Pulling to the left ..HELP!!!

[Courior]

hi all... after passing me test on sat i went for a 200 mile drive. had excellent fun, loved every second of it! but i noticed something... in a straight line, on the motorway in any lane (so no camber in the road), it was pulling ever so slightly to the left. heavy braking didnt increase the "pull" so i dont think its my brakes. At slow speeds ie, when doing a 3 point turn, or pulling into a parking bay, its slightly harder to steer right than it is left. Its only a slight pull, but if this was fixed the car would be 99% perfect. its so annoying. My mate at work rekons its just the wheel alignment, but u guys know these cars. Anyone got any ideas???

Cheers Ppl!!!

 

[Mat.T]

Mines exactly the same, its never really bothered me and has got through several mot's like it. I don't know what courses it though :/

 

[Grant]

check the tracking or it could just be the road that your on.

 

[Arnold]

check the tracking or it could just be the road that your on.

He's already said he's on a motorway so there's no camber like a normal street!

My K10 also does this, despite having the tracking and everything done. You have to have the steering wheel facing one o clock (the K10 one o clock syndrome) and its harder to steer one way than the other.. i think mine could be a fault with the suspension though, not the tyres.

 

[Courior]

I have found another post about this problem. It mentioned that fuel consumption was also hit if the tracking was out. i think my K10 is drinking a bit much for a 1L . so this also points to tracking/alignment. im gonna get this done i think.. worth 20 quid.

Thanks for the help people..
PS: great site u got Arnold!!

 

[joe boy micra]

my car did this and i changed the alloys arround and it fixed it. my g/fs wee corsa is also doin it.

 

[Arnold]

Cheers mate,

and yes, it does consume more fuel if the tracking is out, also causing uneven wear to the tyres

 

[Courior]

cool. Thanks again for all your help. i put a few more questions up in K10 general if anyone is bored at work today.

 

[SammoHung]

Dudes,

This plagued me aswell! Hated it
All of the following can cause this problem

1. uneven tyre pressures
2. steering rack / tie rod adjustment is out (tracking)
3. Worn or faulty tyres
4. Road camber
5. one brake binding on
6. bent wishbone / worn or missing wishbone bush
7. faulty or unequal suspension on one side
8. worn or broken ball jount on the tie rod ends
9. wheel bearing

more?

In my experience the highest probabillity for the micra is numbers 1, 2 and 3.

I had the tracking 'checked and 'adjusted' and it still pulled. As it turns out I've just done my very first mod to my car <handling mod>...(new 14x6 steelies and Goodyear Eagle NCT-3 175/50/14) front wheels only.

After doing the mod the pull was still there...went back to an independant garage for advice. The guy said that quite often the clamp that holds the steering wheel straight during tracking adjustments can sometimes slip while the tracking is being adjusted and reccommended that I should go back to the original guy and get him to check again.....

Lo and behold while overseeing the measurements personnally, the tracking was out!!! Once properly adjusted ....STRAIGHT AS A DIE!!

 

[janjachnik]

I think the camber is the same on any road, motorway or otherwise so even on the motorway it will pull to the left. i know mine does. If u ever in roadworks on a motorway where it takes you to the other side of the road, i think ull find it wandering to the right on the different camber.

 

[Andrew]

He's already said he's on a motorway so there's no camber like a normal street!

Water on a road is a bad thing. High speeds on a road and water is even worse. How do you think they get the water off a motorway?

 

[Turtle]

Yeah I definitely agree with you Andrew.

and without doing any research....

Think about it, each "direction" of the motorway (3 or 4 lanes...) is separate from each other, thus they will want the water to be running off BOTH sides.

Therefore, driving in the middle lane should be more or less even, being the crown of the road. Drive in the outside lane and see if the car pulls right.

Just a theory.

p.s. My car does this too.

 

[Courior]

Tyres are fine and inflated perfectly, both have equal wear, and its not the suspension cause i got some mates to all sit on the left side and then the right side and it still pulled left both times. its not brakes as under any braking the pull is not increased. i know its not camber because if i drive on the other side of the road the car goes straight and does not pull to the right as you would expect a car to with correct tracking. the left camber of the road does make it worse... thats true. but the right camber (rong side of road) makes the car go straight and not to the right. is this tracking???

 

[Arnold]

Water on a road is a bad thing. High speeds on a road and water is even worse. How do you think they get the water off a motorway?

The road has grooves in for the water to run through off the road!! lol

 

[Andrew]

Water can't flow on a flat surface...

 

[SammoHung]

i reccon tracking...or tyres.

Even if the wear is even, if the tyres are less than 3mm tread it would be worth replacing these anyway then at least you can eliminate that...


I realise that the legal limmit is 1.6 but at 3 your breaking performance in the wet starts toget a bit crappy anyway...If it were me and less than three ( rhymes) i would fork out.

As you will:
1. have nice good tyres again
2. resolve / eliminate tyres as the culprit