Car pulls to the right

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Aug 27, 2004 | 07:54 PM

e-man

Thread Starter

Lead Lap

Joined: Apr 2004

Posts: 3,566

Likes: 49

From: Illinois

Car pulls to the right

Hey guys. I've owned my 98 GS400 for about 6 months now, and ever since I bought it, it has pulled to the right ever so slightly. I've got the stock 17" rims, but am planning on switching to the stock 16s for the winter. I was thinking of taking it in to get an alignment, but before I do that, I wanted to get your opinion. Could it be the tires that are causing the pulling? How about a wheel out of balance? Assuming it is an alignment issue, how does a car get out of alignment? Is it common? What does everyone think? Thanks.

e-mab

Aug 27, 2004 | 10:24 PM

lexusondubs

dubsonlexus

iTrader: (9)

Joined: Aug 2002

Posts: 7,693

Likes: 4

From: Clearwater,FL

Re: Car pulls to the right

Quote:

Originally posted by e-man
Hey guys. I've owned my 98 GS400 for about 6 months now, and ever since I bought it, it has pulled to the right ever so slightly. I've got the stock 17" rims, but am planning on switching to the stock 16s for the winter. I was thinking of taking it in to get an alignment, but before I do that, I wanted to get your opinion. Could it be the tires that are causing the pulling? How about a wheel out of balance? Assuming it is an alignment issue, how does a car get out of alignment? Is it common? What does everyone think? Thanks.

e-mab

i would say its the alignment yes it it a common thing your car can get knocked out of alignment several different ways but the most common way it to hit a pothole

Aug 28, 2004 | 08:39 AM

corkycal

Lexus Champion

iTrader: (8)

Joined: Jul 2004

Posts: 2,014

Likes: 2

From: So Cal

your tires may make your car pull either right or left. the best was to rule out the tires is swop them around and see if your car pulls after the swop.

first thing i would do is swop the front to the rear and drive around. if you can't get an answer, put on the 16" and drive around.

if you don't have anytime, just go to your alignment guy.

Aug 28, 2004 | 12:19 PM

e-man

Thread Starter

Lead Lap

Joined: Apr 2004

Posts: 3,566

Likes: 49

From: Illinois

Corkycal -- I think that's good advice. The easiest way to check would be to do the front to back swap, although I don't own a jack stand, so I would have to take it somewhere to have it done. My guess is that it's an alignment issue. I'll figure it out first thing next week. Thanks.

e-man

Aug 28, 2004 | 09:21 PM

corkycal

Lexus Champion

iTrader: (8)

Joined: Jul 2004

Posts: 2,014

Likes: 2

From: So Cal

let us know if the problem was fixed

Aug 30, 2004 | 01:26 AM

rominl

exclusive matchup

iTrader: (4)

Joined: May 2002

Posts: 81,894

Likes: 482

From: Lovely OC

yeah swapping wheels could give you a good idea, but i guess an aignment would be able to help you determins a lot too

Aug 30, 2004 | 08:39 PM

e-man

Thread Starter

Lead Lap

Joined: Apr 2004

Posts: 3,566

Likes: 49

From: Illinois

UPDATE

Well, I took the car in today and asked Lexus to rotate the tires, front to back and back to front. The head mechanic asked why and I explained the pulling problem. He first took a look at the front tires and noticed that the front left tire was wearing a little unevenly, probably as a result of taking too many right-handed cloverleafs too fast. Anyway, they rotated the tires, and as soon as I got in the car, I immediately knew that the problem was solved. I am no longer fighting with the car to make it go straight. I can't believe I've been driving with it like this for the past months (that's how long I've owned the car). Moreover, I'm not sure why, but the car all of a sudden rides much nicer, softer, quieter, etc. That's probably my imagination to some extent, or maybe the rear tires had more tread on them. Whichever the case, I couldn't be happier. If anyone has a pulling problem, try rotating the tires first as a cheap alternative to having an alignment. It just might work.

And, it's a good thing that I didn't need an alignment. The mechanic told me that their parts guy backed up his pick-up truck into the alignment machine the other day and really messed it up. To quote him, "the alignment machine now needs an alignment." Too funny.

e-man