car pull to left

[Keithuk]

noticed mine does it bit but not sure if its just me being paranoid as i just had 4 wheel alignment done. not noticed it doing it before but i wasn't really looking for it with it being brand new.

i can take it back and get them to double check it but the print out is spot on so just wondered what other cars were like.

Well if you've had an alignment check an nothing is out of spec I assuming VW didn't do this check there is nothing you can do about it.

Mine travels straight as a die on any road surface.

[Radek]

Oh my, I hope you didnt buy my old GTI The crashed and badly repaired one...

[mkviken]

Don't think I did as I bought new. Taking it back tomorrow to have it checked again.

[am1w]

Mine tracked pretty straight until I had my Monza Shadow refurbished twice. It pulled very slightly to the left. Then, as if my magic, after a day or two it was back to normal again. How strange I thought at the time. Maybe it took time for the tyre to bed in?

[JoeGTI]

I had this problem in my old MKV GTI after I had one front tyre replaced (following pot hole damage). I only replaced one tyre because they had only a few thousand miles on them and the opposite tyre looked perfect! However, the very slight difference in tread depth between the "old" tyre and the new one caused the car to pull sideways on acceleration.

I swapped the wheels from front to back and that solved it. Might be worth a try, swapping the wheels.

As others have said, any car will drift slightly to the left if you let go of the wheel. But it should be very very slight, you shouldn't have to consciously hold the wheel straight the whole time.

[mkviken]

yep thats my thoughts too

if i let go of the wheel i would expect it to drift to the left slightly but it just seems more apparent now.

as it is at the moment the wheel is slightly steering to the right going straight as its pulling so the steering wheel is right but maybe tracking wrong somewhere?

the car has 1500 miles on all tyres are as new, check pressures at least once a week, everything is tight etc and its only started to do it since i had the 4 wheel alignment done. its something that i never noticed beforehand and I'm really picky with these sort of things

i fitted the WALK myself and ran it for a couple of days before i got alignment done and it ran straight then so it must be the alignment has changed something. the alignment was barely out when i got it checked and re-set.

on the print out everything looks perfect, the thrust angle and steering position etc are spot on 0' but something has changed



the only thing i can think of is VW build the right hand drive cars to counter steer to the right which is unlikely and now mine is straight it follows the cambers worse?!?

[p3asa]

Mine tracked pretty straight until I had my Monza Shadow refurbished twice. It pulled very slightly to the left. Then, as if my magic, after a day or two it was back to normal again. How strange I thought at the time. Maybe it took time for the tyre to bed in?

Now that you say that, I remember leaving the garage and thinking the steering was really pulling badly to the left on normal roads.
I had no time to take it back as I had to go home and get my gear and go to work.
I kind of forgot about the steering for a couple of days but when I tried it again, it was much improved. Still pulls slightly to the left as I previously said but that might be the camber.

I could be talking bollocks here but I think I've read about the steering being able to self adjust after several miles?!

[p3asa]

the only thing i can think of is VW build the right hand drive cars to counter steer to the right which is unlikely and now mine is straight it follows the cambers worse?!?

Could they have used the wrong settings from a different Golf?

I know when mine was done he had a job finding the right car as there were literally hundreds of options. I wouldn't have known this but the centre I had mine done at has a monitor in the reception and you can watch exactly what is on his monitor.

Just a thought.

[mkviken]

the settings were for 09> gti so I'm sure the settings were right but theres something fractionally out with the alignment IMO

will have it checked again tomorrow and get another print out done

[mike.]

I got my alignment done five times at three different places, after hitting a pothole, and it still pulls slightly to the left.
If I drive on the wrong side of the road it then pulls to the right so I just assume it is following the camber and is OK.
I have never noticed any unusual wear on the tyres so I have just left it.