pulling to one side

npngrokal · **Joined:** Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:42 am **Posts:** 6

Hi all, My 2003 crd s steering pulls to the left hand side all the time, its done so ever since I have had the car, its not a lot but it does irritate. I have had the track adjusted and the camber and caster checked. it seems as though the car is following the camber of the road too much. I have got odd makes of Tyre on the back, could the LSD be the problem? All ideas welcome.

Hoosier CRD · **Posted:** Sat Apr 28, 2012 12:41 pm

My '05 CRD, I call him Thumper, was doing the same thing. As I write, I am getting ready to go out and change the Left Front wheel hub.

At first, like yours, Thumper just pulled, just enough to be bothersome. I too had the alignment checked. They also switched the front tires. No fix yet to that point. They were stumped. Then, as time went on (up until about two weeks ago now) the pull went away and the roar started. Voila! Hub bearing! Hope this helps.

FWIW,

Hoosier CRD

msilbernagel · **Posted:** Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:17 pm

How many miles? (OP and Hoosier..)

Thx - Mark

npngrokal · **Joined:** Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:42 am **Posts:** 6

hope its not a hub bearing, i suppose the bad hub drags, please let me know if you cure it. will you change the hub or fit new bearings?

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:12 pm

Check all the obvious and rule out any bad front end parts, ball joints, control arm bushings, hub bearings,ect.
Then have your alignment checked by a competent shop who knows how to do it. In theory, you could do an alignment with electronic levels, custom built jigs, tape measures, and lasers; but buying your Wife/Girlfriend flowers or going out to dinner would be a better plan of action.
I had my '06 CRD into the Local Stealer who replace the ball joints and after doing so it pulled to the left. After checking out all the front end parts and trying for months to find the time and match up the shops schedule with mine (I travel a lot for my job), I got into the Alignment Shop and found out the Local Stealer screwed it up when they replaced the ball joints. Thanks to the Local Dealer screw up, now my tires are noisy. If I get the rear control arm recall, I will make an appointment in advance with the Alignment Shop to have them make the adjustments, the Local Stealer service totally sucks.

npngrokal · **Joined:** Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:42 am **Posts:** 6

Yes i used a top rated shop to test and adjust the alignment, it was out, they used the latest laser jig and set all three settings, and the rear, they think it may be the back tires as they are odd makes, the front tires have worn with chunks on the inside.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:30 am

npngrokal wrote:

Yes i used a top rated shop to test and adjust the alignment, it was out, they used the latest laser jig and set all three settings, and the rear, they think it may be the back tires as they are odd makes, the front tires have worn with chunks on the inside.

There is a single upper ball joint on the rear that can go bad, have them check it. TonyCRD had to replace his a few years ago and he would be a good source of info. When the single rear upper ball joint goes bad, the rear will try to steer like an insane gremlin or create other problems like cupping tires.

npngrokal · **Joined:** Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:42 am **Posts:** 6

now that sounds a good idea, I have noticed that if I accelerate hard up a hill then as I change gear the back end gives a twitch, I have a stick change so the change is not as smooth as you will get on your auto box. Out of interest why do you all drive autos? It seems they can be a right pain in the A**s and sap power too.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2012 1:13 pm

We drive autos because that's the only transmission type that was available for US delivery KJ CRDs

npngrokal · **Joined:** Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:42 am **Posts:** 6

Im surprised at that, A manual box seems more suited to a 4x4 somehow. Would you buy a manual if it was available or do you prefer auto?

msilbernagel · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:07 pm

npngrokal wrote:

now that sounds a good idea, I have noticed that if I accelerate hard up a hill then as I change gear the back end gives a twitch, I have a stick change so the change is not as smooth as you will get on your auto box. Out of interest why do you all drive autos? It seems they can be a right pain in the A**s and sap power too.

That little twitch is likely 'torque steer', caused when the rubber mounts pressed into the rear lower control arms (LCAs) have degraded - either with time or because of harsh shifting from the transmission.

Take you about a half-hour per side to change it, perhaps a bit longer on the first one.

Recommend replacing them before it gets too much more squirrely - but if you've any transmission issues you'll want to fix 'em first.

Mark

pulling to one side

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