Ls430 Pulling To The Right

[vtp]

hello lexus owners and fans,

i've just recently acquired a 2005 LS 430. Nice car. It has 18'' wheels. There's only one thing that annoys me. That is the car has a very slight tendency to pull toward the right. Just very slight. I suspected it needed an alignment and/or wheel balancing. The Toyota dealer looked at it and said it needed a wheel balancing, not alignment. Nevertheless, after they balanced and rotated the wheels it still has the tendency.

In addition to this, the car is little darty on the highway. I need to frequently adjust the steering wheel to keep it straight.

Does anyone have any suggestion?

Thanks.

[vtp]

another thing, if I remember correctly, the tyre is Dunlop 245/55R18.

[1990LS400]

I don't know how the dealer could have known that your 05 LS didn't need an alignment unless the alignment was checked. Maybe the Toyota dealer didn't want to deal with aligning your Lexus. I don't think I've ever heard anyone suggest that wheel balance has something to do with a car pulling to one side but I suppose it's possible if a wheel is terribly unbalanced.

How many miles does your "new" 05 LS have on it -- reason that I ask is that front strut bar bushings can be worn out be as few as 75,000 miles and cause darty/sloppy handling (and vibrations) at highway speeds. Front suspension issues like worn bushings can be most easily identified during the wheel alignment procedure.

Tires can developed wear patterns that can cause pulling to one side. If your tires have a wear pattern causing pulling to one side and if they are directional tires that can only be rotated front-to-back, tire rotation wouldn't not help the situation - or at least not much.

I've noticed that cars with 18" or larger wheels tend to be more ... ahem ... "responsive" (I call it unpleasantly darty) than cars with smaller tires. I've seen more than one person trade his 17" or 18" LS430 wheels for smaller ones like the 16" wheels that were standard on the 01-02 LS430.

[HRP]

The first thing I'd do is check the tire pressures. Overinflation can cause a car to oversteer, but underinflation can cause sloppy handling and poor tire wear. I generally run my LS430 pressures on 16" Michelin Sport Pilots at 38 lbs. Next, get an opinion from another dealer/alignment/tire shop (Lexus/Toyota service facilities are not infallible). And tell the alignment technician that your car is oversteering (darty, "quick in the stays"). And ask him to evaluate your tire wear pattern.

I deal with a tire shop that has a reputation that the alignment technician is one with the alignment equipment. There is probably a similar shop near you.

[vtp]

Thank you.

This car has only 43,000 miles on it. The dealer did take a "test drive" and looked at it. I don't know if they actually checked for alignment. I did recheck the pressure after they balanced the wheels and all 4 had 33 psi, as indicated in the spec.

I just bought this car from the dealer. The tires look new. In the short test drive, somehow I missed this.

[amcdonal86]

Are you sure it's not just the crowning of the road?

Highways look very flat, but they are indeed very much crowned to provide adequate drainage.

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[amcdonal86]

Crown of the road??? Which road?? Which side of the crown is he driving?? B)

Every road!

Highways are typically sloped 2% to the left or right into drainage ditches or curb and gutter. This will cause almost any car to pull to the right (or left depending on the direction of the side slope) when you let go of the wheel (but just slightly).

I'm not suggesting that there is an alignment spec that counteracts these tendencies-- I'm saying it's a characteristic of the road that will affect any road vehicle! Not sure where you got the idea that I was saying anything more...

[Randy&Bonnie]

..

[amcdonal86]

Crown of the road??? Which road?? Which side of the crown is he driving?? B)

Every road!

Highways are typically sloped 2% to the left or right into drainage ditches or curb and gutter. This will cause almost any car to pull to the right (or left depending on the direction of the side slope) when you let go of the wheel (but just slightly).

I'm not suggesting that there is an alignment spec that counteracts these tendencies-- I'm saying it's a characteristic of the road that will affect any road vehicle! Not sure where you got the idea that I was saying anything more...

amcdonal86,

Yes, highways are typically "crowned". Your suggestion that the pulling may be caused by just the crown of the road is a logical suggestion. And yes, the road can effect steering. No, you didn't imply anything else. Also, vtp did say "very slight".

Actually 4% maximum is a typically design spec for a road crown. My point is that often a poor alignment job that leaves a vehicle pulling excessively, is often described by the alignment shop as "it's been adjusted for the crown of the road". How can there be an adjusted so that the vehicle drives straight and doesn't pull when a typical driver drives on many different roads, highways, on one side or the other and in different lanes that are sloping left or right?

