Diagnosing a Pull to the Right problem

[BlackBeard1790]

Attached is a picture of my alignment specs. Having a hard pull to the right still. I recently put new Mickey Thompson Baja Boss MTs 35x12.50r17 and I’ve rotated them multiple times and that hasn’t changed anything so I think I’ve ruled the tires out. Went to get the alignment check and seems all good here too. No weird sounds or anything coming from the front end. Sort of at a loss now so coming here for additional thoughts.

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[GATORB8]

No brake drag or heavy dusting on the passenger side?

 

[BlackBeard1790]

No heavy dusting. I haven’t noticed a brake drag, but I plan on taking the caliper and pads off this afternoon to check how everything is looking and make sure the pistons seem to be in good working order. I did take it for a spin and when I got back I put a heat sensor on the rotor to see if the passenger was hotter than the driver and they were both pretty equal in temp.

 

[JT1]

Equal turns of the wheel both directions? Have you tried the electrical power steering reset?

 

[SadRobot]

This isn't very helpful but my drifts passenger as well. I've yet to figure out what is causing it and about given up.

 

[jellis4148]

Worst case scenario here. I had a ball joint castle nut that came loose. One time it would drive okay, and the next it would pull left. Alignment checked out. Could not figure it out for the life of me. After I found that and fixed the problem she drives straight and smooth.

 

[BlackBeard1790]

Equal turns of the wheel both directions? Have you tried the electrical power steering reset?

I haven’t tried that yet. I need to find a video or something on how to do that. Got any recommendations?

 

[BlackBeard1790]

Worst case scenario here. I had a ball joint castle nut that came loose. One time it would drive okay, and the next it would pull left. Alignment checked out. Could not figure it out for the life of me. After I found that and fixed the problem she drives straight and smooth.

Yeah, good idea. I’ll check those later today too

 

[JT1]

I haven’t tried that yet. I need to find a video or something on how to do that. Got any recommendations?

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/pull-to-right-not-an-alignment-issue-then-what.75753/

It's a couple posts down.

 

[BlackBeard1790]

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/pull-to-right-not-an-alignment-issue-then-what.75753/

It's a couple posts down.

Awesome! Thank you. After reading through that, it seems my issues are the same as OP on that post. I’ll give this a try first after work today and hopefully it helps. If not, then back to the list of troubleshooting steps you all have provided to me. Thanks again

 

[BlackBeard1790]

Did you check the fuses? Especially the power steering fuse.

Gonna check that this afternoon. If the fuse blew then I would probably notice because I wouldn’t have power steering, but I’m going to try the power steering reset.

 

[LukeDagny]

What are you using for a steering damper? My problem was solved by going back to the OEM damper.

I installed a Clayton 1 1/2" lift on my JLUR with new Rancho shocks and Rancho steering damper. After installation, it wanted to go right. I had an alignment done, with similar good alignment numbers like yours, but my Jeep still wanted to go right.

The Rancho steering damper eliminated the shimmy when going over bridge or road seams, but in my mind, it influenced the ability to go straight. It seemed like the high gas pressure in the damper was always pushing on my steering rack.

My "pull" was if I took my hand off the wheel, it immediately headed to the right berm. Driving down the road, I had to keep slight pressure to the left to go straight.

 

[BlackBeard1790]

What are you using for a steering damper? My problem was solved by going back to the OEM damper.

I installed a Clayton 1 1/2" lift on my JLUR with new Rancho shocks and Rancho steering damper. After installation, it wanted to go right. I had an alignment done, with similar good alignment numbers like yours, but my Jeep still wanted to go right.

The Rancho steering damper eliminated the shimmy when going over bridge or road seams, but in my mind, it influenced the ability to go straight. It seemed like the high gas pressure in the damper was always pushing on my steering rack.

My "pull" was if I took my hand off the wheel, it immediately headed to the right berm. Driving down the road, I had to keep slight pressure to the left to go straight.

I have the MetalCloak 2.5” Game Changer lift and Rocksport shocks so I decided to just go with their Rocksport steering stabilizer. That was actually one of the first things I checked. I disconnected it and went for a drive and it didn’t change anything. Still pulled to the right. No faster, no slower.

 

[drrags]

In my particular case, it was the unit bearing that was worn. You can test it by elevating the wheel off the ground and rock the wheel left-right and up-down. If it clicks, then it's worn.

 

[BlackBeard1790]

Update: I tried the power steering reset process and it seems to have resolved my issue. I first checked all of my brakes and made sure the pads were good, caliper pistons were good, and that I didn’t have a small rock or hardened mud or clay wedged between the caliper and rotor. I then walked through the rest process. Took it for a spin and it only seemed to help a little. I felt like maybe I didn’t fully turn all the way left and then right and then when I came back to center I over shot the center point so I decided to do the reset process again. After the second time, my steering stopped pulling right and it was driving straight again.

For anyone else having similar issues, this process was super easy and quick. It will be my first troubleshooting/diagnosis step from now on.

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