When I Leave The Hand From Steering Wheel, Vehicle Move To Left

andunslg · May 25, 2015

I have a Toyota Vitz(SCP 90). A month ago I have replaced the break liners of the rear wheels. At the same day I have exchanged the front tires to back tires due to trey wear. After that day when I leave the hands from steering wheel, vehicle moves left quickly.

Then I went to check the wheel alignment, first they have exchange two front tires. Left to right and right to left. This is because my tire are directional. But that didn't solve the issue.

Then I checked the wheel alignment. That was fine. So still have my problem.

Then suspected that left side breaks are tighter than the right. Thus did a service to front breaks and rear breaks. But still problem happens.

Can you help me to find the solution?

tiv · May 25, 2015

On 5/25/2015 at 2:05 AM, andunslg said:
I have a Toyota Vitz(SCP 90). A month ago I have replaced the break liners of the rear wheels. At the same day I have exchanged the front tires to back tires due to trey wear. After that day when I leave the hands from steering wheel, vehicle moves left quickly.
Then I went to check the wheel alignment, first they have exchange two front tires. Left to right and right to left. This is because my tire are directional. But that didn't solve the issue.

Then I checked the wheel alignment. That was fine. So still have my problem.

Then suspected that left side breaks are tighter than the right. Thus did a service to front breaks and rear breaks. But still problem happens.

Can you help me to find the solution?

Have the steering ball joints checked on the front end, and the steering rack mounts; common issue in vehicles nowadays

Edited May 25, 2015 by tiv

jayanathkarunarathna · May 25, 2015

Did you do a wheel alignment?

NRX · May 25, 2015

The exact same thing happened to me after rotating the front tires with the rear ones. All of my tires had good amount of thread remaining BTW.

Reason was : rear tires had a slight uneven tire wear due to previously running with misalignment (in front) or something.

Solution was : to put tires where it was before ( undo the rotating) . Seriously, until I put new a set of tires I'll have to live with this.

andunslg · May 31, 2015

#3

jayanathkarunarathna I did it and it was fine. No issue in alignment NRX The guy who checked the wheel base and break told me the same story. tiv - Not yet.. Will look at that also!

Thanks you guys for given me some hope!

The Don · June 1, 2015

On 5/25/2015 at 2:05 AM, andunslg said:
I have a Toyota Vitz(SCP 90). A month ago I have replaced the break liners of the rear wheels. At the same day I have exchanged the front tires to back tires due to trey wear. After that day when I leave the hands from steering wheel, vehicle moves left quickly.
Then I went to check the wheel alignment, first they have exchange two front tires. Left to right and right to left. This is because my tire are directional. But that didn't solve the issue.

Then I checked the wheel alignment. That was fine. So still have my problem.

Then suspected that left side breaks are tighter than the right. Thus did a service to front breaks and rear breaks. But still problem happens.

Can you help me to find the solution?

Where did you do your wheel alignment?

Most of the time the issue is incorrect camber or toe. A lot of wheel alignment places are such slaves to their computer screens they cannot see what is blatantly obvious. So take it to a place like Car Care in Wellawatte, who will do the alignment manually.

Did you have this issue before the tyre change? This can also happen due to uneven tyre wear, and manufacturing defects in tyres. My car had a similar issue but went away after tyres were replaced in the front.

andunslg · June 2, 2015

I didnt had the issue before tyre change. I also think this is due to uneven tyre wear, and manufacturing defects.

The Don · June 2, 2015

On 6/2/2015 at 7:04 AM, andunslg said:
I didnt had the issue before tyre change. I also think this is due to uneven tyre wear, and manufacturing defects.

Are your tyres Roadstone by any chance?

A wheel balance machine might reveal the issue, but a simple test might be to put the new tyres at the back and move the old back tyres to the front and see if it improves things.

Get a refund/replacement if the new tyres are malformed.

Even my sister was tricked by a tyre shop, and one of the tyres needed 27g to balance and it was brand new. You can observe a slight wobble on the tyre when on a wheel balance machine and its not the rim.

tiv · June 2, 2015

On 6/2/2015 at 8:21 AM, The Don said:
Are your tyres Roadstone by any chance?
A wheel balance machine might reveal the issue, but a simple test might be to put the new tyres at the back and move the old back tyres to the front and see if it improves things.

Get a refund/replacement if the new tyres are malformed.

Even my sister was tricked by a tyre shop, and one of the tyres needed 27g to balance and it was brand new. You can observe a slight wobble on the tyre when on a wheel balance machine and its not the rim.

I too had a similar issue on a brand new Maxxis 31 tyre, needed some 30gs to balance, the retailer decided to swap the tyre then and there

The Don · June 2, 2015

On 6/2/2015 at 1:46 PM, tiv said:
I too had a similar issue on a brand new Maxxis 31 tyre, needed some 30gs to balance, the retailer decided to swap the tyre then and there

They can always send it back to the dealer and get a refund. But the bastards cannot be bothered and they just want to conclude the sale with whatever they have. Its particularly bad when they realise the person does not know much about cars. My sister was on an older set and the tyre got damaged on a bad pot hole. She thought she did the sensible thing by contacting a nearby tyreshop and getting the tyre swapped with a new one. She of course only swapped one and thus we later had to swap the other and they don't match But I didn't trust any of this so while I was down I took it to car care who did the alignment and redid the wheel balancing and they pointed the problem out to me.

I took it to car care as adverse camber was causing uneven wear, and this was caused by an upgrade to larger rims by the previous owner. Now both our cars run camber adjustment bolts and this has corrected the issue to a large degree. I always go there because explaining these things to other wheel alignment joints who stare at computers have been a real struggle.

