I took my car in for a weird steering issue... when the wheel is straight, it goes straight, but the wheel wants to self-center about 1/2" to the right. I was told by my alignment shop's service writer that directional tires can cause the car to pull to one side or another and I should try swapping on a different set of wheels with non-directional tires to see if the problem goes away. Has anyone ever heard this before? I may try it but am a bit skeptical...

Looking for some help here on what could be causing the problem. I'd rather not replace my Helix camber plates with more expension plates that are caster-adjustable.

 

both my G35C and MCS are running directional tires (S03 and GS-D3
respectively). both steering are at noon on a flat road, and slightly
towards the left when the road has a crown.


check your tire pressure.

 

Man this is right up there with the other post where the service guy said "all MINIs pull to the right". How can they say this crap with a straight face?

 

Well... she is pulling to the right. But I agree... that explanation smells like crap to me. If I thought that a tire was causing my car to pull to one side or the other on a flat road I'd get rid of it immediately.

 

Well, my Parada Spec 2s were assymetrical, and they DEFINITELY caused my car to pull.

 

This is an alignment issue, particularly because your steering wheel wants move on its own to one side.

 

I would check tire pressure first.(easiest things first) Large pressure differences side to side can cause pulling.Test drive on a straight flat road or deserted crowned road so you can drive with car centered over the crown. Drive it in both directions if possible to rule out other variables.

Then switch tires side to side. Internal belt separations can cause pull.
If car now pulls the other way, it's the tire. Check treads for damage, roundness and unevenness.

If car pulls the same way or goes straight, check the alignment and suspension components for wear, damage, and tightness of fasteners.
Minis definately do not "all pull to the right"

 

Are you perhaps experiencing "tram-lining?" On certain roads, the tire tread pattern clashes with the grooves in the road, causing some weird handling issues. In SoCal, certain parts of our highways have grooves to deal with wet weather, making for some weird road-feel sensations.

Otherwise, the alignment person is just trying to sell you more tires...

 

With coilovers and all poly bushings she definitely follows the ruts and crowns in the road, particularly under thottle. Appreciate the thought, but I'm pretty sure this is something different.

 

BDD, thanks for the suggestions. Tire pressures are even left to right. The front's are a couple of pounds below what I normally run... need to fill up a bit.
Driving in the right lane on the highway, pulls to the right if you take your hands off the wheel as you would expect. Driving in the left lane, still pulls to the right, even though the crown would tend to make it pull to the left. Also, back & forth over the same stip of relatively level parking lot, taking hands off the wheel and it pulls to the right.
Unbeknownst to me, my alignment guy had already rotated my tires (they're directional so he couldn't really do what he wanted to do). The tires only have about 4-5k left on them, so I'll probably just drive it as-is and see if new tires fix the problem.
Already had Eric @ Helix nut&bolt the car and he found nothing loose.

I just got it back from the alignment guy yesterday... he actually adjusted the subframe to try and change the caster. Feels a little better but I can still tell there's a problem. I'm pretty sure if I had caster-adjustable camber plates we could dial-out the problem pretty easily. Anybody want to recommend a set? Are there caster-adjustable plates that site under the frame? I have an M7 STB.