My car (1998 with 238k miles) for the last couple months when letting go of the steering wheel it turns a bit to the left (steering wheel turns counterclockwise) by itself within a few seconds, especially at higher speeds even when just on cruise control. This pulls the car to the left. Two different techs have looked at this recently and neither found any issues with any steering/suspension components. They tell me to ignore it. Doesn't look like any calipers are sticking, and I doubt any frame damage since I haven't have any accidents/big potholes. No unusual sounds. I did replace my front struts myself recently, but the left pull is the same now as it was before. Also rotated front 2 tires but nothing changed. Two alignments didn't fix this. They did show that the camber in the front left wheel was 0.5 degrees which I believe is still in spec and not off enough I think to cause this issue?

The pull to the left is not that severe and I'm willing to live with it assuming it doesn't worsen but sometimes it's annoying on the highway. Any ideas? thanks

 

You need new tires. To confirm this, just swap the fronts and you'll see that it pulls the other way.

 

No I already rotated the front tires side to side. I didn't swap the rears but I doubt that matters.

 

seriously? balance check, alignment check.

 

I thought tire balancing wouldn't affect a pull to the left? And the alignment was already checked twice

 

As weird as it sounds, that happened to me when I bought new tires for my 97. Car didn't pull when I drove in, but when I pulled out, the car pulled. I had an alignment done with the tire replacement and took the car back twice and was told the alignment was spot on. Took the car to another place and was told the same thing.

When I wore those tires out and had them replaced, the car drove straight.

 

But isn't it weird how when I swapped my front tires side-to-side I still get the same exact direction and amount of left pull? Can the positive 0.5 degree camber in the front left wheel which is on the edge of spec cause this? I'm running out of ideas so I suppose I may have to just ignore this. I doubt a tire balancing would help.

 

^^^ it's kinda sounding like you WANT someone to tell that you've got a notable issue.

The likelihood is pretty good that your problem is simple wheel balance and/or alignment, which are both relatively inexpensive items.

Just go have them checked and at least rule them out ... Yes?

 

I guess I was confused because I had already gotten two alignments that didn't show any issues, and as far as wheel balancing I didn't think it would cause this plus my steering wheel doesn't really vibrate on the highway. But it's worth a shot and I agree cheap so I'll get it done. I'll also check my alignment at a different shop this time. Thanks

 

check your air pressures bro! if its low fill it up again and drive around for a week, check your pressures again and if it returns to the same low level go to a mavis discount tire that has good ratings and tell them to inspect and remount the tire for you and to make sure the adhesive is applied the right way. best 23 bucks I spent.

of course you could have a cracked rim with a limited air leak

just sayin.

hopefully you checked already.

edit: nm missed the part where you said you rotated the tires.

be sure to check the pressure of all your tires just in case.

 

This stands out to me. What is the camber on the right? Most shops won't touch camber if it's within spec because technically it's not really adjustable on the A32. However, there is about .5 degree of play in the lower strut mounting flange. Have the shop get both fronts close to zero and even with each other, then set toe. I always set mine at -.1 deg and the car tracked awesome!

 

^^^ njmaxseltd its good to see you still hang out here. You helped me many times. Thank you.

 

UPDATE:

I went in for wheel balancing and a third alignment and my left front camber was now out of spec by 0.2. Left front toe was out of spec for a third straight time as well (this time it was angled to the right which is weird since the car pulled left!) so they fixed that as well as adjusted the lower strut bolt to fix the camber to within spec. Car now drives a lot straighter.

I've lose a lot of confidence in alignments at these shops...I went in 3 times in 2 weeks and each time toe was off, and some numbers such as even rear toe changed a lot each time which is strange in such a short time. With these numbers wondering around so much I really wonder how precise these machines are.