Corrective Action When Vehicle Pulls To One Side
Test conditions before and during the road test
-- Check all suspension components on front and rear axle for damage.
-- Check tire pressure and correct if necessary.
-- Check the tires for external damage. Holes, cuts, bulges in the side wall, flat spots from braking and/or damage to the tread.
-- Ask the customer if a tire had been damaged by a nail or similar object and perhaps repaired by a tire dealer. Such tires may have to be replaced.
-- Check tires for even wear and tread depth.
-- Are all tires of the same type, manufacture and tread pattern?
-- If the tires are non-directional, ensure that all DOT classifications on the tire face outwards. It may be that the vehicle's wheels and tires were already changed around at an earlier date.
-- Are the tire brands factory recommended as initial equipment?
-- For the road test, use a level, straight driving surface that does not slope off to one side and does not have ruts.
-- Perform the road test with the customer under the conditions specified above. The customer should demonstrate the problem.
There should not be any crosswind when road test takes place.
If the complaint is justified, it is recommend to rotate the wheels and tires as described on the following pages.
Before beginning, observe the following notes, otherwise all effort will be for nothing!
Mark tires/wheels before the first rotation, for example LF, RF, LR, RR.
After rotating wheels or reversing the tire on its rim, observe very carefully how the vehicle behaves during the road test. Note what was replaced and how.
The intensity or any possible change to the one-sided pulling should be assessed.
To do this, it is absolutely essential that the road tests are always performed by the same person on the same road. It is best to drive the "test course" in both directions.
Replacing a tire with a new tire does not guarantee that pulling to one side will be eliminated. Therefore, it is recommended to perform a targeted exchange of the wheels as described below.
If there are large differences in the tread depth of the tires on the front and rear axles, the tires with the deeper tread should always be mounted on the rear axle.