Steering wheel pulling left despite alignment

[samplify]

Hi all,

I have been sitting on this issue for a few months since purchasing the car.

I initially thought my problem was LCA or other suspension arm related. Had the LCAs replaced and the other arms measured/verified and all good there.

Next I thought it was tyre related so when I replaced the alloys from 17s to 18s with new tyres I expected the pull to be gone. 

Had the car aligned (twice) and both times the issue has not gone away. The most recent alignment print out suggested everything is straight as an arrow.

I have tried the zero point calibration using the paperclip method (taken from the official Lexus service manual) and if anything it feels a bit worse than before (might just be me though!)

I have looked through the car's history and it did have the steering rack replaced as part of a recall I think.

No uneven tyre wear, symptoms are it feels as if the centre point of the wheel is slightly off to the left and I have to fight it to stay centered (apply a tiny bit of right lock). It occasionally feels as though it recentres and then goes back to not centering. My brother suggested it might be road camber related but honestly the amount that it veers left when I hypothetically let go of the wheel momentarily on an almost flat road makes me think otherwise. You can actually physically see that the wheel is slightly left of centre when it is left to its own devices.

Has anybody had a similar experience?

[The-Acre]

4 hours ago, samplify said:

Hi all,

I have been sitting on this issue for a few months since purchasing the car.

I initially thought my problem was LCA or other suspension arm related. Had the LCAs replaced and the other arms measured/verified and all good there.

Next I thought it was tyre related so when I replaced the alloys from 17s to 18s with new tyres I expected the pull to be gone. 

Had the car aligned (twice) and both times the issue has not gone away. The most recent alignment print out suggested everything is straight as an arrow.

I have tried the zero point calibration using the paperclip method (taken from the official Lexus service manual) and if anything it feels a bit worse than before (might just be me though!)

I have looked through the car's history and it did have the steering rack replaced as part of a recall I think.

No uneven tyre wear, symptoms are it feels as if the centre point of the wheel is slightly off to the left and I have to fight it to stay centered (apply a tiny bit of right lock). It occasionally feels as though it recentres and then goes back to not centering. My brother suggested it might be road camber related but honestly the amount that it veers left when I hypothetically let go of the wheel momentarily on an almost flat road makes me think otherwise. You can actually physically see that the wheel is slightly left of centre when it is left to its own devices.

Has anybody had a similar experience?

Strangely enough, every Lexus I've had seems to have that annoying slight pull to the left. Also my last CR-V and my current Volvo both do it, but only slightly.  When I took one Lexus to have a laser alignment the guy there told me he gets told that a lot by Lexus owners.  Now I've said that I'm expecting others to comment and say it doesn't happen to them!

[peniole]

I can confirm it does here in the UK, and at least for me it's definitely camber related. Driving on the continent, same car, it pulls right.

[samplify]

30 minutes ago, peniole said:

I can confirm it does here in the UK, and at least for me it's definitely camber related. Driving on the continent, same car, it pulls right.

Hmm interesting. I am planning a trip to Germany at some point in the summer so I guess we shall see if it pulls to the right there. Definitely something I can live with though!

[The-Acre]

7 hours ago, samplify said:

Hmm interesting. I am planning a trip to Germany at some point in the summer so I guess we shall see if it pulls to the right there. Definitely something I can live with though!

There's an interesting thought, in both European Lexus road trips covering about 3.5k miles, I don't recall ever considering the steering pulling. I certainly didn't break down either!!

[J Henderson]

Even if the tyres are new, they could still be the cause.

New tyres aren't perfectly round. Note the painted stripe on the tread pattern.

Ideally you pair this up with another tyre with a similar marking to eliminate pulling and training.

The painted dot on the sidewall also serves a purpose. It signifies the low point (weight-wise) of the tyre and  ought to be lined up with the valve stem to make balancing the wheel more efficient.

I'm happy to be proved wrong, but I would wager that most tyre fitters don't pay attention to these markings.

 

Also  in my experience. Some particular tyres are more prone to pulling and tramlining than others. The Michelin PS4s I have on my car tramline quite badly when on uneven ground or crossing painted lines.

 

 

[H3XME]

@samplify I think that it might be unbalanced wheels.. If the alignment is okay, then it's either bad tyres, unbalanced wheels or binding brakes.. 

[Meczko]

Hello, 

When I used to work in a dealership I talked with a guy with over 20 years of experience in changing tires and doing alignments. He said one thing that was sus to me so I don’t know if it’s true but both my ford and my Lexus keep on pulling to the left so he might be right. He said that a lot of car manufacturers make the car geometry in a way that it slightly pulls to the left so if you fall asleep or anything happens, the car will slowly roll out of the roar and crash into a guardrail or end out of the road and not cause any major accident.

With my Lexus I think there is something else, I did the alignment at a veeery good shop in my city and for the first couple of days it was all good, but the suddenly it started pulling to the other side at high speeds and the steering wheel keeps on going to the left without my input. I want to do a full suspension overhaul sooner or later but I don’t know where to get oe parts, brand new ones are expensive as hell and not worth but I can’t find a place that sells parts for an is 220 with LHD and I don’t know if it’s the same parts used in the RHD model.

 

cheers

[H3XME]

19 minutes ago, Meczko said:

I don’t know where to get oe parts, brand new ones are expensive as hell and not worth but I can’t find a place that sells parts for an is 220 with LHD and I don’t know if it’s the same parts used in the RHD model.

If you're talking about suspension parts, it doesn't matter if it's LHD or RHD. 220d has same suspension components as IS250. There's also a problem with aligning these cars.. there isn't a lot you can do. Not many parts are adjustable. I had to get IS200 rear toe arms to adjust the toe when I got coilovers for example..