Ok this is second time now. And I am annoyed.

Last time I had this I wasn't sure was it the road or my imagination. I had summer setup. Waited for winter setup to see if it goes away. Nope still there. So I went to aligment and they fixed the problem. Now back on my summer setup. Same thing all over again? Could it be something with the wheels? On balancing mehanic mentioned som of my whels are bit damaged from cerb. And if the steering wheel is shaking I should fix them. But its not. So I didn't. Now I have to go back to the aligment.

Wonder why is this happening? Any ideas.

 

EDIT: I know there was a topic but I couldn't find the one I replied to.

Edited 22 May, 20179 yr by Croat

New tyres come with Runout Stripes and people that know fit tyres that match the need.

Even Skoda / VW Group fit new tyres that can mean cars pulling left and it is not always the alignment.

 

In the UK this means pulling into the kerb, i take it you are pulling into traffic in the other lane. 

 

Google 

Runout Stripes, maybe you will see the Wheelsinmotion website that explains well.

I talked to my mechanic now regarding some other members problem and asked about this. He says its because different wheel size and width. Lucky me! haha

Different wheel size and width can be it, as some disguise pulling to the left,  like when Skoda fit Dunlop Sport Maxx at the factory and cars pull left and dealers mess about and can not get alignment shorted and then Skoda approve under Warranty fitting Pirelli Zero Nero in the same size and there is no pulling to the left.

The alignment is still wrong the Pirelli just have stronger sidewalls and same size tyres by markings but less tread on the road.

 

Then there is the Runout Stripes and matching tyres or not which can have a car tracking nicely or pulling left or right.

Nothing new about tyres they have been going on cars for over a century.

One way I have always used to see if it is the car or the road when it is pulling to the kerb is to see if the car will pull over the centre from the opposite side. Goes without saying you need a quiet bit of road 

 

If the car will pull 'uphill' across the road towards the centre it is more likely to be the car.

 

Some cars will hang in the gutter on a cambered road more than others, its not right but I have gone round in circles trying to cure it on some cars. Easy to blame the road when it drives straight on a flatter road but it is not always the answer.

 

Lot of problems been sorted by change of tyres and small tweaks to geometry, don't underestimate the problems that can be caused by a combination seemingly good tyres and correct settings.

I have a theory that still needs proving, but if I were you, I would check for subframe alignment/movement.

 

I also had some alignment problems with my car and after I told them for the 3rd time to check the subframe alignment (which is a pain in the ass to do and apparently needs a special machine not available on every service center...) they checked it and said it was off by 1cm - sure enough the steering felt totally different after they touched it.

It still intermittently goes on and off and I think one of my next purchases is going to be the dogbone (??) Mount insert that prevents the subframe from shifting so much.

I expect it to help with gear changes but also steering...

Sticky caliper can cause this as well. Have you checked?

 

I had another problem on my Alfa, after lowering the car and adding spacers, it worked fantastic with alignment setup which I did _before_ these upgrades. But, _after_ I did another alignment with all these equipment, no service managed to solve puling the steering wheel on a side where road is slightly leaned. Assuming road is never perfectly flat due to rain drainage, you needed always to hold steering straight. Better I haven't touched it, ever.

 

The point is service staff looks  in the screen and when it sees all greens it is fine, but they don't really understand how things work. This is my impression. They are trained to handle the machine, but why they do it, what is the root cause of such a misbehavior of the car, they can't swallow.

 

Interesting it affected severely only summer tire set (235mm), while winter set (205mm) almost was prone to the issue. Not related to the wheels themselves, rotation of wheels didn't help the issue.

 

Maybe this can help...

I think this was mentioned many years ago on the HJ forum. Iirc one interesting point was that left hand drive and right hand drive cars allegedly needed to be set up differently to allow for the road camber.

Unfortunately for this theory , my Octavia II ran perfectly straight in the UK and in France.

Went today to alligment check. Every thing is fine. So must bi the tires? :P

But there was some construction work on the road and had to go to detour through some dusty off road, just washed my car yesterday. 

Edited 23 May, 20179 yr by Croat