Any ideas? I have a 2008 GMC 4x4 I just purchased and it pulls to the right severely. I took it back to the dealer and it still pulls.
Did You Recently Purchase It As A Used Vehicle From The Dealer ? How Many Miles On It ? Certified ? Any Warranty ? It Did This Immediately At Delivery And You Went Back Immediately ?
I don’t want to insult you, but sometimes people confuse pull with a steering wheel that is off-center. If you take your hands off the wheel, under any conditions, the truck quickly goes to the right ?
Did they swap tires / rims right to left, left to right ?
CSA
No problem, when I take my hands off the wheel it turns right, even on flat roads. I have to physically keep the steering wheel turned left so it doesn’t pull. Dealer told me because it was a 2500 its a heavy truck and it does that, I said no way. I have a F550 thats twice as heavy and doesn’t pull.
Sorry, no they didn’t say anything about swapping tires or rims. I took it back and they haven.t contacted me.
See if the dealer will check the alignment. Try rotating the front tires side to side. This fixed a right pull on my 93 Caprice and 2000 Blazer.
To expand on the 93 Caprice’s story, it had a hard pull to the right when I got it in 2002. I had to hold the wheel to keep it in a straight line. The Dunlop tires only had about 4k miles at the time. Two alignments and a front to back tire rotation made no difference. Out of desperation, I switched the front tires side to side. No more pull. The car tracked straight for next 5 years with the Dunlops. Here is an article on the Tire Rack page with more info.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=12&
Ed B.
The truck is GM certified, I just purchased the vehicle one week ago, I notices the pull immediately. I took it back right away and they did an alignment on the vehicle, they said it was dead on. I got the truck back today and same thing pulling to the right. As we speak the dealer has the vehicle, they have not called me as of yet so who knows whats going on. If they call or more like when I give them a call I’ll ask them about that
The truck has 22,000 miles
If They Keep Having Problems With Fixing It, I Am Wondering If They Could Somehow “Sublet” A Diagnosis And / Or Remedy To A Reputable Alignment Shop Who Specializes In This Type Of Situation.
Worse case scenario, you could take it to such a shop that has the latest in training and technology, pay them and have it checked and get a decent idea as to what’s going on with the truck.
Is this a “high volume” dealer (large dealer) or a small dealer ?
CSA
I’d say they are a middle of the road as far as volume, even small. If they seem clueless tomorrow, I am going to mention that. I wonder if I do that they don’t warranty the vehicle anymore.
Thanks Ed thats a good article, its funny because the manufacturer settings for the tire pressure on the front tires is 60psi. Just out of curiosity I inflated to 5psi under tire max which was 75psi, it didn’t cure the pull but it made a slight difference but not significant.
Simple test: Swap the front tires side to side.
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If the pull completely changes direction, it?s 100% the tires.
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If the pull doesn?t change at all, then it?s 100% in the vehicle, usually alignment, but it?s possible that it?s a dragging brake.
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If the pull disappears or changes ? other than completely changing direction - it?s both the tires and the vehicle.
I want to thank everyone for their responses. Turns out the alignment they first was still off, also they said they did check the tires and ended up rotating two. Bottom line is they returned the truck to me today and it no longer pulls. I’d don’t want to assume someone didn’t know what they were doing but the service manager did say he put their more experienced guy on it this time. Thanks again.
Thanks For The Feedback. I Guess " . . . service manager did say he put their more experienced guy on it this time." Is A Euphemism For Not Letting The Trainee Do It Again.
The reason I inquired as to the size of the dealer is that I have found that larger dealers often (not always) are more likely to have a better trained, more experienced technician in a specific area like suspension / alignment, and are more likely (not always) to have an investment in technology.
Larger dealers are sometimes more likely to experience problems specific to a vehicle (because of the volume of vehicles) than smaller dealers. I worked at a larger dealer at one time (not GM) and we sometimes alerted the manufacturer of common problems that were popping up on specific vehicles, usually new models / engines, etcetera.
This particular experience sounds as if it could have happened almost anywhere, but I’m happy to hear it’s fixed. I think buying a GM Certified vehicle is a wise choice.
CSA
Thanks for getting back to us with the results (rare occurrence unfortunately). Glad to hear things worked out. Which two tires were rotated?
Ed B.
Thats basically how I feel, they put their less experienced guy on the job and hoped for the best. Case in point, GM certified vehicle has a 117 point inspection, I had a LED light on top of the cab out (actually not real cheap they had to order new light), wiper fluid nozzle on blade was cracked (had to order), window squeaked when rolled up or down, car was not detailed inside or out when picked up, plus alignment was out. Now mostly minor things BUT all on the 117 point inspection list, and all checked off as “inspected” ut umm maybe checked off but not inspected.
They rotated the back to front and switched them according to the service manager. Well the truck rides great now and they fixed all the minor problems and I am happy with the truck, this is my third GMC and I always had a good truck.
David
Thanks For The Feedback. I Guess " . . . service manager did say he put their more experienced guy on it this time." Is A Euphemism For Not Letting The Trainee Do It Again.
Thats really funny, but its not at the same time, that cost me a lot of time, headache and stress
I guess thats more than two tires sorry about that.
I Just Bought An 09 GM Certified Impala And Was Skeptical About The 117 Point Inspection, But Not About The Fantastic Factory Warranty (Balance Of 5 year / 100,000 Mile Drivetrain) Plus (Extended) 48 Month / 48,000 Mile Bumper-To-Bumper.
The way I understand it is that the dealer pays $400 to “certify” the vehicle. Who knows what they do for the inspection ? I didn’t care. I checked it out myself. Besides, it was only 15 months old and had 10,000 miles.
CSA
That’s a big part of the reason why I bought the vehicle, 2008, 22,000 miles, 4x4, snow plow package, plus much more and I have the balance of the 5 year/100,000 mile warranty plus the 12 month extended bumper to bumper. Also I owned two GMC trucks prior, still have the one and its a work horse. I just wish the dealer did what they said without having to fight about it and prove it. Do I really have to convince them the truck pulls, or are they going to try and tell me its because its a heavy duty truck and they do that, really?