Steering Pulls To The Right

[ToddK]

Anyone Have This Problem On A 3rd Gen? I Have An '06 Megacab, 4wd, G56. I Saw On Dtr That Someone Had Had This Problem And The Dealer Finally Fixed It With A Passenger Side Offset Ball Joint. My Dealer Said It Was Alignment, Which They Did For Free, But That Did Not Fix It. They Say There Aren't Any Tsb's Or Other. Please Reply If You Know Of Anything. Thanks.

 

[DGStrate]

Something to try...



Have an independent alignment shop (not the dealer) do an alignment and crank the caster as positive as it will go (NOTE: + caster above factory spec is OK!). Then, make sure the caster settings are equal. This wll make the truck track better, and make it slightly more responsive to steering input.



BE SURE the caster settings are equal... !! When mine were not equal, I had a drift to whichever side was less positive (more negative)... Caster can cause a drift towards one side or another...



If this is all set and checked out and toe is set correctly, caster is equal, you may have a tire pull... try switching the tires to different locations on the truck and see if the pull/drift changes.



Good Luck!

 

[ToddK]

Thanks Dg, Forgot To Say That I Had The Tires Rotated And It Still Pulls. At The Dealer Now For This And A Leak At The Front Driveshaft/diff Connection. Also A Possible Rear Main(a Little Oil On The Rear Of The Oil Pan), Hopefully That One Will Seal Itself. Btw, 38,500 Mi's.

 

[DGStrate]

ToddK - NP on the advice...



Geez - all that on a 2006?!?!?!?!

Maybe I am glad I got an 04. 5 !!



I am about 42,000 and (knock on wood) so far so good - Did have the TSB done for the tie-rod ends/steering stabilizer replacement.



Oh - and just (within last few days) found a sticking caliper on Rt Rear. Darn thing ate a $90 set of EBC Brake pads in 10k miles!!! P*** me off!

 

[Bob4x4]

D/C will call it a slight drift not a pull that is why there is no official fix. Yes the off sett bjoint will fix it. roughly a c note for the part plus install.



Bob

 

[JWChessell]

My truck will sometimes pull sharply to left OR right while inching forward at a stoplight. There's no preference for either left/right, it does both equally and only about once a week or less. No pull or drift at speed. Tech couldn't reproduce it on Dec. 4th, but opined that it may be related to the fact that power steering and power brakes operate from the same vacuum line. Anyone else had this type of problem?

 

[jelag]

On a crowned road, the caster on the right front can lead the left front in positive caster..... to offset the drift of the crown... . Toe is designed to allow for the pressure of the road forces on the tie rod joints... . so at speed the tow is actually close to zero... . under pressure... .



JW, your problem sounds like a dragging caliper with the piston not retracting some of the time while you sit at a light with your foot off the brake... . check the boots between the caliper and piston for damage... dirt behind this boot will keep the piston from retracting and cause excessive brake wear... . sometimes you can spin one front wheel easily and the other only might spin 1/2 turn... . or the caliper is not floating on its mount... .



Hope this helps...

 

[ASchwartz]

Thanks Dg, Forgot To Say That I Had The Tires Rotated And It Still Pulls. At The Dealer Now For This And A Leak At The Front Driveshaft/diff Connection. Also A Possible Rear Main(a Little Oil On The Rear Of The Oil Pan), Hopefully That One Will Seal Itself. Btw, 38,500 Mi's.

How did they rotate the tires? I had the same problem and swapped the fronts. Problem solved.



Avi

 

[MMeier]

Mine has pulled or "drifted" to the right since the night I drove it off the lot... now 163k miles later I've somewhat gotten used to it.

 

[JCasper]

They all pull to the right. Les Schwaab told me the offset ball joint may help but not necessarily fix it, so I just left it the way it is. Maybe some day Dodge will learn how to build a truck as good as the motor they put in it. Then maybe after that they will get a warranty to come with it.

 

[CDonaldson]

Mine has pulled a little to the right since day one also. I had it into the alignment shop both before and after installing the KORE. I learned on my before visit that the right side probably needed the offset ball joint, and on the after visit the amount of degree offset needed was still the same, so I did nothing. I already knew about the crowned road it's affect under load.



There is a TSB reagarding the steering dampner and I wondered if the replacment dampner being used might have something to do with this as well as the DW and front end vibrations? DC does not come out and say anything regarding the drifting/pulling to the right, but that does not mean there is not some intention underlying their motives about the steering stabalizer. Another part of that TSB is in regards to tire pressure. I tend to my tire pressure weekly and keep it at the correct pressure. Going to a larger than stock/wider tire would exagerate this condition a little. I am not sure if a taller tire would make a difference as well.



CD

 

[MMeier]

Interesting concept there JC!

