2011 wrx pulling to the right

[fickel8]

I seek the word of the wise on this. I have spent months aching trying to figure it out on my own but it now comes to the point where I ask for help.

I have 3k miles on my car and it pulls to the right. Alignment was done today and the car now pulls to the right harder, dealer says it goes straight.

The pull was more noticible after I put Continental DWS tires on my car. I have swapped the front two tires and the pull was less severe, obvious something was up with the tire.

It does not pull to the other direction as anticipated from a radial pull since I swapped FL tire to FR tire. It just pulls LESS severe than before.



My question is that can the rear on our cars develop steering issues if the bad tire is in the back? I have not swapped back right to back left yet because what I read is that only the front tires affect the steering.

-All four tires are 32PSI
-Swapping front tires (Left to right) only slightly decreases the pull to the right.
-Dealer alignment check shows everything is in spec.
-Tire company has instructed me to swap front left to front right and if it pulls to the left then it is a radial pull (I have already done that but it now just pulls LESS to the right).
-Why has the problem only become dramatic when I put the Continentals on the car at 1k miles.
-NO, no potholes or curbs have been struck. This car has been babied its 3k miles.


I am hoping someone else has had some experience in this topic that can shed some light. Could a bad tire cause a pull to the right no matter if it is on the right or left side? Can a bad rear tire cause a pull to the right, since we have AWD I didn't know if that could play into it.

at 45-60 mph I should be able to take my hand away from the wheel for a fraction of a second before the car wants to eat the curb. Even in the left lane it wants to pull to the right, it just takes a few seconds for it to "catch" then pull.


And I apologize if this is in the incorrect topic location

[nlc5491]

It sounds like a bad tire. Check and make sure all the tires are seated on the beads. make sure the wheels fit properly on the hub. Make the the wheels are mounted flat and tight on the hub. try rotating front to back. a bad tire in the rear cant really make it pull like that. why did u change from the factory tires?

[teflon_jones]

Tires aren't going to make a vehicle pull like that. There's something wrong with your alignment and/or something is bent. Have you had any impacts with potholes, curbs, etc?

[nlc5491]

Ask the dealer to take a ride with a tech. swap tires front to rear. Iv seen tires that a brand new make a car pull hard either way. does the car go straight when u have the wheel straight? it could be the road that you are on. a bent wheel. 90% of pulls are tire related. Tell the dealer the car pulls to the right and its a brand new car and you want it fixed. at my work if a car had a problem we have to fix it until the customer was happy unless they were out of their mind and there wasnt a problem. if they dont wanna help you call subaru or go to another dealer.

[fickel8]

Tires aren't going to make a vehicle pull like that. There's something wrong with your alignment and/or something is bent. Have you had any impacts with potholes, curbs, etc?

No potholes or curbs. I baby the **** out of the car.

[fickel8]

Ask the dealer to take a ride with a tech. swap tires front to rear. Iv seen tires that a brand new make a car pull hard either way. does the car go straight when u have the wheel straight? it could be the road that you are on. a bent wheel. 90% of pulls are tire related. Tell the dealer the car pulls to the right and its a brand new car and you want it fixed. at my work if a car had a problem we have to fix it until the customer was happy unless they were out of their mind and there wasnt a problem. if they dont wanna help you call subaru or go to another dealer.

That is what I am going to be doing this Saturday. The only problem I have with the tire theory is that I have already moved front tires from side to side and the pull is not opposite like it would be if it was a bad tire. All 4 wheels have been re-torqued by me (I don't trust other people putting my wheels on so I always re-torque them when I get home.)

I talked with the alignment guy up there and he seemed pretty absent minded (car pulls worse after he touched it, which was when I made my first post). I am just trying to muster up the courage to let him touch my car again, or just pay out of pocket for an alignment somewhere else.

The dealership and the management is gung ho in helping me get it fixed but their employees are meh... Well they are very clear that they don't want to work.

[deepseastetson]

I would pay the 80 bucks to have to alignment checked by a different shop just for piece of mind. If it was worse after the guy did an alignment that would throw up a red flag to me.

[mcdbrendan]

I would pay the 80 bucks to have to alignment checked by a different shop just for piece of mind. If it was worse after the guy did an alignment that would throw up a red flag to me.

Agreed

[fickel8]

I would pay the 80 bucks to have to alignment checked by a different shop just for piece of mind. If it was worse after the guy did an alignment that would throw up a red flag to me.

Holy crap! sorry I took so long to give input on the solution. Anyways, yes the alignment was horiffic. I took it to a goodyear and the alignment on the left rear wheel had a disguisting amount of positive toe while the right rear wheel had 0 toe which was the culprit.

Anyways, I hope this helps to anyone who has encountered the same issue!

[nsibanez]

It'll be a comeback to the tech who did the alignment on the car. They would have to re do it for free. Especially if you make enough of a scene
How are the tires though...any edge wear? choppiness, feathering.. if it decreases slightly after swapping them it sounds like both an alignment and bad tires. The tires would start going bad with a bad alignment. Once the tires have that uneven wear, it will always be like that. At that point an alignment would only prevent it from getting worse

[fickel8]

One tire is slightly more worn than the rest on the front, but I mean slightly. Luckily there was only 1500 miles on these tires with the alignment done incorrectly by the dealer.


The problem is that nobody, including the customer retention manager, knows who the tech was because they use a sister dealer location to do the alignment (Van Chevrolet). The whole thing was a nightmare so I have given up on them completely. The manager called me and set me up with an alignment 30 mins from my place on a saturday morning. I called before my appointment and confirmed with the receptionist that I had an appointment set before I wasted a 60 mile round trip, and the receptionist confirms the appointment. I show up and the dealership tells me they don't have any alignment guys scheduled on Saturdays and that I was obviously mistaken on the day of the appointment. The tech at the dealership tells me that if anyone tries to schedule a Saturday appt with me to not do it because he doesn't have any alignment techs on Saturday

The manager called me up the following business day apologizing that the guy at the dealership was wrong and that I should reschedule. I had enough so I just paid Goodyear 119.99 for their 3 year alignment which is a block from my residence.

I will try to talk to them to see if they will either pay the alignment bill or part of it, but I will never let the chevrolet place touch my car after making the alignment worse and then running me off after setting up an appt with a customer retention manager.

Regardless, I am happy that I paid someone else to do it because the headache is over and peace of mind is back to where it should be.

[nsibanez]

lol it's chevy

How's it doing now though since the re re realignment?