2002sheds

Hi All,
I have just had my car aligned for the third time in three months. First was shortly after I purchased the vehicle and replaced the tires. Then I replaced the Lower Control Arms, and had the vehicle aligned. Shortly after the alignment, the vehicle started to pull to the right. Since the alignment was "under warranty", I took it in again yesterday to have the alignment checked and adjusted again.
Upon leaving the shop, all was good. However, a few blocks later (and since), the vehicle was pulling to the right again.
By coincidence, I had also taken my truck in for similar behavior, over even less miles. The shop called me to tell me that they had missed a worn ball joint the first time around, but found that to be the issue this time. They replaced it, and the truck tracks perfectly.
I am just wondering if there are components that may be worn that would not present themselves as problems while the vehicle is on the rack, but could show up while driving.
This is a very slight pull, as if a brake is dragging ever so slightly on that side. The vehicle has 99k+ miles on it, and the front brakes and rotors have been replaced, as were the aforementioned Lower Control Arms.
Any help will be greatly appreciated!


Thanks,
David

mtnrat

Who is doing the alignment and on what machine?

2002sheds

Hi Mtn,
All work is being done on a 2008 base Cayenne V6. The first was done by a tire shop, and the next two Pep Boys (they were the only ones open late the night before a trip).


Thanks,
David

AGARubberDuck

I had a local indy, very reputable, screw up my alignment after I replaced a majority of the front end. This, along with other incidents made me lose trust and I'll never bring another vehicle to them again. They did end up getting it corrected, but it pulled to the right very noticeably after their first attempt.

I wonder if there is something baffling about the alignment procedure on our Cayennes.

alpesh26

I'm having similar issues on my 2008 base v6 too. When I got the car, the upper control arm bushes were shot so I had those replaced and had the alignment done on a Hunter machine at my Porsche specialist.
The car still pulled to the right so I had the garage have a look at it again and they swapped the front tyres over, this seemed to make a difference, so I had 4 new Michelin tyres put on (the old tyres were old and cracking anyway) and had the car aligned on a Hunter machine.
The alignment was way off on the front and back so i'm not sure the garage aligned it properly (if at all) after replacing the bushes.

Fast forward a month or so, and the car feels like its pulling to the right again and it takes conscious effort to constantly correct it. I keep getting the standard response of "its the road camber for drainage" spiel but this is not how a Porsche (or any other car) should drive.

I'm in a similar position to you wondering if another component has failed/failing but can't see it because when I drive my mates car on the same road it doesn't pull at all.

2002sheds

Thanks, AGA, Alpesh,
I hear you...I started to wonder if it is "just the way it is"... but then I got my truck back from the shop, and I was reminded that it doesn't have to be this way...

It looks like I am heading in for try number 4... :-)


Thanks,
David

alpesh26

Let us know if they find anything not right, mines been on the lift a couple of times and they couldn't find anything. It's going back in on Saturday for diff oil change so i'll get them to have another look.

I'll report back if they find anything. Btw 2002sheds, do you have air suspension or the spring and shock setup? Mines on the spring and shock setup.

Dilberto

Make sure the camber/caster and toe bolts are not stripped either.

Torre

Another "pulls to the right":er joining in. My car was alingned at the Porsche Center, but this center is very new and has been open only for around 2 years, might not be the most experienced mechanics on their payroll.

My friends Audi S7 drives arrow straight on the same roads my car keeps pulling to the right, and he has wider tires than I do.

wrinkledpants

It's your tires. If you just replaced your lower control arms, that means you've already got uneven tire wear on the front, even if it's barely perceptible. These cars are extremely sensitive to tire wear in regards to alignment.

Typically what people do is find out they need control arms and have slightly uneven tire wear. Alignment is done, and now that things are firmed up in the front, the correct alignment results in the car pulling from the tires. Customer brings car back, and alignment shop corrects as much as they can to fix the pull. Customer eventually replaces tires (either now or in the future), and has new tires put on that should track straight, but because the alignment shop tried to account for the pull, the car is now pulling in another direction.

The alignment won't correct for uneven tire wear since the car is sitting still during the procedure.

My suggestion is that people plan doing their control arms with a change of tire. I wouldn't bother getting it re-aligned now unless you plan on replacing all the tires. Find out if pep boys will cut you a deal on some new rubber and then re-do the alignment. Otherwise, the car is going to pull unless they really change the alignment to combat this. At that point, you're going to need another alignment to specs when you get new tires.

2002sheds

Hi Wrinkled,
The tires were brand new as of 2k miles ago. I will take the vehicle back to Pep Boys and ask them to test drive the vehicle this time (they did the alignment for free, since it had been less than 90 days, so they got the vehicle in and out as quickly as possible), and rotate the tires when done and retest.

alexaqui

On my 13 CD, I had the same issues after my wife nailed a series of potholes and destroyed the alignment. After three alignments (2 at an indy and 1 at the dealer), the car always wanted to pull to the right. I gave up after that and just drove the car. 10-12k miles later, the car drives straight as an arrow. The only thing that I can think of is that even the 50 miles or so the car was driven out of alignment wore the tires in in a manner that caused the car to track unevenly. I have 3 printouts that show the car is spot on, yet it pulled... We also swapped tires around with little impact.

Right now I am super happy because the car is driving so great again!

2002sheds

Hi All,
Good points, and it makes sense because the wheels can be perfectly aligned without any regard to the tires.
Alpesh, the car is the base model, so I am pretty sure it does not have air suspension.

2002sheds

Hi All,
I took the Cayenne back to the tire shop that sold me the tires and aligned the vehicle a few months back. They rotated the tires and adjusted (very slightly) the air pressure, and all is well !
I appreciate all of the advice, and will keep it in mind should this not last.


Thanks,
David

BlackTurboS

I agree with wrinkledpants on the tires...
I had the same issue on the 09 CTTS after new tires, brakes, and alignment... I did some research on Rennlist and found that other Cayenne owners were recommending a RoadForce tire balancing machine. My indy was not using a RoadForce. I took it to a local indy who had a RoadForce and it fixed the problem. The balancing was slightly off on the first indy shop, and the RoadForce corrected the problem. Now it drives straight. This thing is very finicky with tires and alignment.