New Brakes now Alignment?

[OriginHacker21]

Just this weekend I received new brakes and rotors. I also rotated my tires (front to back). Now, on my way to work I notice the car is pulling to the left so if I let go of the steering wheel it will slowly edge to the left. This is pretty annoying as I have to hold the steering wheel a little to the right. Whenever I hit a bump or a dip in the freeway the car lurches a little to the left - and I have to correct by turn the wheel slightly right.

No, I did not have this problem before. Car drove perfectly with the back wheels in front.

The new tires in front causing alignment problems or did the new brakes/rotors cause it? Do I need an alignment ($80)

.

Thanks for comments/suggestions/input.

 

[OriginHacker21]

Or is this one of those things where one of the brakes are "dragging" and it will go away as the brakes age?

 

[Russell]

check tire pressure on the front. Low tire pressure in one tire will cause a car to pull to one side. It is possible that that one front caliper is sticking and causing the car to pull. Take it back to the place that installed the brakes, but first check tire pressure.

 

[OriginHacker21]

If one of the calipers were sticking and I lightly pressed the brakes - the car would pull in a direction right? <-- This is not the case from what I can tell. I can lightly press the brakes and the car goes straight. I only notice the pulling on the freeway - especially when I hit bumps and dips.

 

[OriginHacker21]

Tire pressure is 38 38 (front) and 34 34 (rear) just did them this morning.

 

[Steve S]

Rotated tires ??????. you did brakes and rotated the tires then suspect brakes ? Jack up the car and check the dragging and if they are close in rotating feel .Put the tires to their original position and test .I hate when stuff happens.

 

[OriginHacker21]

Yeah rotated - my car is front wheel drive so the front tires were worn down - back ones are basically new. So while they were putting on brakes I had them put the front wheels on the back and the back on front. (Back to front, not criss cross).

Agreed, hate it when stuff like this happens

Annoys the heck out of me on my 2 hour drive to work.

 

[Papa Bear]

Tires can't cause an alignment problem.
Did you do the brakes ?? Sounds like a warranty claim.

 

[Mr Nice]

There is such a thing called 'radial pull'

 

[OriginHacker21]

A small mechanic shop did my brakes - he did my brakes before as well. I know the guy pretty well.

I had my co-worker who rides with me to work drive my car - he said he noticed the pull and that it didn't feel right.

Maybe it is just the tires as LT4 Vette said. The ones in front - the LEFT FRONT tire is new'er than the RIGHT FRONT tire due to a nail I caught awhile back. Would that cause the pull? When these tires (now in front) were in back it must not have pulled. ?

Edit: Tread life --- Left Front Tire I would say is 95% new. Right Front Tire is 75% new. Back tires (were in front) down below 50% life.

 

[Michael Jones]

Tires can definately cause a drift. Swap your tires back.

 

[Doc8404]

Quote:

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There is such a thing called 'radial pull'

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what's that?

 

[punisher]

We just called it a "tire pull".

Don't know what actually causes it but some tires just cause a pull. I know our alignment tech was always fighting it on the Continental branded tires on Navigators particularly, but I have seen it on a lot of different tires. Customers usually give you the

look when you try to explain it to them.

 

[bdcardinal]

swap the front tires and see if the pull goes the other way. if it does then its tire pull.

 

[alreadygone]

Also called conecentricty. Swap tires from left to right (forget that old #@$%! about causing separation) at least long enough to see if pull changes direction or goes completely away.

If you need more info, post in tire&wheel forum and maybe Capri Racer can give assistance.(or PM him).

Bob

 

[AcuraTech]

Quote:

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Swap tires from left to right to see if pull changes direction or goes completely away.

Bob

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Yes. It happens sometimes. Even with newer tires. Tire pull is fairly common. Seems to happen more with cheaper tires.

 

[Squishy]

It's usually referred to as 'pull' or as the tire's 'lateral force'. Hunter has a machine that will measure these forces for you, if you can find a shop that has one.

However, my guess is that the new tire is just very slightly taller than your old tire. Is the car pulling towards the side with the old tire?

 

[Squishy]

Did some Googling, it's the Hunter GSP9700 that measures lateral force. Here's a locator form to see if any shops near you have it.

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm

 

[OriginHacker21]

Squishy - car is pulling to the left - left front tire = new tire. Right front tire has less life than the left front.

OK you guys suggest I put the left front tire on the right front? I take it that my tires - Goodyear Viva Touring aren't directional? Wal-Mart stopped rotating tires Criss Cross here due to "directional" lawsuits.

Yeah, definitely something wrong. I've driven almost 400 miles with this condition. Let go of the steering wheel and the car veers left. I noticed when turning right on the freeway - the car lurches when I hit bumps like it is out of alignment or something is pulling it left. But when turning left it is smooth and has a solid feel. But I'm getting very tired holding the steering wheel to the right. Will try that tire swap possibly tonight.

Thanks for all the comments and info.

 

[Squishy]

That doesn't give me much confidence in WalMart's management if they can't even train their tire techs to check for directional tires...

Looking at the tread pattern of the Viva Touring, it doesn't appear directional. While you're switching the tires, check for brake drag. If the tires are the culprit, you might have to put the 'bad' tire back in the rear.