wheel pulls right, wheel not centered

[Jon A.]

hey experts.

here's my problem: wheel pulls right slightly, wheel not completely centered.

i'm made sure that's not a tire pressure problem, must be something deeper. 

thing is - there was a yearly major maintenance done 3 months back, isn't wheel alignment included in periodic maintenance? what about chassis checkup? 

so i'm wondering: with these indications, do i need wheel alignment or maybe skip that for more in depth chassis checkup rather?

wouldn't want to waste money on alignment, when i should be doing chassis checkup. 

 

any tips please?

 

 

 

[alan333]

Swap your tyres front to back first and see if the symptoms change.

[Steve Whits]

Wheel alignment isn't checked on service. If you have an alignment problem then an indicator would be that your tyres may show signs of uneven wear either on the outer or inner edges.  Have you hit a pothole or kerb recently? That would be a reason for it pulling and if it's only just started you wouldn't see any tyre wear initially.  

Take it to a decent garage to get the alignment checked.  Anyone with a Hunter system would be my personal choice.

[Gerg]

As above, this could be unequal tyre wear.  I have found on several of our cars, including the Auris, that the left hand front tyre (UK, RHD) wears quicker than than the right hand, almost certainly due to roundabouts being clockwise, and to an extent the road camber.

But wear through cornering would seem to wear the tyre more on the outer edge than the inner edge of the l/h tyre, so the tyre becomes slightly cone-shaped, which may move the contact patch a little, I am reckoning.

When I swapped the front tyres across the axle the steering bias and steering wheel offset reversed.  On other cars the problem has also gone when new front tyres were fitted.

 

[Gerg]

.... Just in case you didn't know, If you do choose to swap the front tyres around, there is a jacking point (for a trolley jack) under the middle of the engine bay, it has a slight bulge to locate into the jack's cup.  So no need to jack up each side seperately with this.  Axle stands best used as well.

Something else to look out for, some garages have been known to mistakenly jack the car up from just in front of the sill, on the seam that is the joining point of the front wing.  This then bends as it's not designed to take the car's weight, the wing then sits proud at its base.  The owner assumed the garage knew what they were doing and only (angrily) notices days later when it is too late to complain.

[Bob110023]

Hi Jon. Had the same problem with my Auris. When the car had its first mot this month I mentioned about the steering and the dealership carried out the adjustment free of charge. It was only a minor adjustment. Cheers.

[TonyHSD]

Hi, all info helpful and correct, only to notice that most of modern tyres has a direction so swapping front tyres left with right will not work unless tyres are taken off wheels, swapped and balanced again. You can rotate front left with rear left on your own and same on the right side of the car. Also tyre pressures should be checked when car hasn’t been driven for a few hours otherwise will not get correct pressures. Second important thing is to get all wheels alignment and suspension check, if your Auris has rear independent suspension that needs adjustment too, and if not correct can affect handling same as the front axle. 

[olddriver]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi, all info helpful and correct, only to notice that most of modern tyres has a direction so swapping front tyres left with right will not work unless tyres are taken off wheels, swapped and balanced again. You can rotate front left with rear left on your own and same on the right side of the car. Also tyre pressures should be checked when car hasn’t been driven for a few hours otherwise will not get correct pressures. Second important thing is to get all wheels alignment and suspension check, if your Auris has rear independent suspension that needs adjustment too, and if not correct can affect handling same as the front axle. 

Yes there are usually a row of arrow heads indicating the direction of rotation of the wheel, I supoce you could try swooping the front with the rear tyres.

[Gerg]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

most of modern tyres has a direction

I think your dead right regarding the 225/45 x 17 that goes on the Excel and maybe the Design trim. 

But our one has 195/65 x15 tyres on it (Icon Hybrid), which doesn't get the directional label.  On the newer Icon, Icon+ and Business Edition models there would be 205/55 x16 fitted.  Another of our cars has that size, I didn't think that has any arrows as it's a tyre size with no performance pretensions, e.g. found on older, lower spec. Mondeos and Focuses.  So yes, certainly worth looking at the label before you go ahead to change them!

[Jon A.]

Update: turns out it was (loose or bent?) trailing arm in the back that also contributed to tire wear. Once replaced, problem fixed.

[alan333]

Thanks for the update 🙂