If the steering is effected by the crown of the road, then if you are driving down a highway with two lanes going in the same direction, then according to what you say, the vehicle's steering will exhibit pull to the left when it's in the left lane and left of the crown, and it will exhibit pull to the right when it's driven in the right lane or right of the crown. Then logic says that if you drive the vehicle down the center line that the vehicle should not pull either left or right and the vehicle will track straight. Will the steering pull slightly left or right depending on the crown of the road? - maybe. But most of the time when a driver complains of a pulling steering wheel, it's not caused by any crown of the road, it's caused by a steering system problem, or tire pressure, or several other possible front end problems. In most front wheel drive cars there is NO wheel alignment adjustment for camber, so that leaves bascially caster and toe. If the caster of uneven between wheels, it can cause the steering to pull. Any good alignment shop will test drive the vehicle before and after the alignment, and adjustments can be made to compensate for any pulling, even if the alignment has been done to "specs". In rear wheel drive cars, typically camber, caster, and toe are adjusted. And either camber and caster can cause excessive steering pull.

To many drivers, even a continual very slight pull in the steering wheel can very noticeable and very annoying.

[jrbtn]

hello lexus owners and fans,

i've just recently acquired a 2005 LS 430. Nice car. It has 18'' wheels. There's only one thing that annoys me. That is the car has a very slight tendency to pull toward the right. Just very slight. I suspected it needed an alignment and/or wheel balancing. The Toyota dealer looked at it and said it needed a wheel balancing, not alignment. Nevertheless, after they balanced and rotated the wheels it still has the tendency.

In addition to this, the car is little darty on the highway. I need to frequently adjust the steering wheel to keep it straight.

Does anyone have any suggestion?

Thanks.

The possibilities are tire pressure or wear, worn suspension, dragging brake and alignment. All of these should be eliminated by a good alignment shop. I wouldn't count on a dealer to be "a good alignment shop". Lots of dealers don't do this in house and farm it out on contract. Find a reputable shop in your area and have them look it over. With the low miles I am betting alignment is the issue. Road crowning is an issue, but you should be able to recognize this by driving different roads and lanes.

[JeffreyV]

hello lexus owners and fans,

i've just recently acquired a 2005 LS 430. Nice car. It has 18'' wheels. There's only one thing that annoys me. That is the car has a very slight tendency to pull toward the right. Just very slight. I suspected it needed an alignment and/or wheel balancing. The Toyota dealer looked at it and said it needed a wheel balancing, not alignment. Nevertheless, after they balanced and rotated the wheels it still has the tendency.

In addition to this, the car is little darty on the highway. I need to frequently adjust the steering wheel to keep it straight.

Does anyone have any suggestion?

Thanks.

I've had a couple cars that pulled to one side. It was due to a tire separating on the inside. Some people call it radial pull. I had a Camry recently aligned, and tires were rotated front to rear. The car pulled to the right REAL bad after that. Then they cross-rotated the tires which solved the problem.

[StuLS]

..... the car is little darty on the highway. I need to frequently adjust the steering wheel to keep it straight.

Does anyone have any suggestion?

Thanks.

Did you fix this ? Please tell me .... as I have the exact problem.

After two sets of new tires and 2 alignments. it has gotten better but is not fixed

I may have to sell the car !

[wwmguy]

_{apparently this is a problem with this car. I purchased my 2005 ls430 in Dec, Approx 92,000 miles. I have the exact same slight pull to the right. I drive three different models and brands of cars down the same road and only my Lexus has that pull. In the left lane it seems to be less aggravating. I have had the vehicle 4 wheel aligned. If you casually drive the car you may not notice it but that pull is certainly there. If anyone has a solution or advice please post it. The pull is the only thing that keeps me from living this car. I also find the steering takes a lot of attention to keep it tracking straight.}

[1990LS400]

The first thing I would do would be to swap the wheels ... RF to LF, LF to RF, RR to LR, LR to RR. If it still pulls to the right the same as before, it means that you have eliminated wheels and tires from being the cause of the problem.

[wwmguy]

Same complaint on same year and model. I had my tires cross rotated today. Will see if it makes a difference

[wwmguy]

I had my wheels cross rotated. That seems to have helped. The pull is not as obvious. I plan to change to 16" rims when my tires are worn out.

[Therickyrice]

I have the exact same problem. It pulls to the right. (LS430 05 123kmiles)