Ever since I can remember my car slightly pulls to the right. I got a full alignment a while ago and it still pulls to the right.

I've also experienced inside edge tire wear.

The only thing I can think of is tie rods and/or control arms.

Has anyone else experienced this issue with the car pulling to the right even after a full alignment? Was it diagnosed as the tie rods and/control arms?

If so, how much to replace these?

Thanks in advance.

 

If it's as long as you can remember, then it's surely been through a tire rotation or change, right? Sometimes tires can pull and rotating them around will change the direction and point to the issue. That doesn't sound like the case here, right?

 

Yeah, my tires get rotated whenever it's supposed to and it pulls no matter which tires are where. My car just breached 100k miles btw.

 

Inside tire wear indicates a negative camber issue. Since more than a degree of camber difference from one side to the other can cause a pull, It would explain why even after tire rotation, it doesn't change. I think most places will rotate front to back on the same side and if they are cross-rotated meaning they rotate them from one corner to the opposite side in the opposite corner, this will tell you for sure if there is a pull caused by the tires. I would have another alignment done to know for sure. Some places will do free alignment checks and only charge you once you authorize them to make the necessary adjustments. If the camber is out of spec at any corner, it indicates something is bent as camber is not adjustable on these cars.

 

^^^^ This.

 

Could a bad strut cause some sagging and camber issue? It wouldn't surprise me if a strut is gone at 100k miles.

 

Can we assume you have checked the tire pressures? If not, make sure they are set correctly.

Did the shop that did the alignment give you the alignment settings?

Is the inside tire wear happening on one tire or both? I'd look at too much tow out causing wear on both fronts.

Can we assume the car did not pull before the alignment? If so, have you talked to the shop and are they willing to redo/check the alignment?

 

The weight of the car is supported by the springs and the dampers only job is to control the rebound the car takes when driving. A blown strut doesn't change the geometry of the suspension unless it was bent from an impact of some kind. At most, bad struts could cause some cupping or feathering of the tread but not wearing the inside tread.

 

Car pulled before alignment, that's why I got it aligned. They gave me the post-alignment specs, all good.

The steering during very, very slow speeds (like when I'm in the garage adjusting, going 1 mph) if I wiggle the steering wheel, seems funny. Like a tiny gap before it engages, almost imperceptible except I'm kind of anal-retentive/OCD lol.

But yeah, it pulled very early on, years ago, just never got around to an alignment, got that done and still pulls.

Heck, even the tech wrote car pulls to the right after the alignment lol.

 

If there is looseness in the steering, you may have an inner or outer tie rod going bad. You can check by having the front end lifted with both wheels off the ground and turn your ignition on so the steering wheel doesn't lock and grab both sides of one wheel and give it a good pull side to side. It should be tight during the range of movement. Check the other side to confirm that they both feel the same.

 

Thanks. Will such an issue also possibly cause the car to pull to the right?

 

There's a chance it could it be the tires, themselves. If you've been riding for thousands of miles on the same tires, the uneven tread on the tires could cause the car to pull even if the alignment is within spec.

 

Interesting, looks like I have almost the exact same issue. I just bought a 2006 RL with 77k miles. Beautiful car, 1 owner with good maintenance records, clean Carfax. My car also pulls to the right. Didn't notice it during test drive unfortunately. Got the alignment done and the car still pulls slightly to the right. The guy at the alignment shop thinks that it may be the tires, which did not come new from the used car dealership. I am hoping that there wasn't some impact that bent the frame or messed up the cambers somehow. I am fairly ignorant in terms of general allignment issues. Appreciate any other ideas/suggestions.

 

Yeah, I've been the sole owner of my car, so I know the frame isn't bent. I've never curbed it or been in an accident. In fact, I drive it pretty tamely ever since I got it.

The tire condition has no bearing on it as far as I can tell. I have fairly new Michelin's on them now and it happens whether they are new or worn down.

I think it has to do with the control arms, ball joint or tie rod out of alignment, or some worn bushing of the aforementioned causing it to do what it is doing considering how poorly the engine mount bushings were made.

The tie rod bushing cannot be replaced independently of the tie rod I think, assuming it is that to begin with.

 

Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but with my old car I had this issue. Turns out the belt it the tire was broken. You couldn't tell by looking at it. Not until they pulled it off you could see it. If you haven't already, have them balanced and or rotated and see if you still have an issue.

 

Every Michelin Pilot Sport A/S directional tires installed on my 05 RL created a slight pull one way or the other.
My 05 RL was brand new when I had the HMX replaced with Pilot Sport A/S at my Acura dealer, even after the second and thirid set was installed the pull was there.
The dealer's techs on many occasion confirmed as long as I am using these high performance directional tire I will have to live with the pull.
Installed Pilot S3 on my 11 RL and the slight pull is there, but I couldn't stand the noise generated by the S3 after a year so I replaced with Pirrelli P7 and the pull disappeared with the aligment not being done.
So I am convinced that with both 05 and 11 RL as long as high performance directional tires are used there will be a slight pull, I have gone through 4 sets of Pilots so I know.

 

Today I got an alignment done because I hit a curb at around 20 MPH and steering wheel became 1/4 of an inch off center to the left. The front left wheel did get some medium damage in the form of deep marks/scratches. The tech said, he didn't see any damaged parts and the print out looks good. I take on this was that after hitting the curb, a control arms or another part could of just slightly shifter a tiny bit from the initial location as most holes that bolts go through have some room.

FYI - I do have Micheline Pilot Sport A/S tires that were mentioned earlier. Before I hit the curb, steering wheel felt a bit lighter and I didn't need to re-adjust it that much while driving.

After an alignment was done, the steering wheel is better and not leaning left, but now it is a bit to the right. I constantly have "micro" re-adjust the steering wheel while driving. I called the place and going there tomorrow so they can re-aim the steering wheel.