As the title explains, I have to constantly hold the steering wheel to the right just to go straight. I have had an alignment, tire rotate and balance, and still no help. Is there anything else that could be causing this problem? I have not had much experience with steering components, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

What are the alignment numbers? i.e. after the alignment.

Most pull (while driving) is caused by a bad alignment. It can also be caused by a bad tire or worn suspension...

 

I never knew worn suspension causes pulls to the side. How do you know if your suspension is bad unless you car just feels like absolute crap.

 

I agree it would help if you can post the after alignment specs. I bet that the caster or camber is causing your drift. If you rotated the tires then I would think you could rule them out at this point. If you want to test for tire pull move the front from side to side (left to right and right to left) if it still pulls you have an alignment issue. If your suspension is damaged or worn the alignment specs should show it.

 

I don't have the numbers, but the last two times I have had an alignment, it kinda seems like it is a little better at first, but doesn't seem to last long. I was just wondering if there is something other than an alignment that could cause this problem.

 

Often times the guys at the alignment shop won't even bother to adjust your camber, becuase the computer says they can't. so if you have camber bolts or plates they won't mess with them. (and if you don't have camber bolts/plates you may need some)
Make sure your camber is right. (they will give you print out of before and after if you ask)

 

this is something shops used to do but shouldnt because it doesnt apply to this day and age. They used to adjust the alignment to compisate for the crown in the road. What i mean about a crown is that the middle of the road is higher for water drainage this is something you would see on older country roads. So shops would make your car pull slightly to the left so it will go straight at that angle. like i said it doesnt really apply now cause they dont build roads like that anymore but i had my truck aligned a little over a year ago at this local shop and when i got my car back it pulled to the left
so i took it back and they told me they did that on purpose for that reason and i told them that it wasnt relavant anymore so make it go straight. Idono if thats your problem but its something you could check

 

Try checking your wheel bearing, it could of went bad.

 

was the car ever in an accident?

 

road crown can be a issue also.

 

If the car pulls left, wouldn't he have to be driving in England for road crowns to cause this?

 

No....The crown is when the middle of the road being raise slightly and slightly tapers off as it goes to the edges. think of a half circle. So if the car was going straight with the car leaning to the right it would start to go right so they would compinsate the alignment to go left to keep it going straight.

 

I am familiar with what a road crown is, but wouldn't it only pull left if the shop overcompensated for the amount of crown? For instance, it would drive fine on a heavily crowned country road but would pull to the left on a four-lane highway.

As someone suggested earlier, bad wheel bearings could screw up the percieved alignment.

 

sorry when you said england thought you were confused on what was your right and left. But yeah that is what i mean on a crown road it goes straight but on a highway it will drift left thats y i suggested the crown compinsation cause he might not have any roads around him that have crowns. but anyways yeah a bad wheel bearing could cause drag on one side and could cause you to drift to one side or the other

 

I bought the car when it had 98,000 miles on it and it now has 185,000. It has never been involved in an accident according to carfax. Surprising that a bad wheel bearing can cause drifting. I thought wheel bearings made a roaring or grinding noise when they went bad. Is there any way to check for a bad wheel bearing without removing it first? And as far as having crowns in the roads, yeah we do have those on some of the highways, but the car does it on all highways as soon as you let go of the steering wheel. I also have a '00 max which drives fine, so I don't think it is a problem with the roads. Thanks for all of the feedback. I really appreciate everyone helping me out.

 

when does it happen? does it always happen when you brake too? cause it could be that 1 of your calipers or something with your brakes isnt applying so when you brake your car goes to the left, i duno could be

 

It sounds to me like you have a radial pull on one of your tires. I have the same thing happening to mine, even after I had it aligned. I am sure that when I replace the tires, the problem will correct itself.

 

Could be a worn out steering knuckle or bearing.

 

If not any of the above issues, check your upper & lower control arms or driver side axle.

 

on the radial pull. I'm also a victim of this when I try and rotate my rear tires to the front....

 

I have the same problem but my car is pulling to the right. I had my alignment done twice (by the same guy) since I complained after the first time. He said it must be the tires.

Today I bought brand new tires and it is still pulling to the right!

What could the problem be? More importantly, how should I solve this problem?

 

That SIRIUS install looks nice

 

BTW I just had an alignment today. Everything lines up (within tolerances) fine but I get a small amount of drift. My camber is a degree off, I think -0.9 on driver's side -1.9 on passenger side and I beleive that to be the cause of my pull. My car is also very sensitive to road crown and road angle due to the neg. camber settings.

njmodi- do you have any recs. for camber besides the factory numbers that would be good for both tracking/handling AND tire wear?

I have all numbers from the alignment I can post if need be...

 

I really don't think the tires are the problem either. I had them changed last year, I think, and also have them rotated and balanced every 5,000 miles. I really think for some reason that it is something other than the tires and the alignment just because of the mileage(185,000). All of the components dealing with steering, suspension, etc. are all factory and I was thinking that probably something was worn out due to age, but I'm not sure what or combination of things would cause this problem. Thanks again for everyone's suggestions, experiences, and opinions.