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Left lane pull

Old May 12, 2013 | 11:31 AM
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Default Left lane pull

Anyone please tell me how much correction do you use on your steering wheel when driving on the highways in the left 1 or 2 lanes? My car has a drift and I feel that I am correcting or holding my steering wheel about .5 inch or so to the right side to keep it in the left lane. If I am in the right lane then the car does not drift left and has a very slow drift to the right due to road crowns on a multilane boulevard or highway. I had alignment done twice in the past 1 year. This leftward drift is noticeable with my current Michelin all seasons but no so with my winter Michelin tires so I just wanted to see if its a tire issue or its the car very senstive to road crowns. I basically time in seconds how long my car can stay in the left lane before it drifts out and its about 5 seconds. Other cars take about 10 or more seconds.
BTW, my right front wheel caster is more then my left front wheel caster by 0.75 degrees while everything else is equal on both side and in spec. I have been told different things about caster difference. Some say that the car will pull to the side with least caster while the Lexus chief mechanic says that it will not. I have swapped the tires from one side to the other in the front with minimal difference. Its a minor annoyance but something I am curious about. I know about road crowns but I want to see if others have GS that track straight for a long time at least several hundred feet or more ( more than 10 seconds in the left lane on highway without hands on steering wheel) before it drifts slightly out of the lane on the left side.

Last edited by Rexus300; May 12, 2013 at 11:42 AM.
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Old May 12, 2013 | 11:41 AM
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No issues here...mine tracks very straight...
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Old May 12, 2013 | 11:46 AM
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I am able to leave the wheel when I exchange shades, stright forward. I think your wheels needs balancing?
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Old May 12, 2013 | 11:46 AM
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Yea I have the same problem. I thought it was a steering wheel alignment problem. My car will always drift left regardless. I basically can't ever let go of the steering wheel.
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Old May 12, 2013 | 11:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Neogenic
I am able to leave the wheel when I exchange shades, stright forward. I think your wheels needs balancing?
No balancing needed. ITs smooth at all speed and I am very sensitive to out of balance wheels. Just got these new tires few months back and they road force perfect on the machine with minimal weights needed.
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Old May 12, 2013 | 11:55 AM
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Originally Posted by ialexxx
Yea I have the same problem. I thought it was a steering wheel alignment problem. My car will always drift left regardless. I basically can't ever let go of the steering wheel.
Is it always happening in the middle and left lanes only or all the lanes?
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Old May 12, 2013 | 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Rexus300
Anyone please tell me how much correction do you use on your steering wheel when driving on the highways in the left 1 or 2 lanes? My car has a drift and I feel that I am correcting or holding my steering wheel about .5 inch or so to the right side to keep it in the left lane. If I am in the right lane then the car does not drift left and has a very slow drift to the right due to road crowns on a multilane boulevard or highway. I had alignment done twice in the past 1 year. This leftward drift is noticeable with my current Michelin all seasons but no so with my winter Michelin tires so I just wanted to see if its a tire issue or its the car very senstive to road crowns. I basically time in seconds how long my car can stay in the left lane before it drifts out and its about 5 seconds. Other cars take about 10 or more seconds.
BTW, my right front wheel caster is more then my left front wheel caster by 0.75 degrees while everything else is equal on both side and in spec. I have been told different things about caster difference. Some say that the car will pull to the side with least caster while the Lexus chief mechanic says that it will not. I have swapped the tires from one side to the other in the front with minimal difference. Its a minor annoyance but something I am curious about. I know about road crowns but I want to see if others have GS that track straight for a long time at least several hundred feet or more ( more than 10 seconds in the left lane on highway without hands on steering wheel) before it drifts slightly out of the lane on the left side.
Have you had the dealership triple check your alignment? If I recall correctly, alignment is covered for 20k miles or 12 months, whichever comes first.

...I had some slight cupping at 6k so I had the dealership adjust the toe and now the car tracks straight.
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Old May 12, 2013 | 01:46 PM
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Mine just passed 1,000 miles. On month old. I'll check the highway drift, but I have noticed a strong sideways pull when stopping. Usually pulls to the left, but sometimes to the right.
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Old May 12, 2013 | 02:16 PM
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Originally Posted by faifai83
Have you had the dealership triple check your alignment? If I recall correctly, alignment is covered for 20k miles or 12 months, whichever comes first.

...I had some slight cupping at 6k so I had the dealership adjust the toe and now the car tracks straight.
Yes I had it done free last year and this spring and the toe, caster, and cambers are all set but the left caster is on borderline out of spec even after alignment but it shouldn't cause the car to go to the left. I drove today and the car does not pull to left at all when in the right lanes. If in the middle lane it would go either way. If its in the right lane it would track straight but a slight drift to right but if in the left lane it takes more effort to keep in lane or more frequent correction of the steering.
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Old May 12, 2013 | 03:30 PM
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Originally Posted by larryinWA
Mine just passed 1,000 miles. On month old. I'll check the highway drift, but I have noticed a strong sideways pull when stopping. Usually pulls to the left, but sometimes to the right.
I've also noticed when stopping and going over uneven pavement the car will pull to one side if I don't have the wheel held firm.
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Old May 12, 2013 | 05:09 PM
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It happens on every lane and even on the flat and leveled surfaces as well. I'm going to check my tire pressures to see if any of them is off by a significant amount. I mean I had an alignment at my 5fk/half year service and it was still doing the same thing. Ive gotten used to it because my parents Lx570 does the samething
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Old Jun 14, 2013 | 07:04 AM
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Originally Posted by yardie876
I've also noticed when stopping and going over uneven pavement the car will pull to one side if I don't have the wheel held firm.
Sorry to bump an old thread but is this normal? I am noticing this too on my 2 week old GS with less than 400 miles on it. It will drift left sometimes on the highway. And when coming to a stop, the steering wheel would sometimes turn left or right if I don't have a firm grip on the wheel.
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Old Jun 14, 2013 | 07:20 AM
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Originally Posted by praetor
Sorry to bump an old thread but is this normal? I am noticing this too on my 2 week old GS with less than 400 miles on it. It will drift left sometimes on the highway. And when coming to a stop, the steering wheel would sometimes turn left or right if I don't have a firm grip on the wheel.
Which lane are you in?
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Old Jun 14, 2013 | 07:48 AM
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Generally far left lane. Which I often just attribute to the way our roads are banked. But the way the wheel turns itself sometimes is scary.
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Old Jun 14, 2013 | 09:44 AM
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Originally Posted by faifai83
Have you had the dealership triple check your alignment? If I recall correctly, alignment is covered for 20k miles or 12 months, whichever comes first.

...I had some slight cupping at 6k so I had the dealership adjust the toe and now the car tracks straight.
Can anyone confirm the mileage and months on this coverage?
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