Ever since I had new tires put on two weeks ago, my steering wheel is slightly turned to the right side with the car going straight. I have no idea what can cause that. Could Discount Tire have messed something up? I don't know how, but then I don't know too much about alignment either.
Anyone have an idea what is happening here?

 

get an alignment.

 

yep, alingment should correct this, however replacing the tires would not cause your alignment to get out of place

 

I have had this same problem. The steering wheel constantly pulls slightly to the right. It's not real bad, but enough to get on my nerves. You can get an alignment, but that did not fix it for me. It is the tires. I had quite an ordeal with David McDavid Acura over this. I had my car aligned under my warrenty and it made absolutely no difference - the car still pulled to the right. I went back three times. The dealer finally swapped my tires with the tires on a new CL and my car drove straight.

It's the wildest thing. I rotate the tires and everything, but the car still pulls to the right. I believe the crown on the road causes the car to pull to the right (road slopes to the right). It's kind of a downward spiral from there - because I constantly have to slightly steer left (to offset the pull to the right), the tires start to wear in such a way that the car pulls to the right even more. Immediately after a tire rotation, the car will drive more straight, and pull to the left if I drive on the left side of the road. But the more miles I drive after a tire rotation, the car gradually pulls harder to the right. Eventually it does not matter which side of the road I drive on, the car will always pull right.

I am curious about the tires you purchased. I have Nitto 450's - size 225 45 17. I don't know if it is the tire make or the slightly wider tire (over stock) that picks up the slope of the road. It bugs the heck out of me.

Does anyone else have any observations like this? I don't want to have to go back to the stock tires to fix this.

 

If your steering wheel is crooked when the car is going straight (which is what the initial poster is talking about), that means whomever aligned your car didn't put the steering wheel straight when they did the alignment. They just have to drop it out, straighten it, and hook it back in.

In our car if it's only off a little bit you can actually turn the wheel to the lock in the direction you want it to move and then bang it against the lock a couple times hard enough to move it a little. There's a little play in it.

 

if the alignment doesn't help, rotate the tires from one side to the other. if it's the tires, the pull should switch sides or go away.

 

No, mine are stock Yoko's.
I know about the right lane pull and it makes sense given the slight slope of the road, kinda like the field in Texas Stadium, but I digress.
The curious part it that with an alignment problem you are supposed to feel the pull all the time and have to counter it whereas with mine it runs true on a level road and does not pull when I let go of the wheel, but the steering wheel is slightly turned to the right to make it run straight. Annoying for sure, messes up the whole symmetry of the dash from the driver's position.

 

JRock:
I am not sure I want to try that turning and banging thing but thanks for your comments, the first part sounds like the plausible solution.

 

Sorry rootbeer, I completely skipped over the part where you said the car goes straight.

mattg,

The tires are unidirectional, so I had them flipped on the rim and switched to the other side of the car - the car still pulled right. I think it may just be the Nitto 450's. Many other people on this board have 225 45 17 tire size, but I have not heard any complaints.

I am probably just stuck with the problem until I get new tires. Trying to get Discount Tire company convinced their tires cause my car to pull to the right will not be easy. Especially if the car still pulls to the right after a tire rotation. They will tell me I need an alignment. Of course, I could show them my receipt of the alignment I got at the dealer, but it still won't be easy to convince them.

I wouldn't think tires could pick up a slight crown in the road so much, but the stock tires the dealership tested on my car drove straight as an arrow.

Thanks for the replies.

 

Check air pressure first. I know, obvious but if you haven't you should.

 

I have complained about this before...when I first bought my car. I noticed it pulled slightly to the right and I had to give a little effort to keep the car straight....very subtle though. Dealer checked the alignment and said the specs are perfect. I left it since they told me their other CLS's do that too...but just the manual ones. Is there something about the weight distribution on the left and right side up near the front tires?

 

I believe is the tires. If the tires are well-balanced then the only solution is to redo alignment.

 

WTF. Half of you didn't even read what he wrote. He's not talking about his car pulling. It doesn't pull. His steering wheel is just turned a bit. It happens during an alignment if the steeringwheel isn't braced into place.
Has nothing to do with the tires or anything else, it's simply the steeringwheel wasn't centered straight at 12 o'clock during his last wheel alignment.

 

Alignment