Steering Dampener/Alignment
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Senior User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 125
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From: Battle Mountain NV
Steering Dampener/Alignment
Put new tires on the truck, had a slight pull to the right, took it back to the shop had them rotate tires and still pulled. The new tires are not oversized, the are the same size that was on truck when purchased.
Was having slight death wobble so took it in for the Dampener issue and dealer changed it out under warrenty with no questions.
Checked alignment, all with in spec, says on sheet " Adjusted cross caster" and pull is gone.
My question is, What is Cross Caster, And has anyone had issues like this with a set of new shoes, First for me.
I had not noticed any pulling issue's with the prior set of tires, they were new winter tires put on in the fall, so not like they had 30,000 miles on them or anything like that.
thx
Was having slight death wobble so took it in for the Dampener issue and dealer changed it out under warrenty with no questions.
Checked alignment, all with in spec, says on sheet " Adjusted cross caster" and pull is gone.
My question is, What is Cross Caster, And has anyone had issues like this with a set of new shoes, First for me.
I had not noticed any pulling issue's with the prior set of tires, they were new winter tires put on in the fall, so not like they had 30,000 miles on them or anything like that.
thx
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,783
Likes: 1
From: WY
No issues so far with OEM tires. I rotate every 7500. I have had polarity issues with other vehicles I've rotated tires on. Meaning, some tires develop a magnetism after rotating the same direction. When you change that direction via rotating them, they now spin the other direction. If a tire becomes polarized and it is on the front, simply move it to the rear to get rid of the pull effect.
I recently put new tires on my little work car and it now pulls to the right. I added a little more air in that tire until I get time to swap them around.
I recently put new tires on my little work car and it now pulls to the right. I added a little more air in that tire until I get time to swap them around.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 6,521
Likes: 11
From: Greenwood, SC
Very interesting marchare. I rotate every oil change as well and there is always one particular sequence that has a slight off feeling. I always knew that it is caused by one wheel not being happy wherever it has been placed. But I just let it go until next rotation.
I never knew that there was a real scientific explanation, I always just thought it was a quirk, freak thing.
When you say polarity, do you mean an actual electronic/magnetic field or do you mean a physical condition where the innards of the tire have become settled in a certain way?
I never knew that there was a real scientific explanation, I always just thought it was a quirk, freak thing.
When you say polarity, do you mean an actual electronic/magnetic field or do you mean a physical condition where the innards of the tire have become settled in a certain way?
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,783
Likes: 1
From: WY
As best as I can describe it, since steel is used in the cords and the bead of the tire, and since tires being made of rubber, they flex. This flexing causes the steel cords to develop a memory. Similar to an extension cord. It wants to roll up the same way all the time. Anyway, tires develop a memory and when you swap their direction, they resist a little bit This is felt thru the steering wheel as pulling to one side or the other. You can move them to the rear if it is severe enough or if it bothers you until you retrain them.
I'll bring the beer
I'll bring the beer
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,783
Likes: 1
From: WY
Put new tires on the truck, had a slight pull to the right, took it back to the shop had them rotate tires and still pulled. The new tires are not oversized, the are the same size that was on truck when purchased.
Was having slight death wobble so took it in for the Dampener issue and dealer changed it out under warrenty with no questions.
Checked alignment, all with in spec, says on sheet " Adjusted cross caster" and pull is gone.
My question is, What is Cross Caster, And has anyone had issues like this with a set of new shoes, First for me.
I had not noticed any pulling issue's with the prior set of tires, they were new winter tires put on in the fall, so not like they had 30,000 miles on them or anything like that.
thx
Was having slight death wobble so took it in for the Dampener issue and dealer changed it out under warrenty with no questions.
Checked alignment, all with in spec, says on sheet " Adjusted cross caster" and pull is gone.
My question is, What is Cross Caster, And has anyone had issues like this with a set of new shoes, First for me.
I had not noticed any pulling issue's with the prior set of tires, they were new winter tires put on in the fall, so not like they had 30,000 miles on them or anything like that.
thx
Sorry for the slight hijack of you thread, my friend.
Cross castor is the difference in the castor settings left vs right.
Here's a definition:
CROSS CASTER
All tires have a certain amount of rolling resistance. Some for various reasons, more than others.
More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 565
Likes: 1
From: Middletown,NJ
All three of my SDs (08,11 &12) all seemed to pull to the left, which I believe to be the alignment spec from the factory as a compensation for road the crown. On most two lane roads, the steering seems to track fairly straight, but get on a two or three lane highway and they seem to want to pull to the left when driving in the left lane (or any lane left of the road crown).
This drove me nuts on my 08 and I had my front end shop try to compensate for this with caster adjustments. The '11 wasn't so bad, but the '12 seems to do it a bit more. I have accepted this under the category of "it is what it is", but I'll have them take a look when I have the tires rotated at 10k.
This drove me nuts on my 08 and I had my front end shop try to compensate for this with caster adjustments. The '11 wasn't so bad, but the '12 seems to do it a bit more. I have accepted this under the category of "it is what it is", but I'll have them take a look when I have the tires rotated at 10k.
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Hi!
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,268
Likes: 0
From: Central NJ
I have a SRW truck, but am looking to get a DRW. How do you rotate the tires on your DRW trucks?
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Joined: Nov 2000
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From: Pflugerville, tx
the inner rears are steel, the outers are coated only on one side, so you can't flip them.
Sam
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,783
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From: WY
I only break down the tires every other or every third time. You have to at some point to move fronts to rear and inners to outers and vice versa. After you break them down and swap rims and rebalance, then the next rotation I swap side to side. After that rotation, you can get by with another simple side to side swap if there are no signs of unusual wear. I use my local tire shop that I've been using for 30 years. They treat me good.
Again a reminder, with the aluminum wheels we're all using, don't forget the 50 mile re-torque, whether you rotate them yourself or the tire shop.
Again a reminder, with the aluminum wheels we're all using, don't forget the 50 mile re-torque, whether you rotate them yourself or the tire shop.
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