever they go to for advice and reset the camber. Still not right so I asked for a RAM service rep. It was driven by a Ram trouble shooter and he authorized a steering box change. It is better but still has the problem of the heavy feel and having to steer it in and out of sweeping turns on mountain roads. All of the alignment work was done by an outside shop.

I also had him document the dead pedal problem at that time. RAM has come back again and said the truck is operating within parameters set up for it and there is nothing they can (will) do. Looks like I am stuck with that issue, and so far the steering, and the added periodic problem of not being able to get the ignition key out of the accessory position, causing me to carry a 10mm end wrench to disconnect the battery to get it to reset. Lovely doing this in the rain but it does not throw a code nor does it do it all the time and the dealer won't fix it. So good luck with customer service but if your issue is camber, it will make it pull to the right. I'm hoping I can get an extended warranty on these issues but I believe in the Easter Bunny too. :-laf

Oh...and here is another one for you. I was told the trucks are set up to pull to the right because if you happen to fall asleep at least you won't head on somebody. Is that one in the truck manual?

 

[Bruce Beard]

My 2016 2500 seemed a little vague at first, especially compared to me rack and pinon F-150. Within about an hour of taking delivery I never thought about it again. We live in a part of the world (New England) where the roads all have crown and I never notice any unusual pull...

 

[Thompsonpd]

My 2016 2500 seemed a little vague at first, especially compared to me rack and pinon F-150. Within about an hour of taking delivery I never thought about it again. We live in a part of the world (New England) where the roads all have crown and I never notice any unusual pull...

I live in the north east too. I went as far as driving in the left side (on coming traffic side) of a crowned road and it still pulled me to the right, so much so it pulled me right into the right lane ( there are a lot or rights here). Dodge customer service really has not been too much help either. They give you that "the dealer is highly trained to identify and repair the problem", but back we go for the third time. I think either the dealer or dodge do not want to throw any money at a $60k truck. Some thing is wrong don't know what but here are some suspects tires, rims, steering box, front axle, ball joints, tie rods, front springs and 4 links maybe even the frame is out of spec. I don't know which to replace first but someone someplace must have had a similar problem and know exactaly what to do.

 

[MJWenrich]

An outside alignment shop got mine right as far as the pulling to one side goes after a couple tries. No one seems to be able to correct the lack of the steering to return to center out of a turn so there is something else going on. Also my steering feels very tight. I know I am getting older but the power??? steering actually fatigues me on long trips where a lot of curves are involved. You might consider going to an alignment shop and having them play with the camber, I think is the one. RAM likes to cite "It's performing or set within specs". Well that doesn't help us does it?

 

[EDankievitch]

With my truck in the body shop getting it roof replaced....Don't ask, but it involved a tree in Key West last month. Tree's don't like my truck, last summer one dropped a huge branch on my hood now this one didn't want me to park next to it. The rental co. set me up with a very used 2014 Ram 2500 Gas 4X4 Reg Cab. This truck will not return the wheel to center from ether direction. In fact it feels like the wheel will pull itself harder into the turn. It does not pull left or right on the highway in ether lane of our heavy crowned roads here on Li. The power steering seems to be a bit over done on this truck as there is very little road feel. Which is ok except for this morning driving into work in the snow. I like to know that my wheels are in contact or not with the highway. At 27,500 miles they had to replace two of the tires, worn out. Like I said this truck is very used.

 

[Bob4x4]

An outside alignment shop got mine right as far as the pulling to one side goes after a couple tries. No one seems to be able to correct the lack of the steering to return to center out of a turn so there is something else going on. Also my steering feels very tight. I know I am getting older but the power??? steering actually fatigues me on long trips where a lot of curves are involved. You might consider going to an alignment shop and having them play with the camber, I think is the one. RAM likes to cite "It's performing or set within specs". Well that doesn't help us does it?

Camber is not adjustable on your truck and excessive caster will cause high steering effort and poor return to center.While your alignment shop may have gotten rid of your right pull they cost you excessive effort and poor return to center

 

[Flash1034]

High caster will return to center and increase steering effort.
Try some adjustable lower control arms.

Flash

 

[NDanecker]

Mine pulled to the right from day one and got worse over time. Both front tires showed excessive wear (outside edges only) and required replacing at 21k miles. Tire shop checked alignment and it was way off (excessive tow in). Once fixed she drives like different truck (and no more pulling to right).

I think these are rolling off the assembly line with crappy alignments as I've read others complaining about excessive tire wear and pulling.