Steering Pulling to the left???

dingdong1234567

Hi all. I'm driving a 2005 ford focus and the steering has been pulling slightly to the left ever since i got it in 2006. i have got the wheels balanced and the tracking done but the problem remains. It bugs the hell out of me on long journeys.

Would anyone have anyu ideas why this is happening?

unkel

Are your shocks ok?

crosstownk

Make sure your tyre pressures are ok. Have the car inspected underneath in case anything is worn/damaged.

dingdong1234567

Should be there's only 35,000 Miles on it and serviced a month ago. Have brought it to 2 seperate Ford garages and they can't find a problem. There has to be something making it pull to the left.

dingdong1234567

Tyre preasure is good also.

CJhaughey

Sometimes the road camber makes you think that the car is pulling to the left when in fact it is only following the natural fall.
Have you tried it on a flat surface like a big empty car park?
Are your wheels and tyres standard size? Big wheels and low profile tyres have different shaped contact patches and tend to exaggerate things like camber and bump steer.

peasant

Go to a tyre centere with a modern, hight tech laser wheel alignment machine and get both axles measured for all values (Toe-in, camber and caster)

This should tell you what is amiss and where it is. The question then is, if it is adjustable (on modern cars not all values are) or what else needs to be done to correct it.

Worst case scenario: you car was in an accident and is actually bent

dingdong1234567

Wheels are standard size, nothing altered there. Have thought about the road camber before but it happens even on flat surfaces as well.

ZiabR

Well i have a Ford Mondeo at the moment and i had the same problem. The NCT found the problem and i have since got it fixed.

I can safely say the problem is:

*****************
Track Rod Ends
Bushings
Wishbone
*****************

They are all interlinked and you will feel the car pulling when you brake heavily or just normal driving.

Seeing as my Wishbone was knacked also the whole job cost me 250 euro including labour but i would say that in your case with the cars age, you may be only looking at the Bushing and Track Rod Ends on the left side. Worst case, i would say 120 euro.

dingdong1234567

Yeah mine pulls when i brake at traffic lights and the like. Thats seems to be exactly it logik. You have hit the nail on the head me thinks!! Cheers for the feedback y'all!!!

Johnny Storm

Another possibility: -
Could one of the brakes be slightly "on" all the time? Put your hand on the each of the front wheel hubs after a longish drive. If one of them is way hotter than the other then the problem could be the brakes (or the wheel bearings)

Avns1s

peasant wrote: »

Go to a tyre centere with a modern, hight tech laser wheel alignment machine and get both axles measured for all values (Toe-in, camber and caster)

I had the bright idea to get this done the last time I got tyres. Car was perfect going in and came out pulling to the left.

smcgiff

This thread should be a sticky.

I've lost count how badly my car pulls after putting 4 new shoes on.

mvpr

If none of the above suggestions, might it be the result of a warped disk? Would this have the effect of dragging the car to the left/right?

paulksnn

dingdong1234567 wrote: »

Yeah mine pulls when i brake at traffic lights and the like. Thats seems to be exactly it logik. You have hit the nail on the head me thinks!! Cheers for the feedback y'all!!!

I had the same problem and it turned out that one of the pads was worn more than the other. 2 new matching pads and problem went away.

Barr

I always though that right hand drive cars pulled to the left for a safety reasons . Maybe this is incorrect ?

anthony4335

Had a 2001 mondeo, with the same problem, but never managed to get it sorted out, rotated wheels, tracked several times, passed NCT, changed tyres, the only thing I didn't do was the brakes.never did sort it out, just lived with it for 3 years before changing the car.

Mr.Boots

Same brand tyres all round???