Car pulling to the right

[Gary Waugh]

Okay peeps, I fitted new tyres to my expedition about 10,000 miles ago, they are rotated every 5000 miles. I just had them rotated and the car now has a slight pull to the right. I took it to my local garage and they checked alignment and adjusted it. I got it back and it still pulls to the right. Took it back and they said everything is in spec and cant see a problem. They then rotated the tyres again (they say they put the tyres back to how they were before the last rotation). I now drive the car and it pulls to the left. I checked the tyre pressures and they are all as specified by ford, apparently the alignment is correct, so what can cause the steering to pull one side or the other? As the pulling changed sides when the tyres where rotated, I assume the pull is due to the tyres, but is there anything I can look for on the tyres? The garage has said they will look again but they need to keep the car for a day or two, so I am holding off, just wondered if anyone had any ideas? The car has just over 130,000 miles and my local Ford garage just flushed the power steering a day or two before the tyres where rotated so thought that could be the cause of the pulling, but as it changes sides with the tyres I think that rules out the power steering. I jacked the car up so all wheels where in the air and all 4 wheels turn freely, no sign of any brakes binding/dragging.
I also drove it on several different roads to make sure the pull wasn't due to the camber of the road, it wasn't and again the camber would not explain why it pulls to the other side when the tyres are rotated.

Regards Gary

 

[Big Brian]

its tire pull if the problem follows the tire

it happens

put the offending tire on the rear

about all you can do

 

[Flexpedition]

Sounds like you've done a good job of narrowing it down to one tire. I'll agree with Big Brian, but would go one step further and suggest you drop and install your spare to help identify which tire is the culprit.

You didn't mention any wear difference - I'd check each tire with a depth gauge at several locations on each to see if there is an issue with conicity. I'll give you that you won't see a huge difference, especially after only 10K, but any small difference is going to be the clue. Check the tire at the inside, outside, and center in multiple spots. Conicity is a defect in tire manufacturing that you can't visually see but will result in a pull now and uneven wear in time. Uncommon with a good quality tire but it happens and the pull usually increases as you go faster. A bad rear tire can cause steering issues up front, so check all 4 equally.

Just out of curiosity, what brand, model and size tires do you have?

 

[Big Brian]

good idea on the spare

could be a belt is starting to shift in the tire and you cant see it.

I used to run a front end rack at a Lincoln Mercury dealer back in the stone age so I have seen my share of issues like this

 

[sjwelds]

Be interested to know what brand etc of tires

 

[1997SCEBFEX]

++ on tire brand.

could it be the weights, balance could be a part of it?
ever had a flat and they put "slime" or "tire flat" stuff in it?
more prone when you apply brakes, or all the time?

let us know what it is.

 

[rjdelp7]

I had a Goodyear Wrangler RT/S do exact same thing. Tires had about 50%. I spent $65 for alignment, all they did was re-rotate tires. I also had one or two that were making tire noise, going down the road. A new set of 4, was put on about 6 months later and problem never came back. Goodyear would not prorate the old set.