Indrajeedez · June 2, 2015

Had the same problem after swapping the tires of my car from back to the front. It kept on pulling to the left. Kept on doing the alignments from a so called reputed place in kandy and they couldnt resolve the issue. Finally swapped the tires back and it still didnt solve it. Finally the alignment guys were baffled and said that there must be something wrong with the chassis and asked me to put it into a jig machine. Madness. Then found out that there is this guy in Kandy who used to work for Car M*art who checks alignments manually. He did the camber adjustments and bingo the cars back to normal. Jig indeed....those chaps couldnt think beyond the computer readings.

Anyway I have the same problem with the Terios and even the Camber adjustments couldnt resolve the issue. Checked and checked and it seems like the tires are at fault. The tires are rather worn out so ill just run them out, put in a new set and see.

The Don · June 4, 2015

On 6/2/2015 at 9:01 PM, Indrajeedez said:
Had the same problem after swapping the tires of my car from back to the front. It kept on pulling to the left. Kept on doing the alignments from a so called reputed place in kandy and they couldnt resolve the issue. Finally swapped the tires back and it still didnt solve it. Finally the alignment guys were baffled and said that there must be something wrong with the chassis and asked me to put it into a jig machine. Madness. Then found out that there is this guy in Kandy who used to work for Car M*art who checks alignments manually. He did the camber adjustments and bingo the cars back to normal. Jig indeed....those chaps couldnt think beyond the computer readings.
Anyway I have the same problem with the Terios and even the Camber adjustments couldnt resolve the issue. Checked and checked and it seems like the tires are at fault. The tires are rather worn out so ill just run them out, put in a new set and see.

Doing wheel alignment regularly has become fasionable as tyres became more expensive. Most guys ignore even what the computers show them saying certain things can't be adjusted. That doesn't mean there is a problem. There are a few guys who do it mostly manual. They have the lazer gauges but what they don't use is the computer to tell them what the setting needs to be because they by experience know the tolerance.

When the tyres on the left are unevenly worn, or worn more compared to the right the car will at times pull to the left.

tiv · June 5, 2015

On 6/2/2015 at 3:38 PM, The Don said:
They can always send it back to the dealer and get a refund. But the bastards cannot be bothered and they just want to conclude the sale with whatever they have. Its particularly bad when they realise the person does not know much about cars. My sister was on an older set and the tyre got damaged on a bad pot hole. She thought she did the sensible thing by contacting a nearby tyreshop and getting the tyre swapped with a new one. She of course only swapped one and thus we later had to swap the other and they don't match But I didn't trust any of this so while I was down I took it to car care who did the alignment and redid the wheel balancing and they pointed the problem out to me.
I took it to car care as adverse camber was causing uneven wear, and this was caused by an upgrade to larger rims by the previous owner. Now both our cars run camber adjustment bolts and this has corrected the issue to a large degree. I always go there because explaining these things to other wheel alignment joints who stare at computers have been a real struggle.

Yes, definitely, sometimes I resort to travelling all the way to Negombo where there is a joint running since the 70s as per my uncle, where they do alignments 100% via manual measurements and experience but with newer gear from Italy. So far the best, for all our vehicles except my Hilux which pulls to the left on throttle, which seems to be an inherent factory problem as per popular literature.

SAB · June 6, 2015

I did an alignment to my allion 240 a few months back. My tyres are directional (rotation tyres). I swapped the tyres due to wearing of my back tyres inner sides.

That guy did the alignment and advised me to bring the car back after running abt 1000 kms to do a permanent adjustment.

According to him, cars like allion,vios etc. are having such alignment problem and there's a permanent solution for it costs abt 5K.

I couldn't get his explanation cos I don't have a knowledge abt it.

Can anyone give a clear explanation please.

The Don · June 6, 2015

On 6/6/2015 at 10:56 AM, SAB said:
I did an alignment to my allion 240 a few months back. My tyres are directional (rotation tyres). I swapped the tyres due to wearing of my back tyres inner sides.
That guy did the alignment and advised me to bring the car back after running abt 1000 kms to do a permanent adjustment.

According to him, cars like allion,vios etc. are having such alignment problem and there's a permanent solution for it costs abt 5K.

I couldn't get his explanation cos I don't have a knowledge abt it.

Can anyone give a clear explanation please.

This is somewhat bollocks.

This basically happens because of camber. The manufacturers usually have positive camber on the front and negative on the back and this is for handling and stability. The idea of alignment is to keep within manufacturers specification so any alignment beyond that might lead to undesirable results. You can get more even tyre wear by rotating tyres for that reason.

You can correct some of this by adjusting camber which is not possible on most cars without modification (camber bolts or modified lower arms wishbones etc). In some cases experienced technicians adjust these beyond manufacturer specs for better tyre performance (as done with Alfa 159s in SL with whom the wear is really bad). But there are few who have the knowledge.

Rotate tyres at service and check wheel alignment about once a year or 5000km and you should be ok.

NILANTHAG · June 6, 2015

On 6/5/2015 at 2:35 PM, tiv said:
Yes, definitely, sometimes I resort to travelling all the way to Negombo where there is a joint running since the 70s as per my uncle, where they do alignments 100% via manual measurements and experience but with newer gear from Italy. So far the best, for all our vehicles except my Hilux which pulls to the left on throttle, which seems to be an inherent factory problem as per popular literature.

If you are referring to C****na wheel alignment in Katana Negombo, that guy knows his stuff. Two so called alignment centers with modern machines (after trying several times) couldn’t fix the issue in my cab. Guy at C****na did manual alignment and the pulling to one side and uneven tyre wear was solved.