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<Pics added> Truck pulls to the right? help?

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BranndonC

3/4 ton status
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Mar 18, 2002
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I just recently took my truck offroad, and since then, it pulls to the right while driving. It didn't really pull before much, but when i break it pulls kinda hard to the right and it's dangerous! How can i fix this? is it just allignment or what? Thanks in advance.
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

what did you do??!??!??!?!??!?!
LOL
pulling to the right while braking is just a sticky caliper, re bleed the brakes or pull a wheel and check them, may have got a rock in there.
if it pulls while driving it is the alignment.. did you hit the tie rod while off road??
sorry for the ?'s but we need more info
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

i don't mind the ?'s at all! i want them! i think it's alighment. I used to be able to hold the steering wheel centered but now i have to keep it slightly turned to the left, i am not a mechanic and i have never blead (sp?) breaks. i don't think i hit anything.... what is a tie rod? I know i'm new, but i need to learn here!
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

the tierod is what "ties" your front tires together, so when your steering gear turns on tire, it transfer the motion to the other side. it's located in front of your axle on a stock rig.

bleeding the brakes needs two people or a bleeder kit, you might have air in the one side, but it is does it while driving too then the odds are it's the alignment.
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

its the alignment...I saw the pictures of you jumping your truck...I'm betting thats what caused it...its real easy to fix though. I did my alignment last weekend and its not hard at all. You need a tape measure that won't bend when its long...but I don't have one, so I used a piece of 1x4 I found on the side of my house. put the piece of wood against the inner sidewall of one front tire and mark on the other side the distance between the two. Do this on the front and back of the front tires. This is how you measure the toe in/out. In other words, how much the tires point like this \ / or this / \. Measurement should be around 61", give or take, depending on your setup. There is a long rod, called the tire rod that connects the knuckles of each wheel together. It is in front of the axle housing, parallel to the ground. There should be a sleeve on this rod. To adjust the toe, loosen the bolts on the sleeve and use a pipe wrench to turn the sleeve. I forgot which way to turn it for correcting toe in/out, but it should be pretty simple to determine. make some adjustments and keep measuring the distance between the front and backs of the tires until they are equal. Now tighten the bolts tightly. There is also another shorter tie rod, called the drag link that attaches the steering box the the knuckle basically. If your wheel is pointing to the left, then the draglink needs to be shorter. Probably a few turns of the adjusting sleeve will suffice. Usually the draglink is about 18" long when alignment is correct, so thats a good starting point. To make sure the wheel is centered properly, point the wheels straight, and set the steering wheel straight. Now turn it all the way to the left, and count how many turns it takes to get there. center the tires and wheel again, and turn it all the way to the right and count how many turns it takes to get there. The turns from the center to either side should be 1.75. if its off by alot, then you may need to make some big adjustments. I hope this helped you, its really not hard, just takes some trial and error and a little patience...if you get it right though, you'll never want to pay for another alignment again...I know I'm not goin to.
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

ok, just a few questions... what does the steering box and the knuckle look like, i'm going to print your post, and attempt it myself tomorrow.
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

Sounds more like a right frozen caliper or like 55willy said a stone or something jamming it up. Jack up the front end and try spinning the tires by hand. There is usually some slight drag from the pads but not much. If your toe is out I don't see how that will make the truck pull to one side, it will just scrub the tread on the outside of the tires. Also, if you've jumped the truck with 1/2 ton axles you might want to check if you've bent one. I bent a 10 bolt without even getting 1 foot off the ground, they are pretty weak.
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

so i just look at the axle and see if it's straight? i'll do that also.
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

Check air pressure in all tires and make sure they are all equal. Different uneven tire pressure could cause this.

Jack up one side of the front end at a time, and try to wobble the wheel back and forth vertically and horizontally. See if there is any movement, and if it is coming from the wheel bearing or the balljoints. Have you seen the pic's of me jumping my blazer too.... hmmm now i wonder why i have bad balljoints and it wonders a little on the road. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

Spin the front wheels and see if a caliper is sticking too like 55willy said.
It sounds like it could be an alignment problem too.
 
 
Re: truck pulls to the right? help?

i'll just allign it or get it alligned tomorrow. i couldn't find anything wrong with it.
 
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