Wanted to know if anyone else noticed this in their truck.

When I let go of the wheel my truck goes right. Now, I don't thinks it's the crown of the road since the interstate I drive pretty flat.

Didn't know if the truck was out of alignment since I have had it aligned recently.

-CM

 

I developed this problem after the 3rd or 4th time I rotated my first set of tires. It wasn't real bad, but you could feel a slight pull to the right and if you let go of the wheel it would steer that direction. I chocked it up to the road being crowned and the tires getting pretty well worn down. I put a new set of Michelin M/S on last winter and the pull disappeared and hasn't returned yet. ??? Seemed like if it was an alignment problem, I would have seen signs of bad wear and the new tires would have done the same thing, but they didn't. I got 47,000 miles on the first set of tires and they could have went a little more, but I wanted fresh tires for a trip towing the 5er.
How much tread do you have left on your tires?

 

On my Michilen's LTX A/S I only got 36k out of them. Just put a new set of BFG A/T's on this past month.

I have always noticed a pull to the right. Didn't know if everyone else found this to be the case with their truck.

I may need to have the truck aligned again. The truck has 38k miles on it so everything should still be in good shape.

-CM

 

Like Rattlin', my 4x2 tends to pull a little to the right. I put on new tires last November and the pull disappeared for a while, but now its back. But I don't see any unusual tire wear. I may have the front end checked.

Dewain

 

depending on how severe it pulls...i was under the understanding vehicles were suppose to pull a bit to the right, a safety feature in case you were to fall asleep or something the vehicle wouldnt go into oncoming traffic, instead, head towards the side of the road....again, i know i heard this somewhere and im not really sure how much "pull" to the right is acceptable for this

 

CMCKINNEY,

I have an 02 with about 6k on it. From day one it has veered just a little bit to the right. Both front tires are wearing about the same, but already I can see a bit of feathering on each outside edge of the front tires.

Like somebody said the other day, the best thing we can do is rotate, rotate and rotate. Mine is in alignment but I wonder if the factory specs are right for the trucks.

I am beginning to think that it is somewhat normal for 02s to veer right !!!!

 

Bought my truck used, pulled hard to right. Took it to alignment, still pulled hard right. Swapped rt front to lt side and lt to rt. Solved the pulling problem. Truck drives great after tire swap. Just an idea to try if your experiencing pull after a alignment.

 

With new tires that have less than 2000 miles on them there should be no tire issue.

Maybe it is supposed to go right for "safety". Either way I'll deal with it somehow.

Thanks for the responses gents.

-CM

 

[quote author=cmckinney link=board=4;threadid=17674;start=0#msg165406 date=1059511124]
The truck has 38k miles on it so everything should still be in good shape.

-CM
[/quote]

Not allways true.
At 40,000 I need Track Bar , ALL ball joints , and One tie rod end .... so far.

I just got my DSS , and am awaiting the DT track bar. Once those are in hand its joint time and I should be good to go again for another 10,000 miles ;D

 

In my experience...most alignment shops aren't too good. Find a good frame/wheel guy and tell him your symptoms.

Sounds like a camber problem though.

 

Yeah Camber.
Since I got my truck I've been thinking the camber needs another degree or two of negative.

I think on these newer trucks, the steering box is tight enough that you don't notice a near neutral camber angle and they set it that way for it's small advantages, but once that box wears just a bit, you drift.

I like better how I've set up a couple of my 4x's with a relatively steep angle. Box is sloppy as heck, but it always wants to pull back to center because of the extra drag at the back of the wheels when not steered center.

 

Anyone know of a good alignment shop to take care of this issue in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area?

I'd like to have a straight driving truck. Maybe that's why my first set of tires only lasted 36k. And that was wearing down the indicators.

-CM

 

For a long while I too noticed a pull to the right, had allignment checked. everything was right on, a friend in the alignment shop did me a favor, he showed that on the 4X4's if you have the antislip, the right rear tire will wear much faster than the others(keep em rotated). He did some air preasure adjustments. i had run empty 75 fronts and 65 rears, he set rears to 60, lf to 72 and rf to 70, drift all gone. I would have thought that would have made the pull worse.
These presures were on E rated tires

 

Man Im glad to hear others have it too(I think). I just got my 2002 4X2 aligned last week, still pulled right. Took it back and they double checked the settings, right on, switched front tires, much better but still pulls some to right, wanders a little too. As much as I love this engine, I am not too impressed with the handling of the truck, since this is my first diesel, I chalked it up to a heavy engine in front of a light truck(???).

Bryan

 

Its a CASTER problem. All you guys with the 4x4s go under your truck and look at the lower arm, you'll see an adjuster there. jack the truck up and loosen the nut. rotate the bolt so the lower part of the axle housing moves foward(making the arm longer) on the side that it pulls too. this WILL solve the problem. and it does not really change any other adjustments. Just remember to get the weight of the truck off that bolt when adjusting or you'll have to be real strong to basically lift the weight of the truck.
Alignment Man Dan.