Steering wheel a bit off-center going down highway.....cause(s)? (1 Viewer)

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Something that has recently developed is the steering wheel must be held a bit to the left to keep the vehicle going straight down the highway (not much crown in the road). I've already checked the tire pressures (all good). 1998 LX470 (Wife's DD). 217K miles.

I know it was not like that before. Asked the Wifey if she had hit anything recently (curb, pot hole, etc...) she replied "No". So assuming she really didn't... what are some of the possible causes (and corrections)?

I'm pretty good with most other stuff...but not too sharp on steering/suspension. I won't have time to look underneath until this coming weekend, or I would have more information for the crew here to work with.

Thank You in advance.

Flint.
 
Mine was like this when I got it. Got a good alignment and no other issues.
 
After dealing with something similar, combined with a bunch of other front end issues that all kind of came to light at once so to speak, I'm going to go with something related to a cv joint. My truck has right at 213k, I've had it since 146k 5 years ago, rebuilt front end 30 to 45k miles ago(I live in a national forest with horribly maintained service roads and half my mileage is on those roads and I don't regularly go over 55).

Anyway, my truck started to steer where I would have to have the wheel slightly canted to the right for it to track straight on my 4 mile stretch where the speed limit is 55mph, long story short my driver's side outer cvjoint was done. Almost impossible to rotate correctly when I took it apart to fix a very minor seeping cv boot. Ran it for a day to get to work and wait for a new one. I did have some very minor clicking intermittently that I had attributed to gravel stuck in my tires.

This was all post recent alignment and numerous other maintenance issues that kind of all surfaced at once but none were blatantly obvious.
 
“She replied no”. Lol I get that all the time. Curb rash on her car doesn’t lie.

These are heavy trucks with heavy tires, needing alignment isn’t unusual.

My main point: cars/suv’s/trucks don’t pull because they are out of alignment, they pull because the tires have been worn unevenly due to being out of alignment. You can do a quick test by rubbing your hand over the tires and see if there are sharp edges. Depending on how old your tires are you may want to consider changing them or rotating them to the back. If you get new tires, get an alignment. If you want to rotate them to the back, it will fix your pull issue in the short term but they will wear uneven and eventually pull again (depending on how far gone it is).

Right now, if you get an alignment and don’t replace the front tires it will not fix your pull issue.
 
After dealing with something similar, combined with a bunch of other front end issues that all kind of came to light at once so to speak, I'm going to go with something related to a cv joint. My truck has right at 213k, I've had it since 146k 5 years ago, rebuilt front end 30 to 45k miles ago(I live in a national forest with horribly maintained service roads and half my mileage is on those roads and I don't regularly go over 55).

Anyway, my truck started to steer where I would have to have the wheel slightly canted to the right for it to track straight on my 4 mile stretch where the speed limit is 55mph, long story short my driver's side outer cvjoint was done. Almost impossible to rotate correctly when I took it apart to fix a very minor seeping cv boot. Ran it for a day to get to work and wait for a new one. I did have some very minor clicking intermittently that I had attributed to gravel stuck in my tires.

This was all post recent alignment and numerous other maintenance issues that kind of all surfaced at once but none were blatantly obvious.

That is interesting...I do have a passenger side CV with a tear in the boot that I've been meaning to replace. If not operating properly it would pull to the side. I will look at along with some other things. Thanks.
 
I've been chasing this for a while on my 03 LX. TREs are new, fresh alignment, reset the steering angle on the VGRS ECU using a scan tool...the only thing I can think of is that I replaced one of my steering rack bushings and left the other because it was such a PITA. That's probably a pretty isolated case though...
 
I've got a little bit of right-ward thrust going down the highway as well, so I have to steer a little left to compensate. I'm lifted about 2". Front camber/caster/toe are aligned and within spec. I've replaced tie rod ends, steering rack bushings, upper control arms, and a few other obvious suspects.

But I don't have an adjustable panhard bar, so I know for a fact that my rear end is not properly aligned (rear axle is a bit too far to the right). I have a feeling that is the culprit in my case. My theory is that the truck is pointed slightly to the right going down the road, crab walking to the left, so I have to steer left to compensate. Impossible to prove or disprove until I buy more truck parts. ;)
 
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I've got a little bit of right-ward thrust going down the highway as well, so I have to steer a little left to compensate. I'm lifted about 2". Front camber/caster/toe are aligned and within spec. I've replaced tie rod ends, steering rack bushings, upper control arms, and a few other obvious suspects.

