blazinwind

I drive a 2001 IS300 w/ 79,000 miles. I've had my car checked out throughout the summer by multiple places, including the lexus dealer, and have had little success. Earlier this summer I began noticing when I drove at higher speeds and on the highway that my car seemed to pull/drift to the side without me moving the steering at all. It almost felt as though I was driving over ice eventhough the conditions were completely dry.

I got an alignment but the car still does the same thing. The only thing I can think of is I had new break pads put on the left side of my car back in the winter, so now when i stop at a light or stop sign many times my car pulls to one side because the new break pads are most liekly tighter than the other. This would make sense when i apply pressure to the breaks, but when i am driving and its pulling quickly or drifting i am not touching the breaks. Could this still be causing my problem since it is a performance car and anything that is slightly off could throw things off? I can definately tell when something feels slightly off because i drive it everyday whereas mechanics that just test drive my car for the first time to check it out cant really notice anything and think the car drives great.

I'm really stumped on this one and would greatly appreciate anyone's feedback and advice because I am leaving in 2 weeks to drive from ME to VA and really need this thing cleared up. Thank you.

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

yeah it could very likely be the brake pads. thats why you never replace 1 side. you always do both. its ok to do just front, or just back.

if after you have completed this, you could have a caliper that is sticking that would cause your car to pull to the side also.

last but not least it could be tires or a suspension part that has worn out.

good luck

Faymester

Tires ... you didn't do something to those by side as well did you?
- pressure
- something in or on one of them (nail, bubble, road carnage)

Brakes (I admit I've never head of doing one side)
- caliper
- sticky pads
- fluid

Lastly, do you have anything aftermarket going on that could be related? If so, let us know & we might have more of an answer.

blazinwind

thank you for the help and advice. earlier in the summer i hit a pot hole pretty hard and got a bubble in the tire. i replaced that tire and had it rotated to the back because when they balanced out the tires the rim was wrobbling. Also, on the left side where i had the new break pads put on the caliper was rattling so i just had that replaced for free and it no longer rattles.

so do you most likely think eventhough i am not applying any pressure to the breaks when im driving on the local roads or highway that it could still be causing the pull/drift? And if i were to get the right side new break pads would that affect things since they were put on at different times? Thank you.

Faymester

Oh dude, it's totally the screwey rim.

blazinwind

oh really, you think? so if i just get a new rim you think that will clear this all up?

Faymester

I wouldn't say 'for sure', but if you've ever seen a wobbly on the ... spinny thing ... what's that called, the thing the tire shops put rims on to do a quick visual check of how wobbly the rim is/isn't ... anyhow, I've seen a wibbly rim on one of those and there's no way I'd think driving on it would be alright.

Did that make sense?

The short of it is, I definitely think it's the rim & that a non-wobbly one would solve your problem.

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

bent rim ftw. get a new one or find a good shop to repair it.

DonCorleone

iTrader: (6)

you should have a full sized spare in the trunk, assuming you're on stock rims, replace the bent/wobbly rim with the spare and see if that doesn't help.

your post isn't very clear, but if the rattling brake was on the same corner that you hit the pothole and damaged your tire, maybe you damaged something else on that corner as well?

blazinwind

the rattling caliper was on the left front driver's side tire that i got replaced, while the tire i busted and got replaced was on the right passenger's side. I then had them move that new tire to the rear of the car after they balanced them of because of the wobbling. They said by having the wobbling rim on the back i would not feel the affects as much.

So now eventhough the wobbling rim is in the rear and no longer in the front could this still be causing my car to pull/drift? Thanks.

herbvdh

A damaged rim should be replaced or repaired ASAP never put back on. I wonder what brand of tires you got I had loads of trouble with Good Years drifting/pulling, no traction etc. etc. Maybe new tires also.