cars pulling

[LETZRIDE]

Since I've reinstalled my summer tires, the car seems to pull to the side on the highway. Sometimes if feels like it pulls right, other times it pulls left. I thought the wheels might be loose so I double checked them, and they are torqued to spec. I never had this issue with the winters on, and I dont remember having this issue last year.

Any ideas what this might be? it doesn't do it at low speeds or around the city...only on the highway...its like I need to fight to keep it in the lane sometimes...

cars a 96 camaro.

[ssms5411]

Re: cars pulling

Tie end rods ,lower /upper ball joints. Then alighnment.

[kristen]

Re: cars pulling

deff sounds like a tie rod

[steddy]

Re: cars pulling

Could be road crown vs. wider tires (assuming that the summers are wider). I experienced a "difference" when I switched mine out for a couple days. 'Course, around here, the roads not only are crowned, but they have divets where tires go because of all the cold patch they use, so that'll play with the straight-line driving some.

[cam98aro]

Re: cars pulling

its your tires.. how many miles are on them?

if it didnt do it with your snow tires on, and now it is doing it, its the tires

when my tires went bad my car would pull really hard.. you can try to rotate them to see if it fixes it at all

[LETZRIDE]

Re: cars pulling

well the ones on the front are new since last year...the ones on the back have been back there for 3 years and never rotated lol...they are pretty much almost done...

It wasnt doing it with the snows...I remember last year the odd time it might pull, but you could tell it was when there was a dip in the road.

Would bad tires on the rear cause that though? I would think bad tires in the front would likely be the culprit...

[steddy]

Re: cars pulling

Well, in my case, the summer tires are brand new, just 1 in. shorter and 2 in. wider all the way around (I keep them skinny in the snow). I thought (***-u-me'd) yours were all new too. Sorry.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: cars pulling

My summers are 245/50/R16 and my winters are 215/60/R16...so you did assume right.

How could/would a tie rod cause this...tie rod worries me...last thing I want is a tie rod to snap and that be the end of me and the car...

[cam98aro]

Re: cars pulling

well the ones on the front are new since last year...the ones on the back have been back there for 3 years and never rotated lol...they are pretty much almost done...

It wasnt doing it with the snows...I remember last year the odd time it might pull, but you could tell it was when there was a dip in the road.

Would bad tires on the rear cause that though? I would think bad tires in the front would likely be the culprit...

bad shocks can cause that to happen

My summers are 245/50/R16 and my winters are 215/60/R16...so you did assume right.

How could/would a tie rod cause this...tie rod worries me...last thing I want is a tie rod to snap and that be the end of me and the car...

i highly doubt it is a bad tie rod

i think when you got your tires put back on they put the tires on different sides, or mounted them opposite, which is now causing your problem

[ssms5411]

Re: cars pulling

I've had my Prostars with a 215 tire up front and it drives just fine as if I had the 275's up front, my car would pull on the highway before and I took it to the allignment shop and they said my upper/ lower bushings were shot and my tie end rods were bad I got them all fix took it back for the allignment and had no problems pulling side to side on the highway again. Mine was so bad I had to keep both hands on the wheel when it hit certain spots on the road. Now it just cruises like normal no pulling.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: cars pulling

bad shocks can cause that to happen



i highly doubt it is a bad tie rod

i think when you got your tires put back on they put the tires on different sides, or mounted them opposite, which is now causing your problem

Shocks are new as of last year...I changed the tires...they are on the same side as before...I left them on the rims, and I can't mix up the front and rears because the front rims need to be grinded down to fit the back axle hub. (from a 98+ camaro)

[cam98aro]

Re: cars pulling

Shocks are new as of last year...I changed the tires...they are on the same side as before...I left them on the rims, and I can't mix up the front and rears because the front rims need to be grinded down to fit the back axle hub. (from a 98+ camaro)

i was under the impression that you got the tires swapped out.

hmm, so if you put the snow ones back on, it drives perfectly normal?

[LETZRIDE]

Re: cars pulling

yea it was driving normal with the snows on...but when I swapped the rims and tires over (I have seperate rims that I leave the winters on so I just need to bolt/unbolt the lugs to swap them) it pulls...but only on the highway...and its not all the time...but id say 80% of the time now...

[cam98aro]

Re: cars pulling

yea it was driving normal with the snows on...but when I swapped the rims and tires over (I have seperate rims that I leave the winters on so I just need to bolt/unbolt the lugs to swap them) it pulls...but only on the highway...and its not all the time...but id say 80% of the time now...

did it pull at all with the tires before you put the winter ones on?

im trying to get as much info as possible

my tie rod end is completely shot, i found that out when i got it inspected back in september, and i have been driving it ever since, and my car still goes straight, except my shocks are shot and when i hit bumps or the road is weird it will pull really hard

are your tires directional? try to swap the fronts if they arent to see if it still happens.. just in case you didnt put them on the same side as before, if you have a bad alignment and dont rotate them, and then you finally rotate them after a while your tires will have a specific wear that can play havoc with the steering

my old tires were like that because i never rotated them, and especially at high speeds it would pull really bad

i find it hard to believe that you have bad suspension parts that didnt show themselves until you changed your tires out, if you know what i mean.. for instance a bad tie rod should show itself regardless of what tires are on IMO

although i do know that snow tires have softer sidewalls (which is why they sometimes look flat with 35psi in them) but thats usually when you notice weird things, i guess it is possibe that the softer sidewall could have hid a problem.. but im still thinking it is the tires

[LETZRIDE]

Re: cars pulling

did it pull at all with the tires before you put the winter ones on?

No, maybe the odd time, but nothing noticible.

are your tires directional? try to swap the fronts if they arent to see if it still happens.. just in case you didnt put them on the same side as before, if you have a bad alignment and dont rotate them, and then you finally rotate them after a while your tires will have a specific wear that can play havoc with the steering

My tires are uni directional...Ive never rotated them though...I cant because the front rim wont fit on the back axle until I grind it out. And if I put the tires on backwards for the rear, my rims would be facing in to the car lol....


The summers have always had a degree of pull to them...I mean that is expected with summer tires because they are wider...I'm just concerned because I dont remember it being this much last summer.

Is there a way I can check the tie rod? I've heard horror stories about tie rods breaking and you haveing no control over the car....I mean I like to take the car on long trips and it is my daily driver...I cant afford a safety hazard here...