Car pulling to the left

chewy_ · Post by **chewy_** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:34 pm

My car pulls to the left quite badly. If I let go of the steering wheel I dare say I'd be into a ditch within 5 seconds. I've had 3 sets of tyres and 2 sets of alloys and I've still got the problem. Tracking was done when the car was lowered and the problem is still there. I've done a quick search on here but can't find anything else that it could be?

red6n2 · Post by **red6n2** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:59 pm

Low tyre pressure ?.

chewy_ · Post by **chewy_** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 8:57 am

Tyres pressure is set to vw recommendations and is checked regularly. Might try a slightly higher pressure see if that does anything

KONK · Post by **KONK** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 8:23 pm

I had this, is the tyres wearing on the inside?

I had my tracking done by a well known tyre place and they said it was all alright. When i took it to my mechanic, he said it looks like tracking and had it done himself, and the problem got solved! Said the tracking was out a mile, just shows, some people dont care...

Hope it helps.

Ladiesman_317 · Post by **Ladiesman_317** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 9:20 pm

Very interested to hear the cause of this, as mine does exactly the same. If i let go for 2 seconds, it pulls to the left very quickly.
Dont mean to hijack, but how much does a full wheel alignment roughly cost? Thanks.

KONK · Post by **KONK** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 9:58 pm

I think its about £30, thats the laser one...

benmkiv · Post by **benmkiv** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:57 pm

Yeah have the same problem vw told me it happens. That was their answer but my tracking has been done on laser alignment and said to be ok but got crazy wear on the inside of the tyre just pit it down to a be thing.

chewy_ · Post by **chewy_** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 8:13 am

Tyres are brand new with even wear.

fonzooorooo · Post by **fonzooorooo** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 6:47 pm

It'll be tracking - it's rare to get it done properly.

I suggest you find a local garage where the owner of the firm does the spannering. The quality of equipment used is unimportant. You can do tracking using bits of string and tape measures! It's all about the skill of the person doing the work, and how much effort they put in.

My Dad has owned the same car since 1976... Needless to say, he's had it tracked a fair few times - it's always suffered with uneven tyre wear. A few years ago, he made a simple gauge, and we've started doing our cars ourselves in his back yard. Tyre wear is perfectly even on all of them. He has reported the best handling that he has ever had on his own car.
We spend a long time getting it right though!

chewy: I'd guess at your issue being that the steering rack isn't centred when the tracking was done... so you let go of the wheel, the rack centres, and the tracking points the car left.

I've heard of garages where they claim to "set them up like that because it's safer" (honestly!)

Ben: The other option for you is console bushes. The tracking can appear correct when checked, but if the bushes are worn, as soon as you start to drive, the wheel moves toward the rear of the car, resulting in excessive tow out. (which gives inside edge wear)

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