Car pulls to either right or left-WagonR

[ravi@64bhp]

Hi,
I have recently done a trip to Hogenakal from hyderabad. Before that I have changed the stock tyres to Michelin tubeless 155/65. The grip I felt was very good throughout the tour. The tour was uneventful, except for the left front rim edge bend acquired when I hit a pothole at 90 kmph speed. I replaced the left front wheel with the stephany.

Now, the problem is when I leave the steering the car pulls to either right or left and steering is unpredictable some times. I am not feeling the stability the car has before. I feel as if the wheels are weak. I did wheel balancing and alignment and still feels the same. Even with slight unlevelled road the car sways a lot. Checked with the service guys at Varun and they said everything is okay. But, I still feel the difference with the car. What would have been the reason??

Please help me.

Thanks in advance.

[Jaggu]

Try swapping the front tyres, i.e move RT tyre to LT and LT tyre to RT. You will have to remove the tyres and swap them on the rim, if the tyres are uni directional.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Shouldn't you do wheel alignment again after swapping wheels? Specially the front wheels?

@Jaggu: If i remember correctly, he has michelin energy xm1.

[ravi@64bhp]

Actually, the front left tyre is almost new and the front right tyre is 1500-km old tyre. Does that cause a problem?? What about the suspension point of view?

[Jaggu]

1500 km tyre shouldnt cause much issue, if you are still worried just do a front to back tyre rotation.

Car might pull to a side due to road banking also, this is very evident if the surface is very good. You will feel the steering pull to either of the side depending on the banking of the road. Wider the tyre, bigger the pull is felt.

Keep this in mind before you do anything.

[ravi@64bhp]

The car is pulling to right or left even on levelled and smooth roads. What about the steering column setting?

[1100D]

The hit with the pothole has disturbed your Toe settings. Just go to an alignment shop, they will se it right.

[ravi@64bhp]

Originally Posted by 1100D

The hit with the pothole has disturbed your Toe settings. Just go to an alignment shop, they will se it right.

I did alignment yesterday, but still I feel the same.

[Jaggu]

Just swap the tyres and see.

[ravi@64bhp]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Just swap the tyres and see.

I will try that tomorrow. Interestingly, today when I took a 90-degree turn, I heard a screetching sound from the steering. I think I should meet a service engineer at M.S.S. and ask him to check thoroughly the suspension and steering. I will do this after I swap the tyres.

[rks]

@ravi, since your tyres have done less than 1500 kms, you should check whether they have been fitted with the runout stripes in the proper position. Take a look at the section "What about the coloured stripes in the tread?" from the following website:

Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tyre Bible

Quoting the relevant passage:

Often when you buy tyres, there will be a coloured band or stripe running around the tyre inside the tread. These can be any colour and can be placed laterally almost anyhwere across the tread. Some are on the tread blocks whilst others are on the tyre carcass.[...]

As well as the colour, the actual position of the lines is something to take note of too. They're a measure of something called runout. Depending on how the belts are laid on the tyre during manufacturing, they can cause the tire to "run out" - to not track perfectly straight, but pull to the left or right. The closer to the centre of the tyre that these lines are, the less runout the tyre has and the straighter it will track when mounted on your car. So for example, if you were looking at your car from the front and you saw the coloured striped running around the right side of both your front tyres, the car would likely have a tendency to pull to that side. The best thing is to have the coloured stripes on opposite sides of the tyres for opposite sides of the car, so that the runout on each side will counteract the other and help maintain a good straight running. This is something that not many tyre fitting places know about or take any notice of. The obvious solution to having the stripes both on one side is to flip one of the tyres around, but that will only work if they're not unidirectional tyres. If they are unidirectional (and thus must be mounted to rotate a specific way) then you should try to find another tyre from the same batch with the stripe on the opposite side.

Please do get the suspension/steering checked as well. If they are OK, the alignment/balancing is fine and the runout stripes are in the correct position I suggest you let your tyres run another 2000 kms and check again.

In my case the runout stripes were in the correct position, but the car was pulling left just after fitting the brand new S322 tubeless tyres. Since the alignment/balancing was fine, I just waited and the problem disappeared on its own after about 2000 kms.

Another possibility is that there may be some damage to one or more of your tyres, like a flat spot or a sidewall bulge. You should check the tyre surfaces carefully to eliminate that possibility.

[ravi@64bhp]

Originally Posted by rks

@ravi, since your tyres have done less than 1500 kms, you should check whether they have been fitted with the runout stripes in the proper position. Take a look at the section "What about the coloured stripes in the tread?" from the following website:

Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tyre Bible

Quoting the relevant passage:


Please do get the suspension/steering checked as well. If they are OK, the alignment/balancing is fine and the runout stripes are in the correct position I suggest you let your tyres run another 2000 kms and check again.

In my case the runout stripes were in the correct position, but the car was pulling left just after fitting the brand new S322 tubeless tyres. Since the alignment/balancing was fine, I just waited and the problem disappeared on its own after about 2000 kms.

Another possibility is that there may be some damage to one or more of your tyres, like a flat spot or a sidewall bulge. You should check the tyre surfaces carefully to eliminate that possibility.

Hi Rks,
Thank you so much for the information and the suggestion. I could not find any color stipes now on my tyres, (I found them when I bought, but did not bother to check). I have checked all the tyres and all are in very good condition without any abnormalities as suggested above. All tyres have a moulded "OUTSIDE" written on them, which are fitted correctly. Now I stopped bothering about the problem and will wait till 2000 more km and check again. I did not get the time to exchange the front and back tyres, and will do the same this sunday.

Thanks again,

[rks]

Originally Posted by ravi@64bhp

Now I stopped bothering about the problem and will wait till 2000 more km and check again. I did not get the time to exchange the front and back tyres, and will do the same this sunday.

Make sure you maintain tyre pressures and do alignment/balancing and tyre rotation at regular intervals. And keep a close watch on the tread wear. If the wear is even, your alignment is fine and you don't have too much cause for worry. The problem might just go away on its own after some running, or upon rotation.

[ramki067]

Originally Posted by ravi@64bhp

Hi Rks,
Thank you so much for the information and the suggestion. I could not find any color stipes now on my tyres, (I found them when I bought, but did not bother to check). I have checked all the tyres and all are in very good condition without any abnormalities as suggested above. All tyres have a moulded "OUTSIDE" written on them, which are fitted correctly. Now I stopped bothering about the problem and will wait till 2000 more km and check again. I did not get the time to exchange the front and back tyres, and will do the same this sunday.

Thanks again,

ravi.. any update on this...

Ramki.