code58

When I did FE alignment, that was the VERY FIRST thing you always checked, on ALL 4 tires. It doesn't take much tire pressure difference to cause a drift, even as little as 1-2 lbs can easily cause it. Tires NORMALLY lose about 1 lb of pressure per mo. If the tires are all equal, they will all lose air at about the same amount so it won't cause a drift, but corrosion on the rim can cause a imbalance in pressure loss.

wvuguy

It is funny because I had the FE alignment done three weeks back and you would think the guy doing the alignment would have noticed. I guess now I know what to check first

code58

Every FE guy is different. Some do it really right, some- as long as it's in specs (even if one side is at one end of specs and the other side is at the other end), there's nothing wrong. Obviously that's not true. I started doing all our alignments (body shop) because of such incompetent work when we sent it out. You absolutely wouldn't believe some of the things that were done, and these were FE shops with good reputations! One of the tricks (by the way I NEVER used this) that IS acceptable IF ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING checks out good and you still have a DRIFT, is to raise the pressure on the drift side about 1 lb. and drop the pressure on the other side about 1 lb. That won't hurt anything and could well be all it takes to cure the drift. I found that if the alignment was done right that this slight adjustment could be made in the settings if everything else was right and still be well within the specs and not have to vary the tire pressure. In the past cars ALWAYS had a slightly different setting on the left side to compensate for the crown of the road anyway. FE's are very much different than they used to be and most don't use the R-L difference that they used to. Once I aligned a car, I took it for a road test and if there was a drift or pull, it was virtually 100% "radial pull". The only thing you could do was switch wheels around till the pull was eliminated and let the owner know that the tires had "radial pull" so that he was aware if he cross switched the tires and the pull returned. "Radial pull" is probably as uncommon now as it was once common.

kalali

So was this issue fixed? If so how? I'm having the same exact problem with my '03 RX300.

Alexus02

still drifts but now I know why it's intermittant. If I turn left then drive the car drifts to the left until I turn right. Once I turn right no more drift! Any ideas anyone?

I'm having a mechanic look at it next week but I'm not confident he'll be able to fix it.

code58

When you apply the brakes and it PULLS to the left, that is a red flag. It shouldn't be pulling to either side if the calipers are in good condition and FREE. I doubt that Lexus has this problem because they use high quality parts, but there is always the possibility of a hose going bad (collapsing on the inside), it does happen. I am suspicioning that it is the caliper or hose. There is always the possibility of the "joints" in the steering shaft binding up or the rack & pinion binding. I have heard of the "joints" binding. Have you checked to make sure the caliper pins are free and lubricated?

kalali

Mine does not pull when I apply the brakes. It pulls to the left on straight hiway. The road crown could make it worse but is definitely not the cause.

Alexus02

mine drifts only on straight road. braking doesn't induce drift - fully tested this. seems steering components related.

code58

"Alex" I realize you said this doesn't induce the drift, but this is still a red flag of some sort, because it's not normal.

Alexus02

after doing more testing I've determined applying the brakes doesn't affect the drift. The only consistent pattern I see is the drift starts if I make a left turn. After a right turn the car drives perfectly straight.

kalali

Today was a good day. Solved two issues which have been bugging me for about a couple of months with the wife's '03 RX300.
As for the drifting issue, went ahead and switched front tires just to see what happens. Well, not only the drift disappeared but also a minor vibration/shaking of the steering wheel, around 70mph, also went away.
The other issue was O2 sensor which I'll post on the related thread.
Thanks everyone for your valuable input.

Alexus02

mechanic did a second alignment and now the drift is fixed!

kalali

Good to hear. I just wished people/mechanics could get it right the first time especially with something like an alignment where most of the measurements are done without human intervention.