I have an 03 silverado 2wd ext cab short bed recently Ive noticed that while driving the truck pulls to the right so I thought it needed an alignment, but still it pulls and I measured both front ends, and found that the left front is about 1 inch lower than the left front What may be the problem?
I had a similar Right pull problem on a new Chev 2000 4x4 Ext Cab LT.....
Alignment did not help....
I replaced the Firestone 265 P metric tires at 3800 miles with Michelin LT 265 LTX AT tires and the pull problem was gone.... but added some Road noise...
Swap the front tires from side to side, see if there is any change, if not, I'd be getting the alignment checked again at a different store. Did you get a printout with this alignment (you should "always" get a printout with an alignment...otherwise nothing could be done and you would have no way of knowing this)?
Ian
Before anyone mentions torsion bar adjustments, bad shocks, bad springs or anything else, check your tire pressure. If everything is kosher, then rotate your tires and see if the problem persists.
Cheers - Jonathan
While a print out is a good idea, finding an honest shop with skilled mechanics (notice I did not use the word technician) is even better. Someone sitting in the vehicle at the first reading, and then not there at the finish will give print out that can make it look like a lot was done.
Whitelightning
I guess that getting an honest shop goes without saying. But you are right....I've seen lots of "printouts" fudged by the front end boys. It's harder now with the camera machines, but it used to be easy with the strings.
Mechanics....technicians, call them whatever you want. What they call themselves has little to do with how good they actually are.
Ian
I disagree most strongly. A technician is a person trained to do something. If he sees something he hasn't seen before he gets lost. He's the guy that when you went in with a problem with electronic ignition said hell, pull it out and put a points distributor in it. He's usually the guy drags out a ton of test gear looking for exotic problems first instead of making sure the basics are good(you know, plugs wire cap and rotor) A mechanic on the other hand is a person skilled in the maintenance, repair and manufacture of machinery. He's the guy (or gal) that can look at something, and figure out what's wrong, and how to fix it even if he's never seen one before. Its an intuitive thing.
Whitelightning
You just proved my point.
Ian
I've Noticed that most all of the trucks are lower on the left front then the right front. Sometimes as much as a Inch. New right from the Dealer. It shouldn't though have any affect on a pulling problem under normal conditions. If you had a 4x4 you'd have torsion bars and you could easily correct that problem. Either your alignment is not correct and/or your have a tire causing the pull. I've found that MOST OF THE TIME that a pulling problem is the tire(s). Easiest thing to do is swap the front tires around. LF to RF, RF to LF. If it stays the same it's the alignment, if it goes straight now (Great- leave it be) or pulls the other way then it's a tire problem.
Make sure the Alignment Specs are in the center if possible, and there's about a -0.5 degree Caster split. Lower on the left then the right to compensate for Road Crown so it'll go straight.
HEY GREAT POINT YOU BROUGHT UP, I ALSO NOTICED THE DIFFERENCE IN HEIGHT BETWEEN THE LEFT FRONT AND THE RIGHT FRONT, I JUST FORGOT TO MENTION IT, SO I MEASURED AND NOTICED ABOUT AN INCH OF DIFFERENCE, BY THE WAY, WHY IS THERE A DIFFERENCE IN HIEGHT? ANYWAYS ILL SWAP THEN AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS, BUT CAN IT BE SOMETHING WITH THE SUSPENSION, SUCH AS A BAD SHOCK OR SPRING? WELL THANKS FOR THE HELP TAKE CARE
Could this be a clever design concept which compensates for the pitch of the road? Most roads have their high spot in the center and their low spot on the sides. This is why truckers always put more weight on the left side of their trucks than the do on the right side.
The design of a full-size Chevrolet truck distributes the weight in a symmetrical pattern, with the right and left sides nearly balanced. The steering wheel is on the left side, but it's weight is compensated by the tire jack on the right. However, there is one variable which causes the left side of the truck to always weigh more than the right side -- sometimes a little more, and sometimes a lot more.
The gas tank is located on the left side of the truck. Gas weighs 6.6 pounds per gallon. A full, 36 gallon tank on a long bed truck weighs 238 pounds. Add the weight of a single-occupant driver and the left side of the truck now weighs over 400 pounds more than the right side. This is approximately
10% of the vehicle's total weight that is off-centered to the left side of the vehicle.
Part of it is the Gas in the Gas Tank thats located on the Left side. But even then when low on fuel they still tend to lean to the left.
Shocks arn't going to change anything in ride hight, unless they happen to be Air Shocks, or Coil over shocks. Normal shocks just Dampen the Bounce. I've done enough Lower Jobs replacing the front Springs with new springs to lower the truck, and when done, it's still pretty much the SAME as before with the stock springs. I don't worry about it to much unless it's over a inch. Normally you don't notice it unless it's really bad anyway. It shouldn't screw up the handling or anything as long as the Alignment is done correctly.
It is true the Gas tank that's on the Left side will Cause the truck to lean more that way with a full tank, it still isn't level with a Empty tank either. Cars on the Dealer Lot also don't have full tanks of gas. They are almost always near empty. There's enough gas to go on a few test drives.
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