Firestone says truck's perfectly aligned.

So, they say since after they swapped tires it still pulls right it must be the rack. They say take to the stealership and if they don't find it the Firestone manager will go with and mansplain it to them.

My question for you fine folks is, is there any way its the rack and if so, how and if not why the hell aren't there any good alignment shops in Joplin MO? (the later was rhetorical)

 

Ok so what's wrong you have a pull, abnormal tire wear, what's the deal??? Do you have a print out of the alignment you can post a pic of.

 

You have a sticky caliper.

I’ll be here all week.

edit: after seeing the “perfect” alignment sheet... I’m going to retract my statement. Take it to a different shop.

 

09 TRD OR with 6k mile Cooper ST Maxx 265 75 16

Pulls right. Pulled right before and Firestone straighted it out. Started pulling slightly again shortly before new tires. Afterwards it was about the same and has progressed to the point it can't let go the wheel without finding a ditch.

So I drop it off today and comment this is 3rd time I've been back and gal starts preparing me for the inevitable 'it's your tires' call so when I get that call I say wait a minute! I just rotated tires last weekend and made no difference that's when I start hearing about the steering rack problem 'not common but I have seen it'. So is that a known issue or no?

 

Please tell me they didn’t leave caster there and say the alignment is perfect.

 

Thought of that. Pad wear is pretty even side to side and rotors seem to spin with about the same resistance. I know calipers stick restricting side to side movement but do pistons not release?

 

Is that the final caster setting?

 

Yup

 

It’s the tires. The ST MAXX have some asymmetric thread pattern. It causes them to pull slightly to the right. There’s mention of it around here some where.

I have the same tires and the same issue.

 

That's my understanding. The manager was gone and the printer is broken so that's what he text to the girl.

 

Then the Firestone manager is an idiot.

 

It pulled right before with some all season hankooks

 

Swap the front tires side to side and see if it pulls left. If you want to test the rack, jack the front end up and start the motor. If the steering wheel turns to the right all by itself, then there's a problem with the rack. You have a better chance of winning the megamillions lottery than having a rack that causes a pull to 1 side.

 

If it’s because of an assymetric tread pattern like the ST MAXX, this will not diagnose it’s. If you swap the tires side-to-side it will still pull to the right. No matter how you cross them or reorient them, they will still cause a pull to the right.

 

Ok. Might not be the tires but they are notorious for this.

 

Agreed. Now finding someone competent is my next problem. If I can I'm sure I can get my money back from Firestone.

Just wanted to ask if there's any real danger of having a steering rack problem that would cause this issue.?

 

Didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up

 

The red should be an indicator the alignment certainly isn’t perfect. You’re way below the low end of the range. I’d focus on that first (Maybe target 2-2.5 caster) and then reassess ...

 

I'll look into that. Thanks!

 

Imo. I doubt it’s the rack. Until you get the alignment done properly and get that caster corrected. The truck is gonna wander all over the road. Get the alignment corrected then see what happens. The higher the the caster the better. Have the alignment guy adjust caster, camber then toe in that order.