Hi all, I have recently been dealing with my car pulling to the right after doing suspension work, and am hoping to be able to get your help to narrow down the issue. I recently replaced the front lower control arms (and bushings), lower ball joints, passenger side inner and outer tie rods, as well as all four struts. I took it in for an alignment and they said all was good, but I immediately noticed a pretty significant pull to the right. They took it back and redid the alignment and rotated and balanced the tires as the previous owner didn't properly do it. It's much better, but they state that they cannot find the issue causing the pull and this is the best they can do. It's not a bad pull, just enough to drive me crazy. Any ideas on where to start? The car is a 2004 LS430 ML.

 

If the alignment is actually correct then probably bad tires. I would go to a different shop and get another opinion.

 

Can you post the alignment sheet?

 

It's been a little while now, I'll try and find the alignment sheet after work. I don't think it's a tire wear issue after looking at them, the tread looks great and even to me even though the shop told me they were wearing improperly. When I hit certain bumps it's almost like something pulls the wheel to the right side. Considering it drove perfectly before, I'm sure there's something wrong with the suspension job I did, though I'm not sure what. At this point I'm tempted to take it to the local dealer and just eat the cost of having them look at it. And one other thing to note, the same shop tried telling me I put on the wrong shocks and that I need air suspension, so I'm not sure if I trust them anymore.

 

Were the suspension bushings torqued at ride height?

 

Yes, I made sure every bushing I touched was torqued to spec at ride height.

 

Hi, I have the same issue, it may be the caster alignment issue.

When one of the front wheels is a little in the front of the other. You need to check your alignment to know that for sure.

It's not adjustable, only with some custom adapters/bushings.

 

It's been about a month, I haven't been driving the car as I'd prefer to fix the issue before driving it longer distances again. I did a quick check underneath with it on the ground and the wheels still on, and I noticed the passenger side spring isn't seated correctly in the strut. This is most likely an oversight on my end during reassembly. The bottom end is rotated to where it is not even close to sitting properly in the notch. I plan on fixing this anyway, but could this be the cause of the pull to the right? I'm wondering if it may be a part of the front end sitting slightly higher as well.

 

Bump steer is always suspension issues, not tyre, unless the tyre has a serious bulge where the cords have snapped.

 

Mine always has had a slight pull to the left. I've had countless alignments, a full front/semi-rear suspension rebuild etc. though this pull still persists. It's weird, I've noticed on random videos of other Lexus cars (like the third gen GS), where the driver speaks about the car "fighting you to steer" or how it wants to pull to one side.

 

I had a similar problem, but with new tires AND proper inflation, it went away. However it is not uncommon to have it pull right on a high crowned road.

 

I had the spring seated properly and a realignment done, it definitely seems better but I haven't driven it enough yet to tell. Here is the alignment sheet:

 

I've been driving the car to class and work every day lately, and on the freeway it shakes a bit going 75-80 and sometimes can wander pretty bad. I had a bit of a scare today with it almost throwing me into the car to the right of me so I decided to jack it up and look for myself. The driver's side wheel has no play whatsoever top to bottom and side to side. The passenger side wheel has no play top to bottom, but a little bit of play side to side. I'm wondering if this is the issue I've been facing.