But I don't have an adjustable panhard bar, so I know for a fact that my rear end is not properly aligned (rear axle is a bit too far to the right). I have a feeling that is the culprit in my case. My theory is that the truck is pointed slightly to the right going down the road, crab walking to the left, so I have to steer left to compensate. Impossible to prove or disprove until I buy more truck parts. ;)

If/When you discover the issue with yours...please post back here. It might be helpful to others.

Hope to have time to look at mine this weekend sometime. Mine has just started this recently, it has always tracked straight with the steering wheel centered before. It isn't real bad (steering wheel about 11 O'Clock position), but it should be centered on flat roads and at highway speeds. So far...I don't have any vibrations or uneven tire wear and the steering feels fairly tight and responsive.
 
I was able to band-aid my issue with a different alignment setting. Here is my short story:

Both of my front tires were previously aligned to factory spec with the wheel pointed straight (equal toe for both front tires). However, my steering wheel would have to be at about 11 o'clock to drive straight down the highway.

I suspected that the lift was throwing out the alignment on the rear. So I measured the rear toe and confirmed that both of my rear tires point left (slight toe out on left rear, slight toe in on right rear). I have factory rear upper/lower control arms, and factory panhard bar with OME860 springs. No known accidents or trail damage to the rear. Hub to center is ~22" unloaded.

I know I could use an adjustable panhard bar and/or rear upper/lower control arms to correct the rear alignment, but I chose to play with the alignment on the front end first. I suspected that the neutral front alignment setting, combined with the alignment settings in the rear, has been causing the truck to pull to the right. Basically, my theory was that the rear end was pulling the truck to the left, effectively steering the truck to the right, so I had to steer the front tires to the left to compensate. I.E. "crab walking".

To fix it, with the wheel pointed straight, I set the left front tire to have the same toe out as the left rear tire. I set the right front tire to have the same toe in as the right rear tire. Basically, all of my tires point left now. The total toe in the front is still within factory spec, just biased to steer left with the wheel pointed straight.

Now I know that this is not a real fix because the truck is still crab walking, but at least it feels like it is tracking straight because it does not pull left or right when the wheel is centered. The front alignment is still within spec, so I might just run it this way for a while and see if I can live with it. So far so good.

Would be curious to see if anyone else has measured the rear toe for a lifted but otherwise stock rear end. Am I alone or is this how the stock rear end changes with lift?
 
98 LX470 here. Cruises down the road in a straight line with no issues but steering has felt a little loose and noticed today when steering wheel is straight at a stop tires are pitched to the right. I am doing rotors and bearings this week and will have plenty of time to look it over. Any tips are greatly appreciated before I take off on our mountain trip!
 
“She replied no”. Lol I get that all the time. Curb rash on her car doesn’t lie.

These are heavy trucks with heavy tires, needing alignment isn’t unusual.

My main point: cars/suv’s/trucks don’t pull because they are out of alignment, they pull because the tires have been worn unevenly due to being out of alignment. You can do a quick test by rubbing your hand over the tires and see if there are sharp edges. Depending on how old your tires are you may want to consider changing them or rotating them to the back. If you get new tires, get an alignment. If you want to rotate them to the back, it will fix your pull issue in the short term but they will wear uneven and eventually pull again (depending on how far gone it is).

Right now, if you get an alignment and don’t replace the front tires it will not fix your pull issue.

Maybe not the same thing as “pulling,” and I’m not sure which the OP has, but an off center wheel can be caused by misalignment.

Local dealer didn’t do a great job with their first attempt at aligning mine after I installed a sight lift, and I immediately had to hold the top of the wheel at 10 o’clock to drive straight. It wasn’t pulling, but steering wheel straight resulted in a pronounced rightward drift—maybe they improperly centered it before adjusting toe. Not sure if this kind of thing can occur over time or due to trauma.

Took it back to them to correct that and the caster (which they first tried to tell me was non adjustable and then tried to tell me there’s no point in putting it in spec if it handles well...) and she’s right as rain.
 

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