Slight Pull To The Left

[andynorman]

My old LS400 showed a distinct tendency to pull to the left, generally requiring the steering wheel to be held slightly to the right to keep the car straight. I had all sorts of checks done, steering reset and tracking redone by local Lexus dealer and others and it was never 100% right. Now I've sold that car and got a 430. And lo and behold, although it's nowhere near as bad, it also has a very slight tendency to drift to the left. To keep the car straight I have to keep the steering wheel a couple of degrees to the right. I now wonder if this effect is just a function of the camber and a big heavy car? Or whether, on an ordinary straight A road, the car should go precisely straight if the steering wheel is centred? Interested in the thoughts of the experts here.

Thanks in advance.

[jamesholden]

My old LS400 showed a distinct tendency to pull to the left, generally requiring the steering wheel to be held slightly to the right to keep the car straight. I had all sorts of checks done, steering reset and tracking redone by local Lexus dealer and others and it was never 100% right. Now I've sold that car and got a 430. And lo and behold, although it's nowhere near as bad, it also has a very slight tendency to drift to the left. To keep the car straight I have to keep the steering wheel a couple of degrees to the right. I now wonder if this effect is just a function of the camber and a big heavy car? Or whether, on an ordinary straight A road, the car should go precisely straight if the steering wheel is centred? Interested in the thoughts of the experts here.

Thanks in advance.

After I had the tracking done on my Camry it was like this, when I took it back they cured it. The laser sights do show it as being correct, but what happened in my case was the clamp that holds the steering wheel in position rests on the drivers seats, and because of the leather the clamp had shifted slightly. It's quite possible that yours is the same.

[JellyBean]

The laser sights do show it as being correct, but what happened in my case was the clamp that holds the steering wheel in position rests on the drivers seats, and because of the leather the clamp had shifted slightly.

I do not undertand this at all. I am being dense?

[Rodney]

Thanks JB

I'm not alone then :winky:

Rod

[jamesholden]

Thanks JB

I'm not alone then :winky:

Rod

Sorry i've just read it again, it's not very clear. When they adjust the tracking the steering wheel can move, so they put a clamp on it to try and prevent it from moving. Now in theory you can set the tracking to be perfectly true but have the steering wheel level off due to the nature of how a steering wheel is linked to the wheels, hence the clamp is used to try and stop this happening, but it's possible that it can still shift slightly.