I was driving home last night and my car began to vibrate and pull to the left. It was worse the slower I drove.
Help us out a little. More details will help in figuring this out. Year? Mileage? Maintenance history? Anything else interesting happen before this? It could be anything to a defective or damaged tire to a bad wheel bearing to loose lugnuts.
It is a 2000 monte carlo with 130,000 miles. I think the struts may need to be replaced but I can’t afford to do it right now. I’m taking it to have the tires rotated and balanced in the morning.
I don’t know if this matters but I was struck on the left front side 4 years ago…had to replace the whole front fender but there have been no issues other than my brother n’ law told me I needed to get the struts replaced.
Since no one else has said so, driving this vehicle in this condition could be hazardous – to you or others. The problem may not be expensive to fix, but you need to get it diagnosed. It sounds like a suspension/steering problem. Have you checked to see if the left front tire is flat?
Struts could cause this problem if the strut mount or strut rod has broken, but they aren’t the most likely cause. I’d worry more about tie rods, wheel bearings, and ball joints.
I stopped and checked the tires as soon as it started. They are fine. So I’m assuming rotating and balancing the tires will not solve the problem.
It could be any one of a number of things. Some possibilities could be:
Tire pressure. (Run over a nail maybe? It doesn’t have to be flat; just low.)
Halfshaft.
Ball joint.
Stuck brake caliper piston.
When you have the tires rotated and balanced (which is not likely going to cure this problem) have them rotate the left front wheel by hand before removing it. It should rotate freely. If it’s hard to turn it could be a brake caliper piston not retracting.
Check the tire pressure with a gauge first. The eyeball method doesn’t work real well with radial tires.