Had an alignment done and shop said My caster is way off which is what is causing the car to pull to the right and have the steering wheel cocked slightly to the left when traveling in a straight line.

Few questions...

1) I am pretty sure the control arms are what need to be replaced. Can someone confirm and show me exactly what part I should order?
2) I assume that since the car pulls to the right, the control arms on that side need to be replaced? Is there a chance the left ones are shot as well??
3) Are control arms for the front and rear or just the front.

 

Was you car in a wreck or you hit a curb?
No reason the control arms need to be replaced.
I would take it to another reputable alignment shop & check it again.

 

My vehicle also pulls a bit to the right. I had it aligned twice at my local Lexus dealer. The tech even swapped the front left and right tires to see if it alternate directions in pulling He said that alignment is in spec and that the pull the the right is due to the crown of the road and the wide tires. Is this normal?

 

So, technically no I did not hit a curb however, I had some concrete blocks poured in my backyard to form a driveway and that the car got stuck over over one of them. I miss judged how high they were off of the grass if that makes sense. So in that respect the control arm could have very well been bent while forcing the car over the blocks and back on the driveway.

 

For what it's worth, the RR USRS will adjust caster and significantly improve control arm control.

 

yes..........yes it is

 

Well it's not technically "normal" but specific tires can create a pull.

For example, I have two sets of wheels, one for street and one for track. The street tires drive straight but the track ones pull to the right without any changes to the alignment. Since it's my track tires, I'm not too worried about the pulling, but if it was my daily street tires, I would have the tires dismounted and remounted. Sometimes the way a tire beads up on the rim can create that pull. If that doesn't fix it, I would be looking into a tire warranty replacement.

Does the tires on front have plenty of tread left?
When a tire gets older, it can loose its balance too.
Did the pull just start recently right after the concret block incident?

A good alignment guy can "fix" the pull by setting the geometry but it will cause more wear on the tires.
Another cheap fix would be to air the tires up slightly different to compensate for the pull. Put more air on the side that pulls and less air on the opposite side. I'm talking like 2-3 lbs.

Lastly, try another alignment shop. Sometimes the alignment heads get out of calibration. The tech says it's in spec but it really isn't.

 

Funny, I was actually thinking about airing up the front right tire a couple pounds to see if it would compensate for the pull. I might just go to another place to do the alignment, just to see if it is the equipment. There is a decent amount of tread left. These are the factory Michelin's. Thanks for the advice!

 

Just an update. I went to another Lexus dealership this week and explained what all I went through already with the previous dealership.

I wanted them to check all suspension components and let me know what they found. It's been two days so far. I was updated today with info from the tech saying that nothing was wrong with suspension, but they would have to align with a cradle shift to fix the pulling. The camber is off and this is the only way to fix it. I'm picking up my car tomorrow, so we'll see.

 

Craziness! Hope the tech knows how to do it right. I've never knew of anyone who has had to get the subframe adjusted to drive straight. Is this being done as lexus warranty ?

Side note:
My T-demand upper control arms are arriving tomorrow from Japan. I'll have the ability to change front camber real soon! will update via my build thread after install.

 

It is pretty crazy! Unfortunately, it is not being done as warranty.

So if I had those upper control arms, I wouldn't have had to have the subframe adjusted? Hmmm. :-) Looking forward to seeing them!

 

Does not make sense that this is not covered under warranty. Sub-frame alignment is not a wear and tear item. Once the factory sets the sub frame it should be good for at least the warranty period if not the life of the car. That's like saying if the door does not line up properly on a new car you should pay to have it fixed...

 

Good point. I failed to mention that I hit a large pothole on an access road and that's when I noticed the car pulling to the right. Would this cause the sub frame to have to be adjusted?

BTW, got my car back and it's so much better. This tech was more capable than the other one I dealt with.

 

I am certainly no expert but I would think that hitting a pothole should not cause a sub-frame to shift (right to left or front to back). There are plenty of shock absorbing components (shocks, bushings, bump stops) that should be able to absorb that type of (up and down) impact. If they didn't you would probably have bent or broken components. Perhaps if you had an impact from the side or the front at precisely the right angle it might cause the sub-frame to shift but I would think you would probably have some dents to show for it also.
Good to know at least your car is running better now anyway.

 

Hello to All. I'm new to this forum. This is my first post. I just got a new to me Lexus IS 250 F sport. I been reading all about the GS-F/RC-F front lower control arm bushing helping reduce the inner tire wear. I got the part numbers
48076-24010 and 48075-24010. I see lots of people posting installing these on their IS 350. Just want to make sure these will fit my 2015 IS 250 F sport.