cnstarz

as the title says, my car pulls to the left. if you're on a straight, even road with no bumps, and center the steering wheel, the car will immediately start pulling to the left (and the steering wheel will turn to the left with it). its annoying because if i let my hand off the steering wheel for even 2 seconds, i have to worry about merging into the left lane, or going off the road. the alignment itself is centered(the car drives straight when the steering wheel is centered), but it just pulls to the left if i'm not holding on to the steering wheel. anyone know what this could be caused by? i hope it's as simple as re-balancing the tires. i'm driving a 96 lexus es300.

JSM1284

It needs an alignment. Could also be a bad brake caliper.

cnstarz

see, i just had an alignment today at the Toyota dealer. I used to have to drive with my steering wheel turned to the right about 30 degrees just to drive in a straight line, but now its centered. only problem i have left is that it pulls to the left, so i figured it wasn't an alignment problem.

however, i do need replace my calipers and possibly the rotors, along with the whole suspension(all in due time).

95gs300

Or even your tires, swap the front tires (left to right) and if it pulls right then its your tires. I would take it back to Toyota and say its still pulling and see what they say.

3000

Check your tire pressure also. It can cause your car to pull like that.

cnstarz

thanks, i'll try those.

PlatES300

iTrader: (1)

i had a problem exactly like this with my ES. It kept pulling to one side even after an alignment. My strut mounts were worn so it caused the car to pull to one side. After I replaced the suspension with coilovers that had new upper mounts, all was well. good luck.

mick_foley

I had an issue with my car pulling to the left too. I have an '04. I took it to a shop in town and they thought they had aligned it with a machine but it didn't fix the problem. I brought the car back and they said that they had to push it a little to the right of what was showing as "aligned" on the machine to aleviate the problem. It helped a lot. The car doesn't really do too much noticeable pulling now so I haven't really thought about the issue any more. When it is time for another alignment, I know I will have to deal with again.

cnstarz

eventually(after taxes) i'm gonna have the whole suspension replaced. i have a spreadsheet of everything i need and it will all cost about $800, if i remember correctly. thats first on my list, then come the brakes, then new 18" wheel and tires. so much money, so little time.

charley240

iTrader: (6)

yeah, thats about right for suspension overhaul doing it yourself. i spent more to completely redo my front end suspension. and i mean everything. bushings, balljoints, rebuilt my axles, etc etc. and it took a long time to get done.

also check to make sure that your tires dont have any bulge.

Charley

cnstarz

just curious, what's really involved in rebuilding your axels? how much does that typically cost, and why would you do it?

charley240

iTrader: (6)

its not difficult, just because all it really takes is patience, tools and motivation.

through time, the axle boots will bust, then the grease packed inside these boots will fly everywhere, making a huge mess, and grease less joints. going on them long enough without grease will damage your axle joints. because i lost some slider bearings and even broke the casing to the bearing for my axles. which maybe, maybe one day they may freeze up and cause some horrible accident, especially the way they were damaged was horrible.

goodluck
Charley

oem boot kits are ~$50 per side(inboard and outboard) since youre going through the hassle, might as well just do both sides. and also, the oem boots come with the oem boot clamps. you need a good boot clamp tool from napa, not checkers, not autozone, but from napa. all the others are garbage and break right away.

cnstarz

good stuff, thanks.