Replaced the stock 245's with TOYO 265's yesterday. Now the truck pulls to the left on roads that it never did with the OEM tires. Had the alignment checked by dealer and Belletire and it is within specs. Switched front tires from side to side - still pulls to left. Only time it runs straight is when there is a heavy right crown on the road. Running 55 PSI in all tires. Dealer says nothing else can be done. Sure is annoying.

Any suggestions?? Nothing is ever simple! :damnit1:
Thanks,

Rob

pulling steering is so dang bothersome. sorry about that...

i'm sure that they checked the steering linkage for anything, but i just had my idler arm replaced and aligned... straight as an arrow now.

the manual says to check idler arm and pitman by getting under the truck and pushing up with 25# force and check for more than 1/4" play. (i think). they say *not* to check by jacking a tire up and moving wheel for play because you cannot regulate force, but this is still my preferred method.

good luck.

maybe complain to the tyre shop and if they checked all components, have them try another set of tyres? after all... your truck was designed to go straight! something is forked up.

Although the alignment is "within specs" its camber reading on the right and cross member are at the edge of tolerance range. Gonna talk to the dealer about getting them adjusted more within range. It drifts slowly, but enough to be annoying.

Double check the pressure in the front- - -I had a similar problem which immediately resolved after I corrected the tire pressure, it was off by less than ~2 psi .

-McDermop

A vehicle will pull to the most positive camber and the most negative caster. Also, just because a vehicle is "within specs" does not mean it's in alignment. The vehicle will tell you what it likes/dislikes. I use specs as a reference and let the tires tell me where to make my adjustments.

I've done alignments for many years and this is my saying: "There are only two reasons to get your vehicle aligned...it doesn't drive right, it doesn't wear the tire correctly." A good mechanic will be able to adjust the caster, "main cause of pulling left/right", and get the vehicle to drive correctly. Also note, tires have personalities. Some tires and vehicles just do not work good together.

Currently I run my vehicle at -0.1 camber left and right; 3.0 caster left and 3.5 caster right. I believe the specs are our trucks is +0.5 camber left/right and 3.0 caster left/right. If the vehicle is pulling left, and switching sides with the front tires makes no change, then look at the splits between camber left/right and caster left/right. and reference my comments above. Again, with the adjustments on these vehicles, a good mechanic can make it drive correctly.

Follow notsdale's advice. Within specs is a cop out from someone that doesn't want to do an alignment. We used to have what was called a desired setting for caster/camber and toe. In other words if the camber spec is -.5 to +.5 I would shoot for "o". The better techs will shoot for dead on the desired setting. We drive on mostly crowned roads in my area. I would set the left wheel camber and caster on the desired setting. The right wheel got .25 less camber and .25 more caster. Probably different in other parts of the country but it worked very well for me 99 out of 100 alignments. There are exceptions for abnormal tire wear problems like notsdale said. Later! Frank

Here's the specs on my current alignment:

Any comments to improve it? Remember - it pulls / drifts to the left slightly. Looks to me that the Front Cross Camber is borderline???
Thanks! Rob

Left

Camber
Actual = 0.2 specified -0.3 range 0.8

Caster
actual 2.6 specified 3.3 range 5.3

Toe
Actual 0.00 specified -0.05 range 0.15

Right

Camber
Actual -0.3 specified -0.3 range 0.8

Caster
actual 2.8 specified 3.5 range 5.5

Toe
Actual 0.08 specified -0.05 range 0.15

Front

Cross camber - Actual 0.5 Specified -0.5 range 0.5
Cross caster - Actual -0.2 Specified -0.8 range 0.3
Total Toe - Actual 0.07 specified -0.10 range 0.30

Look at your camber. Both tires are "leaning to the left" so to speak. You always want to have both of your camber measurements matching. Both +, or both -, but not mixed. Your caster split isn't enough to cause a pull, and is hardly enough to compensate for crown.

Thanks for the help - I will be following-up at the dealer armed with your info :)

I would set the camber on both wheels to 0, +0/-.2. and set the caster to 4 if you can get it that high; otherwise high as you can get it. I might still set a small split in the caster but since you vehicle is pulling left I would probably go for a match on caster also. If the vehicle still drifts left the I would continue to adjust caster to correct the drift. By design the vehicle should have a slight drift to the right; but no pull. The reason for the slight drift is for saftey; should you fall asleep you want the vehicle to run off the road to the right instead of into oncoming traffic.

Skoryaro2
Found this where I had posted it several months back. Hope it helps.

Factory Specs:

Camber +0.25 Range -0.3 to + 0.8 degrees

Caster (Left) 4.0 Range 3.0 to 5.0 degrees

Caster (Right) 4.75 Range 3.8 to 5.8 degrees

Toe (Left) +0.05 Range -0.05 to +0.15 degrees

Toe (Right) +0.05 Range -0.05 to +0.15 degrees

I'm currently running my truck at:

Camber -0.1 degrees (It's always been my experience with GM trucks, to keep the camber on the low side. Minimizes outer tire wear)

Caster (Left) 3.6 degrees

Caster (Right) 4.1 degrees

Toe (Left) +0.05 degrees

Toe (Right) +0.05 degrees

It does! Thanks!

qucik update: Trip to the dealer for an alignment and all is well (knock on wood). Thanks to all for your responses.