Pulls to the Right under Acceleration

Jul 10, 2006 4 Replies

I have a '82 Camry with 206K miles on it. Been a good car except that a couple of months ago it started pulling to the right a lot. I have new tires, balanced and had the front end aligned and it still pulls to the right. I normally do all my own mechanic work, but haven't done any on this car, yet. A friend of mine said my problem might be a bent tie rod. Does this sound plausible? Any ideas/help would be appreciated. Richard


=========================== A bent tie rod does not sound plausible if you had the alignment checked. The tie rods only "tie together" the steering rack to the wheels. There is a threaded adjustment to set "toe in" so if that's already been checked, you're OK there. Pulling under acceleration suggests to me uneven power delivery, which is provided by the axles. Obviously, this is just guessing, but there is a "carrier bearing" on the right drive axle. If that were binding at 206K miles, it would reduce power delivery to the right, with the effect that you'd be getting more power from the left, which would cause the car to "pull" to the right. In other words, if anything were binding on the right side, would be like applying the brakes on that one side only, which would cause the car to move in that direction. Axle replacement isn't difficult if you have the right tools, and know the order of procedures. Air gun of sufficient strength is very helpful. But perhaps at this mileage you've replaced the axles recently? Toyota now makes remanufactured axles, so for quality assurance I'd go with those. I don't know if you could detect any difference, but try lifting the car, and turning the left and right front wheels by hand. Try to move the axles up and down to see if there's any excess play. See if you hear or feel any roughness or resistance.

Because "Richard" could, he/she/it opin'd:

Loose mount on the engine/transaxle?

Bent tie rods should show up during the alignment . . . if your aligner is competent.

-Don

A broken belt in the tire does that, rotate your tires for a quick check

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required