With 5k miles on my 2k3, it still refuses to drive straight. When I first bought it, the car pulled to the right. Dealer aligned it, and it changed to pretty much straight, but would slowly ease to the left. Didn't worry about it, but during a 250+ mile highway drive this week, my shoulder actually hurt from the constant pressure (admittedly I have a screwed up shoulder... ).

Anyway, took the FSTB off, dealer checked the alignment again, and rotated the tires (front to back). Now the car is pulling right, and pulling harder. What's the deal? Radial pull? Anyone have any ideas before I take it back in on Monday?

UPDATE: Hah - solved!! See my post on Radial Pull

 

If it changed with tire rotation then I'd say radial pull.

What were the specs from the alignment? Ask for the print out.

I suspect that sometimes, the dealer will actually adjust out of spec on a corner just to get the car to not pull. That happened to me on previous car. They actually toed a right rear in hard to dappen a right pull I had. I took it to a friend's shop who has a rack and checked up on their work and I went ballistic.

Turned out right from the factory, caster was out of spec on the car. There was no way to adjust caster on the car so they had to replace the lower control arms up front which did correct the problem.

These type of problems seem daunting at first but you can usually get to the bottom of things. I'd ask for the alignment print out to see if anything stands out. But since it changed with tire rotation, it's a good guess that a tire is whacked.

 

Maybe make sure all the tire pressures are the same?

 

I'll second this advice. My brand new 2K3 was pulling to one side although not as hard as it sounds yours is. Before I brought back to dealer, I checked tire pressure and found that one of the front was 3 pounds lower than the other. I added air to equalize and have not had any pull since.

 

Thanks for the advice, and you're right - that can make a big difference. Unfortunately, checked and the tire pressure is correct. Sigh...

 

you could always put a couple more 1-3 in the side its drifting to and see if it helps. Not a permanent solution, but it may work for the meantime.

 

Mine is doing the same thing. I took the FSTB off and it stopped pulling. Try taking that off and see if it makes a difference. I don't know why it would, but it did for me.

 

go to hunter
http://www.gsp9700.com

and find a dealer near you with a machine that can check for radial pull.