My truck was pulling hard to the right (to the point where I had to slightly pull on the steering wheel to keep her straight) so I took it to the dealer to get it align.

After the alignment, the pulling is definitely improved but still present. Now I just have to hold the steering wheel to keep her straight, however the moment my hand is off the wheel, she will immediately veer to the right.

I plan to take it back to the dealer to see what else they can do.



Here is some info about the truck. Both front tires are a little over a year old with good tread. The rear needs replacing soon. At highway speed up to 80mph (that is as fast as I tested her), she is smooth and no vibration. Also when the dealer did the alignment - they did not find or point out anything wrong with the suspension. All tires were at the correct psi.

Could it be that I have unmatch tire thread causing the pull? or could it be something else more serious? To eliminate the tires. I just order 6 new matching tires.



Any insight is appreciated.

 

Sounds like alignment. It has been my experience over the years that a lot of times the mechanic doing the alignment will not adjust the camber and replace the bushings because it takes more time, you may want to ask about that all of my trucks have had the bushings replaced to align the truck. I am talking about the bushings on the top they are concentric and the stock ones don't give enough adjustment a lot of times.

 

Assuming the alignment is right, I'd look for a sticky caliper or front axle CV joint binding.

 

Can you guy offer the cliff notes/corrections on how to inspect these possible items.


bushing (is this a normal wear item?) - where how what - a picture is worth a thousand words

sticky caliper - I assume you jack the truck up and spin the tire to see if it spin freely

front axle cv joint binding - I assume you remove the caliper and then spin the tire to see if it spin freely

 

One thing I had happen was something called "radial pull". On my last truck I started getting a pull to the right. I took the truck on for a front end inspection and alignment. When I picked it up the mechanic left a note stating he needed to speak with me.

He told me the front end was good and the alignment was within specs. When he test drove it he also experienced the pull. He took the right from tire off and swapped it with the right rear and test drove again. The pull went away. I got charged for a tire rotation and alignment check, IIRC around $80 instead of the usual $500 bill I was expecting.