2017 Dodge Journey- Pulls right

Maintenance/Repairs
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2017 Journey pulling to the right since we drove it off the lot. Taken to Tuttle-Click Dodge in Irvine 3-4 times c/o pulling to the right. they did wheel allignment each time, didn’t help. this morning we took it for the 4th time. they didn’t even have a record of the complaint it’s pulling to the right, only record was for allignments. they’re adjusting their records, ommitting the complaint to help there maintainence & reliability numbers.

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Hopefully they are doing this on their dime and not yours. If they are getting the SUV into specifications for alignment… no RED numbers on the before and after sheet… then I’d suspect tires. Swap the front tires side to side if possible (some tires are directional so that won’t work).

If the problem persists, you might need to find a specialty alignment shop.

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Besides alignment, tire and brake problems can cause pulling too. Ask shop if it would be diagnostic to swap tires right/left as an experiment. If pull direction changes, could provide a good clue to what’s wrong. While doing that they could hand spin each of the wheel to make sure brakes aren’t locking up.

Another way to discover brake-lock, feel wheels after a drive which didn’t require much braking. If one wheel feels much hotter, inspect brakes on that wheel.

One further idea, use a tape measure to determine the ride height at all four corners. Park on level surface. Right vs left ride height should be very close.

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Wouldn’t it be a valid experiment to temporarily swap directional front tires side to side? I’m thinking for 5-10 miles, or enough to determine if the pull still exists.

Is there something about directional tires that would make the results invalid?

Joe

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I think swapping directional tires side to side will work to identify the problem… but how many would then bother to move or replace them?

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I think most everyone would, if they thought it would stop the lateral pulling they were complaining about. I guess the tires would have to be removed from the rims, turned around, and re-mounted. That shouldn’t be a show stopper expense.

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I was thinking of leaving them on the rims, and swap the tires-and-rims as they are. Just as a triage step.

Sure the tread direction would be incorrect, but I can’t think of how that would invalidate the experiment.

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