Hello all, so recently my parent's 2009 MDX Tech started to pull to either the left or the right when riding over bumps and road imperfections, does anyone know what could be causing this? The MDX has about 200K KM's on it or 125K miles on it.

 

Worm suspension components in the lower control arm would be my guess.

 

Even Tires can cause that... You need a serious suspension check up, go to a nearby Pepboys or Mom & Pops shop to get it look at ASAP.

 

I would check the suspension, check alignment, ensure proper PSI in all the tires, and balance the tires. If you still feel the pull one way or the other, I would cross rotate tires (left to right OR left-front to right-rear and right-front to left-rear). My vehicles sometimes get a slight vibration in the steering wheel, feel a vibration in the butt dyno, or it pulls a little to the left or right depending on road conditions. If everything checks out and it still pulls, a cross rotation helps me smooth out the ride. After that, it could be the tires that need to be changed.

I commute on a major truck transport on I-40. The truck can groove the hwy to make it feel like my vehicle is pulling left or right. Further up the road, the road is grooved concrete and the lines kinda meander directions in the lanes. When my tires were brand new, they would really be sensitive to the grooves and the MDX and RDX would wander within the lane. Not so much after a they were broken in after a few thousand miles. I would check out the road conditions to see if the MDX is just reacting to that.

 

Thanks for the reply and the suggestions, I have checked and ensured that all the tires are properly inflated to spec (32 psi), I haven't tried cross rotating the tires yet, but I know the tires are a bit on the older side with about 30% tread life remaining. It is strange because the mdx tracks straight when driving on smooth pavement, so I don't think there is anything wrong with alignment or anything but only when it hits uneven surfaces or goes over train tracks that the steering wheel would move and pull to either the left or the right side depending on the angle that I hit the road. This in contrast with my 2010 TL, tracks completely straight and there would be no movement in my steering wheel when hitting uneven road surfaces.

 

alignment is one thing, suspension is another. alignments are done at one static moment in time, tracking straight means alignment should be fine, although your toe may be off.


Back to the suggestion echoed again of suspension like the lower control arms, bushings, etc.

 

Ok so I cross rotated the tires and the problem still persists. Any other insight as to what could be causing this? thanks for all the input so far!

 

Has anyone mentioned suspension yet?



No?

 

 

Ok, so just an update, I took the MDX to my local Acura dealership and they determined it to be caused from bad wheel bearings and quoted me $760 to replace both the front wheel bearings and another $110 for the alignment so after taxes this cost me just about a grand.... but somehow I am not convinced it could be due to the wheel bearings, as don't wheel bearings when they go bad, make this grinding noise? Which in my situation, does not make any noise at all. I am quite surprised they didn't mention anything about the lower control arms as that is what my research would suggest to be the cause of the problem.

Any additional thoughts and insight?

 

Grinding Noise is not a rule, You can also get vibration when cornering.
When my TL Bearing went bad I didn´t have any grinding noise what so ever... But cornering made a terrible noise and vibration:






As extreme as it looks my wheel didn´t have any noticeable end-play when testing it... New bearings and no more vibration or noise when turning.