Truck is pulling to the right

[montross]

Hello out there,

I need some advice what to do about my truck. i've own it for about 1 month now. It has 165k miles. While I'm driving it, the truck likes to pull to the right. I thought it was an alignment so I took it in and got the alignment. However no difference. It still pulls to the right. Attached are the results. . What could it be?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[SmokingRocks]

Brakes, bearings, tire size, diffs, bent rear lower control arms, bent front radius arms or just a terrible alignment job. Any of these things could be the cause.

Do you have an ABS light on?

Are your tires all the same size?

When were your brakes last serviced?

Do you have any vibrations at any speeds?

Is it always pulling or is it only during certain conditions?

Is this the first time you've gotten it aligned and was it a reputable shop?

 

[loucaojr]

HI,

I suffer from the same issue!!!

And in my case, please check Q&A:

Brakes, bearings, tire size, diffs, bent rear lower control arms, bent front radius arms or just a terrible alignment job. Any of these things could be the cause.

Do you have an ABS light on?
No

Are your tires all the same size?
Yup ( brand new S/T Maxx) and same pressure ( just if wondering)

When were your brakes last serviced?
Year ago more or less

Do you have any vibrations at any speeds?
Nothing

Is it always pulling or is it only during certain conditions?
It seems always but more noticeable in the highway

Is this the first time you've gotten it aligned and was it a reputable shop?
Yup... And in a couple different ones...

Last year also done a full bearing overhaul in the front and rear diffs, and about 2 months ago re-checked everything.
I've also mounted a rear panhard bracket to try minimize it...

Maybe tomorrow I'll give it another go at the alignment shop... But I just don't believe it solves anything.

Cheers

 

[jonheld]

Always start with the simple things first. Check your tire pressure. It will pull to the side with the lower pressure due to increased rolling resistance. Larger diameter tires will exacerbate this.

 

[95ToyCruiser]

Jack the front up, pull the drive flanges, and check for rolling resistance, ie, see if the right is Harder to spin than the left...

Then check wheel bearings and trunion bearings...

Check your control arm bushings both at the axle and the frame...

 

[rockstate45]

Looks like your truck has more caster on the driver's side than on the passenger side. That, coupled with the crown of the road, could cause a pull to the right.

A radial pull can cause this too. You can move the tire that is in question to the back of the vehicle so it's leading and not pushing. Quick way to eliminate the tires.

 

[montross]

HI,

I suffer from the same issue!!!

And in my case, please check Q&A:


Last year also done a full bearing overhaul in the front and rear diffs, and about 2 months ago re-checked everything.
I've also mounted a rear panhard bracket to try minimize it...

Maybe tomorrow I'll give it another go at the alignment shop... But I just don't believe it solves anything.

Cheers

@loucaojr - keep me posted if you get this fixed.

Im going to start with the tires from the suggestion. seems basic enough for me to handle.

 

[loucaojr]

Hi,

@montross - OK! I'll share it.

In my case has recent OME CC bushing and rear control arm bushings...
Caster is something I can check when I try a new alignment.

Cheers

 

[mikaelrules]

Had the same problem and did the following to solve it, in order:

Ruled out tires since they were brand new and my truck had already been pulling to the left prior.

1. Replaced tie-rods ends--didn't seem to make much of a difference, my old tie rods were probably still in decent shape
2. Discovered that panhard mount on the frame was cracked. Welded it. Huge improvement but still a slight pull.
3. Front right wheel bearing was shot, replaced both bearings, still had a slight pull.
4. Replaced the steering damper. Turns out the old one no longer had any resistance when it was being compressed.

Problem solved. Truck now tracks straight, unless there's a crown in the road, then it will pull in that direction.

 

[landcruiser80]

Steer to the left.







Sorry, can't really help you. I just couldn't resist.

 

[loucaojr]

So.. Got it re-align and everything was almost OK but there's a 0.6º difference from the left to right side.. Can this justify pulling to the right?

Something that I hoping to see was more correction from the CC bushings... I'm running 850Js with 10mm spacer, if not wrong.

There's also something that might help that's a little, really little, play in the steering wheel. This can be corrected trough the preload screw in the top of the steering box?

Cheers

 

[loucaojr]

Hi,

Another thing, I know the lift is not much... But would a pair of adjustable panhards help improving the overall of the riding plus, maybe, help solving this issue?

Please shoot!!

Cheers

 

[loucaojr]

Hi,

Two years latter and the issue is still present, looking around I found some aftermarket HD drag links that promise to solve this steering pulling.

ADJ Draglinks are required for any lift at 4" 100mm or above, it is a matter of personal opinion if they are needed for 3" 75mm lift, the higher you lift the vehicle the further the steering moves of centre. If you have a 100” with airbags, the only way to get the wheel straight again is with one of these, if you don’t have airbags and try the sneaky by taking the steering wheel off and turn, you will lose some of your steering lock.

Some of its features are...

• It is heavy duty. Significantly stronger than standard - and that's what you need in an arm that is positioned just below the bull bar and in front of the diff.
• It is adjustable. It may be lengthened or shortened to straighten the steering wheel. If you have lifted your Cruiser, we am tipping the steering wheel points to the left. As the arms all point more downward with a suspension lift they inherently get shorter along a horizontal plain and as such the steering box compensates = steering wheel points to the left.
• This adjustable arm can be wound out longer and in turn the steering wheel points back to straight ahead.
• It is supplied with new castle nuts, split pins, grease nipples,

What do you recon is it true? Would Slee's one have the same effect and correct this issue?

Cheers

 

[Golgo13]

check your headgasket. @nukegoat will confirm

 

[artech]

My rig was pulling to one side and I was pulling my hair out trying to figure it out, tried everything I could think of with no improvement. turned out to be a frozen piston in one brake caliper. In the rear no less! Replacing that caliper in a totally unrelated repair solved my problem. Go figure...

 

[nukegoat]

check your headgasket. @nukegoat will confirm

If you have a lift, then yes, this definitely could be indicative of a head gasket failure. It's worth cracking it open to make sure. Sounds weird but I've seen it. When designing cylinder blocks, I often have to consider various failure modes of the block/head. Inline 6's are great.. until they're not, and then you get all sorts of 4th and 6th order harmonics, which do some funky things. As the harmonics are induced into the suspension, a longitudinal I6 will basically impulse into the suspension, compressing one side (passenger, in this case) and trying to unload the driver side. If you're running stock geometry, then this seems unlikely as the roll axis' are neutral enough that you'd probably never notice it. But yeah, with a lift, or even extra armor like bumpers and sliders, it'll for sure pull to one side.