Car pulling to the left

izzzzythedog

ball joint
trackrod end
steering rack
wishbone
wheel bearing
brake issue
caster/camber angle
tyre problem

take your pick
check your tyre pressures , no joy ? , jack the car up and try turning the wheel the cars pulling towards , is it hard to turn ? no ? pull at the wheel bottom first to feel for clicks then side to side , you will then know if theres an easy fault and its very likely the fault will be spotted at mot time

its very unlikely to be tracking , it would need to be a serious amount out to effect a car , almost all pulling is down to something else such as binding brakes or ruined wheel bearings

jack_of_all

Dear Ferris, Your problem became more apparent after correcting tyre pressures, suggesting that incorrect pressures were disguising the symptoms. Your tyre ware alone does indicate tracking but this can have its causes. Izzzzythedog has put up a list of possibles I think in response to Pras1011. about first half of these can cause poor tracking and should be eliminated by your impending MOT test, and no poor tracking will not fail the MOT. Have the MOT test done first. If any parts are replaced that may be causing this then the alignment should be corrected anyway at the time of repair, Get your new tyres on with correct pressures then check for symptoms agian, sounds like you might need them for the MOT anyway. If you get pulling after this then conceder the the rest of izzzy's list, Your tracking would have to be well out but failed suspension components can put it well out. You also say its worse driving slowly, if it is well out tracking it can be, the scrubbing effect of poor tracking at higher speeds cuts tyre grip and so cuts the pulling effect. Don't go to any expense unitl you know your suspension component are OK. This I my best elimination process with a money saving approach.

jack_of_all

Dear Pras1011, Its sounds like London driving is knocking the living daylights out of the suspension on your cars. If your wheel balancing is correct and you,ve had 2 alignments, did they thoroughly check all the supension components first. You say its all over the place rather than just pulling to one side. If you have excessive play in suspension parts then the tension created between components when turning will temporarily stop the symptoms. I just struggle to think how such play could get past even the quickest inspection at the wheel alignment process, unless they just didn't check at all. I did fit a budget lower arm to my car last year and the rubber used to make the front bush was so soft I could feel it juddering through the steering wheel, replaced it with a different make but still a budget part but tougher rubber it was fine again, So play can result in steering wheel judder but I believe this is rare and usually down to wheel balancing. Don't know if you have an MOT test coming any time soon but I think I would definately have all the suspension components checked soon.