okay well i got my car lowered and aligned not too long ago. i noticed that now, whenever i put my steering wheel completely straight, the car drifts off to the right. not much of a problem (the car runs fine, no vibrations in the steering wheel) just probably about 1/10" off. please help and tell me what the problem can be. it just annoys me. i guess im a perfectionist.

 

the problem is in the alignment. some shops will intentional align with a slight pull to the right to help avoid head on collisions but this is a very old school line of thinking. have someone recheck your alignment befor you get bad tire wear.

 

I am a newbie to this forum, I hope to buy an is350 sooner or later so I tend to just read and keep my opinions muted, in fact I browsed as a guest for a couple of months before finally registering just to be able to use the search function...
Since nobody else has responded to this post after several days, I just have to chime in.

/\ This is a very odd statement, it sounds like an urban legend or something /\

Anyhow, the original poster states that his car drifts to the right "when" he holds his steering wheel straight, he does not say that it "pulls" to the right (always).
I'm also a stickler for having my steering wheel perfectly straight as I travel down a straight level road.
The steering wheel can be adjusted independently of the alignment. I myself used to almost always have to go back to my chosen shop and tell the mechanic to adjust my steering wheel ever so slightly. He would ask me how much and in which direction the wheel was cocked after I took it out for the initial first test drive on a straight flat road. (I think the mechanics themselves typically test drive the car after an alignment to check for pulling, steering wheel alignment etc., but not my ride!) He could then make a quick adjustment and usually make it perfect on that first shot. No need to hook up all the alignment gizmos again, just pull her up on the rack again to be able to easily access the steering unit and adjust it ever so slightly.
In my experience, this often needed to be done afterwards (even though the steering wheel was held straight with a device while the initial aligment was performed) to then make it PERFECT.
pylee257, yours sounds like it's off a bit more than usual, it might take a couple of trys to get it just right, if you haven't already squared away this little problem

Regards,
Ron

 

^^Ron - welcome to Club Lexus, and thanks for contributing!

Javier

 

I thought they do this because most roads are slightly tilted so the rain water can drain to the sidewalks and not stay on the lanes.