pulling right

[MrCrackman]

My truck is pulling hard right, I've had it aligned and the alignment is fine. The tires are fairly evenly worn and the pressure is good. Yet despite all of this I am pulling hard right, I have to hold the steering wheel with a pretty good size turn to keep it going straight. Anyone else ever had any issues with something like this? It seems like my truck has never gone very well in a straight line ever since I got it brand new. A while ago when I got it aligned the guys at firestone told me I had a bent idler arm but I just assumed they wanted my $350 that they wanted to fix it and the truck drove pretty well after the alignment anyway. Any idea? suggestions? experiences?
Thanks ahead of time.

[RedHeartbeat]

4 wheel alignment? Bad bearings up front right?

I wonder if you have a problem with the right rear brake or axle bearing. Typically the right rear tire is the primary drive axle and all the load is on those bearings. If something is wrong with the bearings that would explain it. If the rear end is setup too tight that might cause issues, too. What tires are you running? Are they the same ones you've been running since new?

[MrCrackman]

Forgot to mention that, at 30k (71k now) I got some BFG A/T 33's over the stock 31 firestones that didn't last worth a crap (lead foot ). The torsion rods were cranked to clear the tires.

[GMCwantsLS1]

Just to see if it helps, try swaping the right and left tires in the front. If your pull goes away it is a tire problem. I've heard not to run radial tires backward (reverse rotation) for too long or they might split out, but just to see if this is the problem.

[RedHeartbeat]

The tread design on mud-grip/off-road tires usually cause the sensation of pulling to the right. A guy I work with had them put on his T100 and he had to fight just to keep it on the road. He put his stock street tires back on and viola! no more pull to the right. He had not changed anything in his suspension, just changed tires, to cause the problem. Now he only runs the off-road tires when he goes hunting.

[GMCwantsLS1]

My truck has AT's on it and it pulls to the right!

[MrCrackman]

They claimed I had a bent idler arm but I don't know how to check and because I don't have a new one to reference it with.

[RedHeartbeat]

a bent arm wont affect it if they aligned it straight and you're driving straight. Only the crown on the road and your tread will cause the pull to the right. It's supposed to pull slightly to the right in case you drift off to sleep while drive so you don't drift into oncoming traffic. It's not supposed to be a battle to keep it going straight though.

[gearheadnate]

Originally posted by GMCwantsLS1@Dec 10 2005, 07:52 AM
Just to see if it helps, try swaping the right and left tires in the front. If your pull goes away it is a tire problem. I've heard not to run radial tires backward (reverse rotation) for too long or they might split out, but just to see if this is the problem.

The tire spitting is a myth, even with directionals as long as the first 5k miles are in the right direction according to Michelin.

[Sheep]

I just installed 20x9.5'ers with 305/50's. Never had any pulling with the OEM's. Since my truck sat a bit down in the nose and right side was 1/4" lower than left, I had the torsion bars jacked 1/2" on left, 3/4" on right to level out the truck more.

As soon as the bars were altered, it started pulling very quickly to the left and had to hold steering wheel over to right. I obviously wanted/needed a full alignment too since the new tires/wheels were on there. After the alignment (and it was spec on) the truck still pulled to the left.

They had me swap the fronts to see if it was a radial tire pull, which I knew was not the case. But since they were doing it free, I just let them go ahead and do it so they'd be satisfied. Swapping never took care of it and they put it back on alignment rack again.

This time they readjusted only the caster of left front wheel (which does not affect tire wear) a hair outside of factory spec and now it runs dead straight, no pull. Since mine pulled left, they moved the left front wheel wheel's caster forward a bit to counteract the right wheel's pushing it over that way. Nobody really knew "why" this should happen, but they knew how to fix it.

Suggest having your guy readjust caster and see if that takes care of it. And BTW, don't let a hack do the alignment/adjustments... only a certified guy on first-rate equipment. Hope this helps.