Tacoma Pulls To The Right

Throw up an alignment sheet. If it's that noticeable it will most likely not be road grade. The alignment numbers will tell us quite a bit

 

That was my thought. Drive through a puddle and look at your tire tracks to see if the truck is straight. Maybe rear axle has shifted.

 

Check your rear leaf springs. I finally figured out why mine was pulling to the right. My drivers side rear leaf spring has a broken leaf.

 

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to chime in here as I’m having a similar issue. I recently bought a 2022 Tacoma TRD sport long bed, and put less than 1K miles on it before I noticed it was pulling to the right.

Took it to the dealership, they did an alignment and sent me on my way… the problem persisted.

Long story short, after 5 trips to the dealership and having them check everything recommended by Toyota, they told me there is nothing out of spec and that if the problem persists, to take it up with Toyota as a possible lemon.

I hope to find a solution for this instead of having to go through that process. Or maybe if if enough people are having this issue they will find out what the problem is.

 

@Jwater98 Yes, this sounds like exactly what I’m dealing with! The dealership told me the same thing. I ended up contacting Toyota and making a claim for buy back. Hopefully that works out. Through my research I wasn’t able to find many others with the issue but I wonder if it could end up being a recall situation if there are.

 

My 2023 has a slight pull to the right.

 

hard to imagine someone could not diagnose and fix this or, that toyota did not send a rep/engineer to the dealer to have a look at it.

glad to hear they are replacing it. i wonder what their plans are with the truck afterward?

 

@Jwater98 Your story sounds exactly like mine. They did every test, even called the “master mechanic” from this region. Everything was within spec so they said it was all they could do, and that the next step would be to contact Toyota directly and go through the lemon process. I am still waiting on a call back from them (said it would take 30 days for their response after my claim.)

Anyways I totally understand your frustration because a brand new vehicle that costs over $50K should be driving straight down the road no question. I have never been in a vehicle that does this unless it needed an alignment in which case the alignment fixed the pulling.

@redneck pilot Have you gone back for an alignment? I’m curious if you might be having the same issue. If you get an alignment and its still drifting to the right then I’d say there’s a problem.

 

I seem to have a similar issue but it is intermittent at best for me. When it does drift it takes noticeable effort to keep it straight and it doesn't seem to be wind or specific road crown related. For others experiencing this issue does it happen during all drives, only on certain roads, does it come and go on different drives of the same road?

 

your aero shark fins could be out of alignment causing aerodynamic drag...but probably not. i bet it's the tires.

 

In my case perhaps. Happened new from dealer, they've been recently rotated but I haven't driven it much since to compare. It would be odd that it doesn't do it constantly though.

 

Roads are graded for rain. If it were pulling to the left, then yeah maybe you have a problem. Pulling to the right - probably just the road and a vehicle more susceptible.

 

I can't believe they lemoned it, and ordered a new for this. It should of went to body shop put on frame rack and measurements taken. Has to be something simple. Probably is dealers are just parts replacement shops, for the most part. Should of went to expert alignment shop. Dealer should of sent it there.

 

Lots of chatter here.

Yet no one, not even the OP has posted an actual alignment sheet for us to look at. And while I might have missed it, it seems no one went to anything but a dealer or a big box store for an alignment.

2 big alignment quality factors. Tech skill and effort and a properly calibrated machine. Having both of those will either result in a great alignment or a list of what needs repair.

The lemon law ploy is a dealer rouse to get someone to buy another truck. Toyota certainly isn't going to do a buyback with no evidence and 'master mechanics' just shrugging their shoulders.

Yes, you *can* have both the tech and the machine in a dealer or a big box shop. But your odds of getting both in one place, together, are much higher in a more specialized shop. Like one that does a lot of work for local auto-x cars. There is nothing magical about the Tacoma suspension that requires a truck shop to do the work. Just that good tech and machine.

 

I bugged dealer for my first 5k service, they didn't put it on a machine and just drove it down one side street near the dealership and said they didn't notice it. After I drive it a bit more I'll bring it to a third party if it continues to act up and I'll post the sheet.

 

If you drive it on the wrong side of the road, does it still pull right?

 

if it's not the tires, i bet it's the rear axle. if the u-bolts weren't torqued down properly, they may have shifted a bit. most shops won't mess with the rear axle, unfortunately.

it's astonisingly hard to find a good alignment tech these day. that's why i avoid getting alignments unless absolutely necessary.

 

I haven't had the opportunity to try yet (I've thought about it). It seems to happen and not happen on the same roads at various times, and these are roads I've driven with another vehicle that doesn't exhibit similar pulling. I've gone back and forth on it being just really windy on somedays, certain road crowns, or an actual issue.

I'll probably take @cryptolime's advice and check all relevant fasteners.

 

When mine pulls to the right, by the time I get stopped I am in front of a donut shop.

 

I don't know if this problem has been addressed,nor did I read every post,, but I have been doing alignments for 35 years. The problem I see here is very obvious. The the caster is to low on the right front. [yes I know it is in specs.] but you need to give the right front wheel at least 1/2 to 3/4 degree more caster on the right front wheel over the left wheel to compensate for the road crown. SO lets say left front caster is +2 degrees make the right side + 2.5 or 2.75 degrees..This may make the truck drift slightly to the left on a real flat true road. Hope this helps out. GOOD LUCK !!