# Noticeable left pull, alignment and pressure are OK.



## philopator (Apr 29, 2013)

I've been fighting with it for awhile, googled a lot but still cannot find solution to my problem.

I have 2012 Cruze with 22K miles on it. I notice a left pull especially when driving in left lanes of highways. I read about left lanes being deliberately slanted to the left to let the water run off. The problem is that in the city streets i also notice minor pull to the left. When pulling left i see that steering wheel slightly turning to the left. If i hold it in straight position, then the car goes straight, but it requires constant effort to hold the steering wheel in correct position.

Also, when the car starts on traffic lights - i can see that steering wheel tilts to the left by itself. 

About half a year ago i had alignment checked and it was ok. I have nearly new directional winter tires, and they have correct pressure all all 4 wheels (35 psi).

I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Phil.


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## Diesel Dan (May 18, 2013)

I'd start by swapping the LH tires front to rear and see if anything changes.

What was the alignment read out?
Just because it is in spec it can still be setup to pull in one direction with caster/camber settings. Did you inform them of the pulling condition when taking it in? Sometimes due to chassis variances we would have a side-side caster difference of a couple degrees to eliminate a pulling condition.


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## Danny5 (Dec 22, 2011)

I have seen the rear beam be off by as much as half a degree. Did you get a 4-wheel alignment? 

This is definitely an alignment issue. But it could be something as easy as re-centering the steering wheel! The steering wheel on my Camaro was tilted an inch to the left for nearly 3 years. They never found anything wrong with the alignment, so I finally asked them to re-center the wheel. BAM! Problem fixed!!!


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## CruzeEcoBlueTopaz (Jan 5, 2012)

I started to notice uneven tire wear on the inside shoulder of the driver side tires at about 125k. I have had two alignments one at 125k and another at 170k. I wont know for sure if the alignment has prevented the uneven tire wear for a few months because I just bought a brand new set of tires. 

Apparently only the front camber is adjustable.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I agree with Diesel Dan, swap your front tires and see if this corrects the problem. If you spent the extra money for unidirectional tires do it anyway. It is possible that you have a tire with internal belt issues.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Any front drive car will exibit a bit of 'Torque Steer' from a stop......does it pull at steady speed?
If there is no pull at steady speed there is no serviceable problem....just being a front driver.

Rob


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## nike12000 (Sep 13, 2013)

Diesel Dan said:


> I'd start by swapping the LH tires front to rear and see if anything changes.
> 
> What was the alignment read out?
> Just because it is in spec it can still be setup to pull in one direction with caster/camber settings. Did you inform them of the pulling condition when taking it in? Sometimes due to chassis variances we would have a side-side caster difference of a couple degrees to eliminate a pulling condition.


I agree I have seen cars pull with brand new tires so swap side to side first and see what happens


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## nike12000 (Sep 13, 2013)

Danny5 said:


> I have seen the rear beam be off by as much as half a degree. Did you get a 4-wheel alignment?
> 
> This is definitely an alignment issue. But it could be something as easy as re-centering the steering wheel! The steering wheel on my Camaro was tilted an inch to the left for nearly 3 years. They never found anything wrong with the alignment, so I finally asked them to re-center the wheel. BAM! Problem fixed!!!


i disagree on the off center steering wheel part because he said its a constant pull if the steering wheel was just off center then you could still go down the road let go and still go straight the wheel just would't be off


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## Danny5 (Dec 22, 2011)

nike12000 said:


> i disagree on the off center steering wheel part because he said its a constant pull if the steering wheel was just off center then you could still go down the road let go and still go straight the wheel just would't be off


I would think the same thing if I hadn't experienced it first hand. I could take highway right handers by just letting go of the wheel.


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## Dragonsys (May 27, 2013)

Danny5 said:


> I would think the same thing if I hadn't experienced it first hand. I could take highway right handers by just letting go of the wheel.


Yeah but he said if he holds the wheel straight the car will track straight, so it would not be an issue with the steering wheel being off.
If it pulls harder when breaking, one of the wheels might have thrown a balance weight.
If it only pulls when traveling, then get the camber checked out again, like Dan mentioned.


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## Diesel Dan (May 18, 2013)

obermd said:


> swap your front tires and see if this corrects the problem.





nike12000 said:


> I agree I have seen cars pull with brand new tires so swap side to side first and see what happens


He has directional snow tires so they have to stay on the same side. 
Front-rear is the only way to rotate with out dismounting the tires.


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## sx sonic (Nov 25, 2013)

Did it start pulling before or after installing your winter tires? If after, swap your frt wheels. If it pulls the otherway or goes away you've got a bad tire. They're directional tires so don't leave it like that but It's still a good diagnostic tool.

If it was pulling before it could still be alignment related or the steering angle sensor may need calibration. Did you have a 4 wheel alignment? The rear probably is adjustable but it will still report the alignment which can be referenced to verify nothing in the back is off.

If the steering angle sensor is off, worst case scenario is the ABS/STM will try to straighten the car out, but if the sensor is off It's correcting to a false center. This happened to a guy on the Sonic Forum. His complaint was the car wasn't stable on the highway and required constant intervention to keep the vehicle straight. Alignment checked out ok but after calibrating the steering angle sensor the car drove fine.


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## Diesel Dan (May 18, 2013)

CruzeEcoBlueTopaz said:


> Apparently only the front camber is adjustable.


Caster should be adjustable but you might have to slot the mounting holes to get adjustment.


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## philopator (Apr 29, 2013)

Diesel Dan said:


> I'd start by swapping the LH tires front to rear and see if anything changes.


Sorry for late reply - had a crazy week.

Swapping front/rear tires did indeed help. Furthermore, first i swapped right pair of tires, and left pull diminished. Then, i swapped left pair of tires, and the left pull completely disappeared. Since both pairs of tires had affect on the pull, to me it seems that this is not a problem with an individual tire.
Effectively i performed tire rotation. I wonder why rotated tires behave so differently - i.e. original placement creating noticeable pull. Shouldn't tire rotation not affect it?

Thanks for all the recommendations!


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## chef865 (Dec 19, 2020)

philopator said:


> I've been fighting with it for awhile, googled a lot but still cannot find solution to my problem.
> 
> I have 2012 Cruze with 22K miles on it. I notice a left pull especially when driving in left lanes of highways. I read about left lanes being deliberately slanted to the left to let the water run off. The problem is that in the city streets i also notice minor pull to the left. When pulling left i see that steering wheel slightly turning to the left. If i hold it in straight position, then the car goes straight, but it requires constant effort to hold the steering wheel in correct position.
> 
> ...


Mine is doing the same exact thing. 2014 Cruze with 28,000 miles. One morning A couple weeks ago when it got real cold out I had noticed the sharp pull to the left when driving and it hasn’t been the same since that morning. Not sure what is wrong.


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