my steering wheel is still off by about 4 degrees to the left and my car pulls to the right. what should i ask them to fix?

 

You have to get your steering wheel re-centered. They just didn't do it for you. It takes 2 seconds once you're hooked up to the machine.

If you're still pulling after you just got an alignment, they didn't do a good job for you, especially if you're stock height.

Or, it could be that you have been out of alignment for a long time, and your tires have worn uneven. If that is the case, no matter what you do, you will always be veering left or right, until you buy new tires and start over with an alignment. Hopefully this isn't the case.

 

nah, i havent been out of spec for very long. ill ask them to fix the steering wheel. i did notice that my tires have a sort of stretched look on the passengers side and a poke look on the right side. this is weird as hell.

 

If it still pulls and the #s are within spec it could be a # of things. Trans, bad mount causing the motor to shift, wheel bearing, slightly hung caliper, tire, tire low on psi, could be a few other things.

Id bring it back and tell them the wheel isnt centered, and tell them that it pulls slightly.

 

called them, im bringing it in today at 4. getting brakes next week so ill check the calipers

 

from what im reading on the alignment printout, your car will still pull to the right even after they recenter the steering wheel. take a look at the camber and caster readings. LF tire is -.4 (leaning in at the top) RF tire is +.5 (leaning out at the top) meaning when sittin in the drivers seat your front tires look like this / / (may need a front camber kit to correct) now onto the caster (setting which mostly controls vehicle stability...ie pulls) LF tire +1.9 and RF tire +1.4 those number should be even or with the lower of the 2 on the left to compensate for the crown in the road, and i dont think they make caster kits for our cars, as most FWD cars the caster is not adjustable.

 

^^thats some damn good information right there. wish i had that before i went up there and they sent me packing

 

hope it helps you get your problem solved, or atleast a little closer to your liking. on a side note, Ive been a Front end (alignment tech) for the last 15 yrs, so im not just blowing smoke.

 

even with a perfect alignment, my car will pull to the right when I had my 19s on...never could figure that out

 

As you said.... even with a perfect alignment, cars do pull very slightly to the right....

Reason being, is that...

In an even if you fall asleep, your car will tend to sway to the right side.... so that the car won't accidentaly steer into the oncoming traffic... but rather to the right side, where you would start driving over the groves that would wake you up or you would go into the ditch from the highway and just endager yourself hopefully...

 

Also most roads are crowned for water runoff and that little bit of slope usually is enough to cause it to pull. Also with low profile tires and many tread patterns they follow road surfaces more than higher (stock) profiles.

 

I was told this after I got an alignment too. The car seemed ok on city streets (still a minor pull) but once I got on the highway it pulled to the left especially on curves. Is there a test I can do to see if the crowning of the road is the cause?