Steering Problems - Am I dreaming?

N

nacra55uni

Member
I have a '07 AWD GT and the car has been pulling left since new. It has been alligned 3 times and now pulls less to the left, but still some.

Now it seems excessively sensitive to uneven roads at low speeds (below 40 MPH) where it will pull in either direction and go from pulling left to pulling right and back again. Even a very slight undulations in the road will have a severe effect. I feel like I'm constantly fighting the steering and others that have driven my car have commented on the same.

The dealer says thet the allignment is perfect, but I don't remeber noticing this issue before the first time it was alligned.

I'm trying to determine if this is a result of the steering design and "normal" or if there is something wrong with the car that is not corrected by the allignment. My dealer is very clueless, so pointing him in a direction might be required.

Any feedback is appreciated.
 
nacra55uni said:
I have a '07 AWD GT and the car has been pulling left since new. It has been alligned 3 times and now pulls less to the left, but still some.

Now it seems excessively sensitive to uneven roads at low speeds (below 40 MPH) where it will pull in either direction and go from pulling left to pulling right and back again. Even a very slight undulations in the road will have a severe effect. I feel like I'm constantly fighting the steering and others that have driven my car have commented on the same.

The dealer says thet the allignment is perfect, but I don't remeber noticing this issue before the first time it was alligned.

I'm trying to determine if this is a result of the steering design and "normal" or if there is something wrong with the car that is not corrected by the allignment. My dealer is very clueless, so pointing him in a direction might be required.

Any feedback is appreciated.
Click to expand...

I've noticed that the 9 doesn't have a strong self centering tendency to the steering and that it will drift left or right pretty easily. The 20" tires seem to be really sensitive to road irregularities.

Mine behaves pretty much as you describe but I only had the strong left pull issue right after I had the transfer case replaced. That required the right suspension to be disassembled and it took a few days for everything to settle back in. Now it's pretty much back to where it was when new.

Still, the 9 doesn't require nearly as much attention to the wheel that my prior vehicle did. The Jeep GC required constant adjustments to keep going straight due to the solid axle in front.

Ted
 
You have to go with a smaller and less wide tire to reduce tracking. Tire tracking is due to the large tire following the grooves and imperfections of the road.
 
My Dec 07 Luxury (similar to GT) also seemed to pull left from new. When I saw a Mazda US service bulletin on this site about a left pull issue, it further reinforced the idea in my head. At the first 1000km service I got it checked out. Luckily here is Australia, Mazda is a strong brand and the dealer network is excellent. The service manager had the alignment checked, found ok and road tested ok on his special "flat" section of road.
I took his word.
Now I find it does pull (maybe "track" is a more accurate word)left or right on a lot of road sections, but on a few sections its ok. I find I do need to "steer" the car in a straight line more than other cars I owned. I'll go with Lindyrect's advice that the tracking is due to the large wide tyres. I guess you need to fine a truly flat, smooth road to test on.
 
This left pull thing is real.
I took mine in and they aligned it.
It got better, but I still need to pay attention or it drifts.
 
It's tire pull. I'll bet everyone having problems has the Bridgestones and not the Pirellis. The OEM Bridgestone tires are really bad. Haven't had any pull with the winter snows, which are also Bridgestones, but a very different tire. I'm sure it will come back as soon as the OEM tires go back on. I have seen this with several cars I have owned, some tires are just much more suceptible to this than others. Can't wait for them to wear out so I can replace them with some decent tires.
 
todd92 said:
It's tire pull. I'll bet everyone having problems has the Bridgestones and not the Pirellis. The OEM Bridgestone tires are really bad. Haven't had any pull with the winter snows, which are also Bridgestones, but a very different tire. I'm sure it will come back as soon as the OEM tires go back on. I have seen this with several cars I have owned, some tires are just much more suceptible to this than others. Can't wait for them to wear out so I can replace them with some decent tires.
Click to expand...

Agreed. For some reason Bridgestone can't seem to make a performance all season tire worth a damn. I had EL42's, very similar to the Dueler, on my Acura TL and they were every bit as worthless as the Duelers are.

Both of these tires have bad wear characteristics according to the information I've found on them so they'll likely be worn out by 30,000 miles.

Ted
 
Anyone changed their tires to the Continental ContiCrossContact LX, or the Michelin Latitude Tour HP? Been leaning towards the Michelin's when we are due, if not sooner. Never liked Bridgestone tires.
 
CX9 SportOwner said:
Anyone changed their tires to the Continental ContiCrossContact LX, or the Michelin Latitude Tour HP? Been leaning towards the Michelin's when we are due, if not sooner. Never liked Bridgestone tires.
Click to expand...

I can't speak specifically to the Conti LX, but I replaced the Bridgestone EL42's on my TL with Conti ExtremeContacts. They are substantially less expensive and completely superior in all respects, ride, traction, quiet, and handling to the Bridgestones.

Ted
 
Anyone have a suggestion on a tire that is more geared towards traction in wet and snowy conditions. I don't want to deal with snow tires, but still want to stop sliding all over the place in the snow. These Bridgstones are the worst I have ever driven in the snow.
 
nacra55uni said:
Anyone have a suggestion on a tire that is more geared towards traction in wet and snowy conditions. I don't want to deal with snow tires, but still want to stop sliding all over the place in the snow. These Bridgstones are the worst I have ever driven in the snow.
Click to expand...
Try the Michelins. That's what Ill be putting on becasue we get snow and ice, and they will perform better in dry comditons.
 
Last edited:
Vredestein Wintrac 4 xtreme

These will fit the 18" (but not the 20"). Brilliant traction in snow/slush/ice. Only complaint is the noise and lack of TPMS.
 
My handling is as the original poster has described. I noticed it quite a bit yesterday on a long trip where it seemed the ruts in the road would constantly pull the steering wheel one direction or the other.

One thing that is bothering me is that it seems when I am going straight on relatively flat pieces of road that my steering wheels is cocked just slightly to the right. Has anybody else noticed this? I don't know if it's worth having the dealer mess with it as it might introduce some other issue.
 
There is a lot going on with a wide contact patch and alignment, I do not know what the factory caster settings are but caster is what pulls the wheel back to center after turning (it has nothing to do with a solid axle) Too much caster and it is hard to turn, too little and it tracks where ever it wants to. Tires will hunt, ever drive on a grooved highway or bridge?

Alignment usually covers camber and toe in/out, ask the dealer to drive it with you in the car and ask what the specs are on caster and to check them.

Steering wheel position while going straight will only change if the toe in is changed on only one tie rod (shortening or lengthening it), they have to adjust both to get the steering wheel position correct.

Another issue is that almost all roads have the crown in the center and flow towards the edges, with high performance tires, they are doing exactly what there supposed to, reading the road and reacting. But that is no excuse for a dealer.

I say drive a new one on the lot, then have the dealer tech or manager drive yours, they should drive the same. make sure that both have the same size tires, I know the '20s on mine sure are sensitive, when I put the 18 inch winter tires, a lot of the feedback precision is soaked up with the softer tires. It may be that the factory bridgestones are just too sensitive, hit a curb and the front end is acting up or the settings are not right (camber/caster/toe)

Good luck,
 
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