Tire Pull?

[PaHumBug]

So I took my truck to the doctor for it's yearly inspection. Had them rotate the tires and check the alignment while I'm there. It wasn't pulling or doing anything, just noticed a bit more tire wear on the front tires than the rear so I figured it wouldn't hurt to get it checked. So I picked it up and now it's pulling to the left and the steering wheel it 30 degrees to the right to keep it going straight. So I took it back and they said that it's probably "tire pull". They are going to swap the left and right side tires to see if it then will pull to the right, rather than putting it back on the alignment rack. Has anyone heard of tire pull before? I smell BS.

[dvl57]

Originally Posted by PaHumBug

So I took my truck to the doctor for it's yearly inspection. Had them rotate the tires and check the alignment while I'm there. It wasn't pulling or doing anything, just noticed a bit more tire wear on the front tires than the rear so I figured it wouldn't hurt to get it checked. So I picked it up and now it's pulling to the left and the steering wheel it 30 degrees to the right to keep it going straight. So I took it back and they said that it's probably "tire pull". They are going to swap the left and right side tires to see if it then will pull to the right, rather than putting it back on the alignment rack. Has anyone heard of tire pull before? I smell BS.

Actually, when I had my Land Rover...w/BFG M/T's I had a very similar issue w/a tire pull. It was a manufacturer defect and the tire caused the pull to one side. Discount Tire had to rotate the tires and I would continue to go back and forth trying to pin point it until they determined it was the tire itself. After replacing that one tire, it didn't pull at all.

It's alot of trial and error and time.

[PaHumBug]

I've had these tires for a while and rotated them several times, never had this issue until now. And it wasn't pulling before they messed with it. Grrr.

[PaHumBug]

So I just heard from them. They are sticking with the tire pull excuse, but also said it's because of the road crown. BUT, they swapped the tires and it still pulls to the left. AND, road crown would make it go to the right. They said they only adjusted the toe in on it the first time, didn't touch camber or anything else. I told them I wasn't buying it, and they told me to come out and go for a ride with the tech. Thoughts?

[ROUSHDEMON]

Sounds like they're having a hard time alligning it or whoever is doing it is unfamiliar with the fact that it's an AWD All the time, the toe degree of a AWD and a 4x4 (which is RWD until you engage the fronts) is different since the front tires are always pulling forward, so the AWD degree is wider then a normal 4x4.... like this: \---/ sorta speak...........so when the truck is in motion the toe zero themselves to be perfectly alligned going down the road.
This is the case with especially lifted BIG trucks/tires.

At least this is what my offroad shop told me, I have the same size tires and one thing I've learned over the years that I gotta take my rig to only people who know about them (offroad shops), regular allignment shops or just about anything else other than an oil change they know nothing about and it's worthless wasting time and money with them.

That's just my $0.02.

[Ice]

I had the same problem. It was a defect in the tire. Replaced the tire problem went away.

[HummerJim]

I had the same issue with my M5. I thought it was BMW dealer BS, but they said the sidewall had weakened on one of the Michelin PS2s, so they replaced it and I kept it as a spare and bought a wheel for it. Not many high performance cars come with spare tires any more. A year later I had to use the spare on the right front and sure enough it was pulling again - they weren't BSing me!

[PaHumBug]

I found a shop in a nearby town that specializes in lifted trucks. Should I take it there for peace of mind? You guys have me believing the GM guy now.

[ROUSHDEMON]

I would...

[HUMTECH]

If you have a tire pull, and ive seen it lots, when you swap side to side the pull will change. Sounds like more than a tire problem to me

[Luv2Camp]

I would also be asking them to provide you with the printout that shows the acceptable ranges and your actual result for camber, caster, toe and total CAI angles. That could help a bit.

[PaHumBug]

So I took it to the place that specializes in 4x4 trucks and it wouldn't fit on their machine (!?!?!???). They said it was too wide, but my lift only widened the stance by 3 inches and my offset isn't anything crazy, I don't get it.

So anyway, I got a survey from the GM place that I had it at a few weeks ago, and I chewed them out. Basically it's pulling left no matter where my tires are (so far) or what road I'm driving on, so I'm not buying the road crown and tire pull theory. I got a call this morning from them asking me to bring it back in so they can move the tires back to where they were to see if it goes straight then. I'll be amazed if it does, because if I have a bad tire and it's making it pull, then it should pull right or left depending on what side the bad tire is on, but it will never go straight, right? Or am I all wet?