F-150 Alignment Update

[CATNHAT]

New tires, rotated, there's only so many combinations and permutations to place a tire on a truck! Don at F&F printed this for me this morning (thanks Don!). Anyone know why this truck pulls to the left?

TIA

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/catnhatfan/_0129091148_001_zpsfd594cdc.jpg

Here's the truck with new Cooper Zeon LTZ's 275/60/20.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa120/catnhatfan/2012-11-17_13-57-27_860_zpsb80bb820.jpg

[xxtremeteam]

was the truck ever in a accident? is the frame straight and true? seems like you have looked into other options all ready

[CATNHAT]

was the truck ever in a accident? is the frame straight and true? seems like you have looked into other options all ready

No accidents, clean Carfax, etc. Got me stumped and pissed.

[PonyKiller87]

I may be reading this wrong but it looks like both of your rear tires are pointing slightly to the right. So if it feels like it pulls to the left your probably just dog tracking very slightly.

[GRNDNL]

It "should" pull to the side with less caster, I'd try and pull some caster out of the Rt side If you can.

The very first thing I would do is swap the front tires Lt to Rt ( I'm sure you've already tried that)

[LIL EVO]

There's no way that alignment sheet should be pulling. I've seen much worse that tracked perfectly straight with no hands on the wheel.

Hell, I've done home garage front end alignments with string and a tape measure that tracked perfectly straight.

If anything the car should pull slightly to the right due to the way the roads are paved. Pulling left is strange. I can't imagine it being an alignment issue at this point.

[Yooformula]

is there any sort of tsb on this? our brand new car was pulling hard left even though the alignment specs showed true. Turned out it needed an updated strut component and bolt.

[CATNHAT]

is there any sort of tsb on this? our brand new car was pulling hard left even though the alignment specs showed true. Turned out it needed an updated strut component and bolt.

I have not heard of a TSB and Hiller Ford is worthless again, at least in the service department. Even if there was a TSB I wasn't aware of, they wouldnt do anything about it anyways.

[wrath]

Take it to a place that does on-vehicle applied-force tire balancing. You will probably find that a tire itself pulls one way. I believe there is a Ford-Lincoln dealership somewhere on the south side that does this. A tire shop that has an applied-force balancer can also check for this (Hunter Road Force is probably the most popular), it is often called lateral force variation or conicity.

Or to help diagnose the problem, swap one pair of tires left-right and then the other to see if it follows a tire. If it looks like it is following a tire, then swap front to rear. ZEON LTZs are heavy tires with aggressive tread so I would not be surprised if it were a problem with a tire or two.

[CATNHAT]

I will look into that, it sounds interesting. Here is a link to my original thread. Don't think the new tires are the problem, they were supposed to be the solution according to Hiller.

http://www.brewcitymuscle.com/forum/showthread.php?54755-alignment-issue-GRRRR&highlight=alignment

[WI_Dave]

Brakes hanging slightly? Or wheel bearing

[juicedimpss]

Brakes hanging slightly? Or wheel bearing

thats a good thought,make sure the caliper pins are not sticking

[DNT H8]

Just food for thought but in my turning wrenches days I seen many techs move the heads to get "green" to save time and aggravation, especially on caster. Who did your alignments? Not saying this is the case mind you... Ive also seen some high speed techs adjust out of spec to get her straight and had 0 tire wear issues...

Considering all you have done, brakes, and wheel bearings are next in line...

[CATNHAT]

I thought about the brakes and if it was hanging up wouldn't there be more brake dust on the dragging side? both are equally brake dust dirty. so?? Also, if a caliper was hanging a little, wouldn't it pull harder in the hanging brake direction when you brake?

I thought of a bearing but I do not hear anything indicating a bearing race would be worn but maybe???

[WI_Dave]

Its possible both are hanging but one is worse so dust on rims may not be good test.

If its a caliper or bearing and its pulling to the left it should be right rear. I would jack rear end up and spin both rear tires by hand and see if either have more resistance than the other or make noise, also checked for warped rotors. Truck is kinda new but you can check bushings in front end as well.


Just throwing ideas out that I would check if it was me.


Edit: an infrared thermometer might tell if one rotor is getting hotter after driving around than the other too.

[lilws6]

I've aligned it twice now the first time he watched me i showed him specs and the sheet he has printed is not tugged on. There are some crappy cars out there i have done this too to get them out the door but i would not do this for a fellow bcm member. The print out is the true sheet. I'm stumped on this one as much as i've done front end work i know it has nothing to do with the align. From here out i'm at a loss besides a drag on the brakes or bearing or possible frame tweak that the machine cannot pick up.

[wrath]

If it were a front brake you'd know it every time you went around a corner and the steering wheel didn't return to center. If it were a rear one, you'd feel it.

70mph with a brake dragging even slightly will heat up a hub. I don't know if Fords use the pass-through parking brake that is popular or shoe-in-hat but either would end up with a warm hub.

You can tape a phone to a large magnet and record each wheel (it's hillbilly, but it works) if you really think something is dragging.

Anyone here you can throw $50 at to let them try their tires?

[CATNHAT]

I've aligned it twice now the first time he watched me i showed him specs and the sheet he has printed is not tugged on. There are some crappy cars out there i have done this too to get them out the door but i would not do this for a fellow bcm member. The print out is the true sheet. I'm stumped on this one as much as i've done front end work i know it has nothing to do with the align. From here out i'm at a loss besides a drag on the brakes or bearing or possible frame tweak that the machine cannot pick up.

Thanks Don I really appreciate your help. Anyone that needs tire/alignment needs should call Don at F&F.

Been very easy to work with and very knowledgeable. The entire shop pitched in to try to solve my problem, that's pretty cool that they did that.

:thumbsup :thumbsup

[88Nightmare]

I bet it's something to do with the tires. I have the EXACT same tires on my truck, but in 305/55R20 size, and I get some pulling to the left too.