 

[Tmartin000]

They all pull to the right. Les Schwaab told me the offset ball joint may help but not necessarily fix it, so I just left it the way it is. Maybe some day Dodge will learn how to build a truck as good as the motor they put in it. Then maybe after that they will get a warranty to come with it.

I just had that 1 degree offset ball joint put on an hour ago. (Les Schwab did it) On my way home is mostly Hway. The difference is definetly better, say 90%. Now its not a tug to the left to keep the wheel from instantly pulling to the right. He said it gave me 1. 3 degrees on the pass side. Just a light adjustment a finger could manage, rather a whole hand! The Hway I drive was redone last summer, so its a pretty aggressive crown. I am very satisfied. $200 BUCKS. Done! Oo.



Tom

 

[JCasper]

I just had that 1 degree offset ball joint put on an hour ago. (Les Schwab did it) On my way home is mostly Hway. The difference is definetly better, say 90%. Now its not a tug to the left to keep the wheel from instantly pulling to the right. He said it gave me 1. 3 degrees on the pass side. Just a light adjustment a finger could manage, rather a whole hand! The Hway I drive was redone last summer, so its a pretty aggressive crown. I am very satisfied. $200 BUCKS. Done! Oo.



Tom

Well, if you are that satisfied with it maybe I will have to give it a try.

 

[Tmartin000]

I'll tell you what, give me a few more days and I'll repost. That way I can drive it a bit more on different surfaces.

 

[Hammy713]

I have a 2004 4x4 QC 3500 with 40,000 miles on it. Last summer with about 33,000 miles, I experienced the Death Wobble cruising at 70 mph on the freeway. It scared the **** out of me.



I had BFG A/T 315's on from day one. They definately needed to be replaced but I was trying to make it until the Fall to get new tires. I was told it was probably the tires so I purchased a set of 285 Toyo M/T's.



I never noticed a pull to the right until I got the new tires. I haven't had the DW come back but I can't get the dealer service department to figure out whats wrong. They have alinged it twice but it still pulls. I've roated my tires several times with no success (I was hoping it was just tire pull). They tried telling me it was the aggressive tread on the tires... bla, bla, bla.



It drives me crazy because I never noticed it before and I can always tell when somethings different with one of my vehicles.



I have the computer print out of the last alignment, tell me what you guys think.



Front/Left

Camber 0. 2

Caster 4. 5

Toe 0. 05



Front/Right

Camber 0. 2

Caster 4. 7

Toe 0. 09



Front

Cross Camber 0. 0

Cross Caster -0. 2

Cross SAI 0. 0

Total Toe 0. 14



Rear/Left

Camber -0. 1

Toe 0. 31



Rear/Right

Camber 0. 0

Toe -0. 31



Rear

Cross Camber -0. 1

Total Toe 0. 00

Thrust Angle 0. 31



... maybe one of you guys can make some sence of this.



Thanks,

Craig

 

[betterthanstock]

I have a 2004 4x4 QC 3500 with 40,000 miles on it. Last summer with about 33,000 miles, I experienced the Death Wobble cruising at 70 mph on the freeway. It scared the **** out of me.

I never noticed a pull to the right until I got the new tires. I haven't had the DW come back but I can't get the dealer service department to figure out whats wrong. They have alinged it twice but it still pulls. I've roated my tires several times with no success (I was hoping it was just tire pull). They tried telling me it was the aggressive tread on the tires... bla, bla, bla.

Jack up both fronts, turn on engine and move steering wheel, check for any PS pull. Turn off engine and turn wheels by hand, check for binding brakes. One of my friends had to replace front pads because they started to get hot, and were worn tapered. May need grease on calipers slide.

 

[Hammy713]

I've checked my brake drag and I couldn't tell a noticible difference by hand. However, I do think I'm do for some brakes.



I think its odd that it never pulled until I got new tires but it doesn't stop after rotating them.



It could be the calipers. What do you mean by worn tapered?

 

[betterthanstock]

What do you mean by worn tapered?

One end of the pad is thicker, like a wedge.



I meant both pads, not the calipers. Sorry.

 

[WMoroni]

I had some toyo 35-12. 50-17s put on the truck last week and while it was there I had the front end aligned. My truck has always pulled to the right enough that the top of the steering wheel is at 11'oclock when the truck is goin straight. I told this to the front end tech before he did my front end. He did the line up and said "yep it was out of line but your steering wheel should be straight now. " Sure enough, now when I drive down the road the truck still pulls to the right just as hard as before but the steering wheel is straight when i'm goin straight. Which by the way doesn't feel straight anymore, it feels kinda like its dog tracking with the front futher to the right than the rear. I'm going to have the alignment checked some where else this week.