Car pulls to the left with 275/35/18's

[FishV12]

Good morning,

I just recently purchased some Goodyear GS-D3 tires 275/35/18 for all 4 corners. I got the car aligned and everything looks good but the car constantly pulls to the left. It was doing that before the alignment and after. With my previous tires the car would pull to the left a little but not nearly as much so I never really thought anything about it. Now it's horrible... I find myself always steering right and driving on a straight line with the wheel turned 30 degree on the right. On new pavement or perfectly aligned roads it's almost fine tho making me think that there is no problem and that's how driving with bigger tires is really but it doesn't make sense since SS came with 275's on all four stock.

If anyone could let me know what they think it is that would be great since I did get the car realigned at a gm dealership.

[mrr23]

well you can try swapping the front tires left/right and see if the pull changes. i doubt it will, because you said it did with your previous tires. do you have the printout from the alignment? give me the after readouts for each side and i can tell you if the alignment is correct. this is assuming the machine is not out of calibration.

[FishV12]

Yep I do and I will give them to you when I get home What number are you looking for exactly? I can't really switch the left and right tires since they are unidirectional and I would need to get them remounted on the rims but I can switch the front with the rears and vice versa. Reading the other posts I see that most cars pulls to the right and not to the left due to road crown which is normal. I do have road crown where I live and technically it should be pulling to the right. Makes me think there is definetely something not right with the car. Could be so many things though! Hopefully the alignment specs will shed some light on this.

[Smkn_TA]

Maybe your a raging schizo and don't know it. You keep pulling to the left and are paranoid someone else is doing it.

[FishV12]

LOL! Trust me it's not the case.

[ICRAZY6]

Was the car ever in an accident? Also are you feeling like its the front or the rear doing the pulling?

[mrr23]

Yep I do and I will give them to you when I get home What number are you looking for exactly? I can't really switch the left and right tires since they are unidirectional and I would need to get them remounted on the rims but I can switch the front with the rears and vice versa. Reading the other posts I see that most cars pulls to the right and not to the left due to road crown which is normal. I do have road crown where I live and technically it should be pulling to the right. Makes me think there is definetely something not right with the car. Could be so many things though! Hopefully the alignment specs will shed some light on this.

you can swap the tires around long enough to see if the pull changes. the only purpose for directional tread patterns are for water evacuation.

i want the camber, caster and toe readings for both front tires.

it could be a hub bearing, brakes, or power steering causing the pull. i do alignments for a living.

[VChula]

Unequal tire pressures in the front or rear?

[FishV12]

Good morning mrr23

I finally scanned my alignment specs. I attached them so you can see everything. I will try to switch my two front tires around and let you know how the car runs

Thanks in advance!
Simon

[FishV12]

Honestly I am a little nervous that it might be a hub bearing or a power steering issue since I imagine none of these are very cheap.

[mrr23]

looking over the alignment sheet, and assuming the machine isn't out of calibration, then the pull isn't from the alignment. when you look at the initial and final readings, you'll see all they did was set toe. the camber and caster were left alone. not a bad thing. you have the caster higher on the right versus left, which is needed to offset the road crown.

now, if the tire swap doesn't change the pull, a couple other things can cause it. brakes and power steering. if these all check out, then have the alignment shop lower the caster on the left side from 4.5* to 4.3*. this will give you a .5* difference from left/right. your car might just need more caster spread is all.

[FishV12]

Now what could there be wrong with the brakes for example? I am pretty sure my brakes are alright. Now it doesn't pull when I brake whatsoever. If a pad was sticking tho this would be a different story but it doesn't feel this way.

How do I know it's the steering? How can you actually tell? It feels tight for me and there is no play whatsoever... Is there any adjustments on these cars?

One thing I know about this alignment is that they didn't turn one bolt. The mechanic didn't sit in the car while he was taking his readings. He only played with the tires a little to get his second reading... readjusted a few things like his machine etc... It was a laser machine with some lights working with reflection it seems. I found it cool since all the ones I have seen were quite different.

Thanks again for all the help! Its greatly appreciated. I will start by switching the tires over but if there is anything else I can check for I would like to know in advance since I will have access to a garage with compressor tools this weekend so that will be good

[FishV12]

Update :

I have switched the tires around yesterday and drove it for a bit and it still pulled left. I noticed a little improvement although but it definetely still did the same thing and it might of just been my brain telling it was a little better with the tires swapped around.

I had a long look at everything while the car was jacked up. Pulling and pushing on the tires didn't reveal anything. Everything seemed tight and there was no play. I did notice tho that my brakes need replacement badly. On the driver side my inside pad is almost all used up! I was planning to replace my rotors and pads but I didn't know it was that urgent. So yep I will be ordering some brembo blanks and hawk HPS ceramic brake pads

I do not know if my brakes could be causing the pulling... I highly doubt so since when I do brake everything is fine. They are not completely done yet but very close.

My question is since I am no alignment pro what will lowering the caster on the left side from 4.5* to 4.3* do exactly in my case? Will it make the car pull slightly more to the right?

[mrr23]

Update :

I have switched the tires around yesterday and drove it for a bit and it still pulled left. I noticed a little improvement although but it definetely still did the same thing and it might of just been my brain telling it was a little better with the tires swapped around.

I had a long look at everything while the car was jacked up. Pulling and pushing on the tires didn't reveal anything. Everything seemed tight and there was no play. I did notice tho that my brakes need replacement badly. On the driver side my inside pad is almost all used up! I was planning to replace my rotors and pads but I didn't know it was that urgent. So yep I will be ordering some brembo blanks and hawk HPS ceramic brake pads

I do not know if my brakes could be causing the pulling... I highly doubt so since when I do brake everything is fine. They are not completely done yet but very close.

My question is since I am no alignment pro what will lowering the caster on the left side from 4.5* to 4.3* do exactly in my case? Will it make the car pull slightly more to the right?

well crap, i just reread it. your car is pulling left. i read where you said " find myself always steering right and driving on a straight line with the wheel turned 30 degree on the right." as being going to the right.

well, you found your problem. the left caliper is sticking and not allowing the piston to go back inward. thus it keeps the inner brake pad pushed against the rotor causing drag and steeering you to the left.

disregard the lowering of the caster on the left, as i was thinking the car was going right.

[FishV12]

Thanks Mrr23

It's okay if you misread. I was thinking kind of the same since I found the inner brake bad on the driver side (which is the left side) is slightly used more then the others. Now I guess that will mean that my calipers will need to be rebuilt. I know that on these cars you can buy a caliper rebuild kit from gm which should fix this issue. Then I will need to purge my brakes which is something I never been too good at but it give me a reason to buy speed bleeders which should make the job ten times easier . Is it hard to rebuild these calipers? Do you guys know where I can find an how to document I can read on that? I know I had seen one once but I can't remember...

[mrr23]

you can get ones already rebuilt from a parts store for a little more than the rebuild kits themselves. you'll only have to bleed the left caliper. it's a great idea to flush the entire system. no telling if it's ever been done.

[FishV12]

Good to know Are those calipers from the parts store just as good as the stockers? I guess you have to trade yours in as well. I also always heard that when you do calipers it's a good thing to do them in pairs... Meaning that you should replace both sides. A complete purge would be an extremely good thing to do. I know myself I have never done it and I am almost next to certain that the previous owner has never done it either. If I would be to buy speed bleeders that would make the job ten times easier and I think that's what I will be doing when I buy those new brakes

[mrr23]

they are stock ones rebuilt. yes, your caliper will be needed to keep your core charge money.

[FishV12]

Do you suggest doing the two front ones at the same time?

[mrr23]

only if you want to. i only replace what's needed.