UW RL

First of all, this car is awesome. I took delivery last Friday and had the opportunity to get familiar with it over the weekend. Since I had the woodsteering wheel installed by the dealer, I noticed that in order for the car to go straight, the steering wheel has to be tilted a few degrees to the right side. So I brought the car to the dealer yesterday and they said that they put the car on the alignment rack and corrected the toe.

So, I do notice an improvement, but I am not sure if it's the road/highway or whatever. The steering wheel is still off by a LITTLE bit. When I let go of the steering wheel while driving, the car would drift to the RIGHT side, with the steering wheel turning to the right with it. If the car is stopped and in gear, when the steering wheel is dead centered to begin with, and if I turn the steering wheel to the left side by a few inches, it would bounce back past the center point and stop at a position a few degrees to the right.

Any ideas what's going on? It does seem to me that the steering wheel is tighter to the right and wants to turn to the right a bit.

Scott in Houston

Mine did too. They switched the 2 front tires and it still pulled, but not as badly. Then I checked the air pressure. (Why they didn't check, I have no idea....)
The pressures were off a little. After evening them up, it is pretty straight.

However, I've noticed that this car senses slopes such as the road crown, more than any other I've owned. It will drift one way or the other depending on the concrete very easily, so make sure you really test it on a good surface w/o much road crown.

UW RL

Thanks for the reply, Scott. The steering wheel would noticebly turn to the right side a little bit even from a slow start when i am not holding it. This basically proves that it's not a road crown issue since the car doesn't even travel at a high speed.

dirkpitt

Interesting that I am reading the pulling issue.
I have had my RL for alittle over a month, and the car in fact did pull to the right. I brought the car back to the dealer, they replaced the tires, Note: I have the larger upgraded wheels and Mic tires - a harsher ride.

In any event when I got the car back it still pulled to the right, but not as much. Regardless of the crown in the road, I would expect a gradual tendenacy to go towards the right, but a noticable pull - No. None of my other cars do this. My wife has a MDX - no issue, my chrysler 300 - no issue, the RL - it is an issue.

One post suggested the tire pressure, I reduced the pressure in the left front tire by 2 lbs, and still the car wants to go right. However, if a do an aggressive hard left turn the car will go straight line for about a mile and then go right back to the pull.

The stock wheels and rims on the other RL's I have driven don't have the problem. I am suspecting issues other than the wheels and tires.

I will advise all when I take the car back -

UW RL

According to my tire pressure monitor my left front tire is about 1 psi more than the right one. I will try to adjust them if I get a chance to see if it would fix it. My car was aligned and it pulls to the right with the steering wheel turning to the right a bit, so I don't think it's an alignment problem afterall.

UW RL

right now my rear tires are about 2 psi lower than my front wheels. Is it ok to set all 4 the same psi? I am thinking to inflate them at 33 psi.

UW RL

so I inflated the front tires to 34 and the rear ones to 32 and the car still pulls to the right. When slowly start from stop, the steering wheel moves to the right to at about 1'o clock. I then tested out at my building parking garage and guess what, the car doesn't pull at all! The steering wheel is dead centered and doesn't move at all when I accelerate a little in the parking garage. The parking garage is completely flat with concrete.

What is going on????

Scott in Houston

B/c it's flat in the garage?

Try this... deflate the driver side (left) front tire a pound or 2 vs. the right. I've heard another owner say this made highway driving much better.

UW RL

so that means that our tires suck and can only be used on a completely flat surface? It makes absolutely no sense to me that the mich tires can be THAT senstive to road irregularities and causing my steering to turn right, thus pulling my car to the right.

slawek65

dirkpitt,what wheels and tires You have on RL? can we see pics?

Scott in Houston

It may not be tires alone that makes it so sensitive to road sloping. It could be suspension, etc. too.

jfprl

I think your condition is normal. My car is sensitive to road crowns and other imperfections.

UW RL

thanks for the reply. I am going to drop my car off next week to a different dealer to see if they can figure out what's going on, along with a dash creaking sound above the glove box.

Scott in Houston

Let me know what you learn about the dash sound. I think I have the same sound when I go over some bumps, etc. It's not terribly loud, but it's there.

jftjr

Be careful with taking creaks and rattles to the dealer -- sometimes the solutions offered by the dealers are far worse than the problems.....

UW RL

The creaking/squeaking sound that I hear is from the wood piece between the upper ventilation and the upper left side of the glove box. If I push it hard then the sound goes away. if I just push it slightly or pull it a bit there would be the creaking sound (plastic vs plastic). Other than that the car is rock solid. Maybe I should just order the Helm manual and fix it myself. But I am a very busy man

UW RL

you are right. So I am a little hesitant to let them know about the small problem.

jftjr

Just don't let them fill your dash up with foam and call it "fixed."