Lucida 2.2 4wd Intermittent Pulling To Left?

[weasylou]

Hi all again , I need some help losing the will to live , My lucida started pulling to the left about 2 months ago so I went and had the tracking done and had to buy 2 new tires this worked fine for about 1 week then it started again , so furious thinking I had been ripped off I took it back to the garage and made them re-do it problems was tracking was done properly. I got the guy to drive the lucida around the block and he agreed it was pulling over but said he thought it was following the camber of the road. I found it quite hard to believe it would pull that badly but decided he mus know best. Since then the problem has got worse now it only pulls if i had a bump in the road with the passenger front wheel , have had full lock on the wheels , or it just feels like it. but when the pulling starts it will pull to the left then it just like lets go and flings to the right or sometimes it will shake from side to side then pull again , (sorry if confusing but i am trying) I got my father in law to have a look at it but annoyingly it was having a good day and didn't pull at all. Now I know this could be a wheel bearing problem , track rod end problem or something maybe to do with the 4wd. But please if anyone has experienced the same thing or knows by this weird description what the problem is could you please let me know so i can start to enjoy my drives again please. ;)

[propnut]

You have had the tracking done a number of times. Now if the tyres are too small for the rims you could get pronounced camber track but you could check this by finding a flat piece of road or AND OBVIOUSLY TAKING CARE, drive on the other side of the road and see if the problem goes away.

However if you have also check the integrity of your lower arm bushes, tie rod ends, ball joints etc and they are all sound then I am afraid it could be your actual front diff. Its role is to even out the delivery of power to the two front wheels and if it is not playing ball then it is entirely possible that you could get the symptoms you are describing however I would have thought you would hear a noise.

A wheel bearing that was this bad you would hear as a constant and load HUMMMM but jack the car up so that both front wheels are off the ground and making 100% sure that the car is safely supported on axle stands and grip each front wheel at 6 and 12 oclock and try and rock the wheel forwards and backwards. Do the same at 3 and 9 oclock. You should feel almost NO movement at all. If you feel movement and or hearing a knocking then the bearings need attention, but again I would be surprised.

To test if it is the front diff you could remove the front driveshafts but if you don't have sufficient mechanical experience I would suggest you get someone who does to help you.

You haven't said what mileage the car has done, or if anything happened just before the pulling started e.g. your wife drove the car and didn't tell you she hit a kerb. speed bump or pothole at 90MPH.

[propnut]

Actually one other thought, and a very common problem on Estimas and Previa's, is binding brakes.

Have this checked out as a grabbing caliper will also cause the car to pull and consumption to go way down.

[weasylou]

Actually one other thought, and a very common problem on Estimas and Previa's, is binding brakes.

Have this checked out as a grabbing caliper will also cause the car to pull and consumption to go way down.

Hi thank you for your help on this, I am hoping that it is as you say the brakes binding going to check them out tomorrow. The problem just came on all of a sudden , never been curbed or anything like that and the mileage is just coming up to 91k. The thing that confused me about it is that it doesnt always do it but as you said before I did drive it on the opposite side of the road when it was pulling and it pulled itself over to the lef hand side again very quickly. Will check out the brake calliper tho never even thought of that. Here's hoping its not the diff. Thank you again. :)