VW Golf Mk 4 TDI

sarahmarie

Does anyone have a VW Golf TDI Mk4 that pulls to the left all the time? I took it to the garage to get the tracking done but it still pulled to the left. I then took it back and asked them to check it again. They checked the air pressure in the tyres and made sure they were all the same, but my car still pulls to the left. I know that the road is slightly curved so that it would pull to the left slightly, but it is quite a significant amount.

Can anybody help or offer any advice as to whether this is a common fault or if they know what else I can try.

Thank you in advance

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Find a flat piece of land and drive it without holding the wheel. See what happens under acceleration and while not accelerating.

blued

Did they find that your wheel alignment (tracking) was out? If the tyres were badly worn due to this then the car can still pull to the left and will do so until you replace the tyres. I had this on an old Cavalier. Luckily I was due to replace the tyres anyway. If your tyres are worn badly on the inside/outside you could try swapping the wheels front to back to see if this helps your problem.

sarahmarie

the garage said that the wheel alignment was out and they fixed it. They gave me the print out to prove they had aligned the wheels spot on.
If I were to get new tyres, would I need all 4 tyres or can I get away with the two front ones?

Strider590

Everytime ive had tracking adjusted on any of my cars it has ALWAYS left the car pulling to the left..... Now I just never get the tracking done.

They're all a bunch of numpties, they align one wheel parallel with the other, ignoring the manufacturer specification for toe in/out AND ignoring the position of the steering wheel/rack.

The tracking might seem fine to them (both wheels parallel), but that doesn't mean that the steering is centred with the steering rack.
It'd be like lining up the front wheel of a bike in line with the frame and ignoring the position of the handlebars.

blued

sarahmarie wrote: »

the garage said that the wheel alignment was out and they fixed it. They gave me the print out to prove they had aligned the wheels spot on.
If I were to get new tyres, would I need all 4 tyres or can I get away with the two front ones?

It would only be the front tyres that you'd need to replace.

First go and check your front tyres for uneven wear. Your tyres might look something like this (although this is extremely worn and I'd hope the garage doing the tracking would have pointed this out).



If they are badly worn like this you'll need to replace them. If they are worn on the inside or outside but not too badly then you can swap the front/back wheels over and hopefully that will sort your problem. 75% of the centre tread of the tyre needs to be above 1.6mm to be legal so a bit of wear on the inside/outside is acceptable.

sarahmarie

my tyres were a little worn on one side but had the 2 front tyres replaced. i asked the garage to make sure the steering wheel was centred when they did the tracking, i've checked the tyre pressure and made sure they were all even, i've driven on a flat road to check if its the curve of the road......i think my car was built to pull to the left as nothing seems to have corrected it. any other advice or suggestions would be appreciated

TiTheRev

FYI, a car will ALWAYS pull slightly to the left. It is the way a car is set up at manufacture to avoid any head on if the drivers dozes off or cannot control the steering. Even a brand new car will pull left.

wba31

Has it done it since you had it?

I had a VW Bora that needed two new ball joints or something on the two front wheels (knockin noise when turning). My dad did the job, and thought that it didnt matter which one went on which side... turns out it does, and the steering was all out, switched them round and it was fine... so if that job has been done (wrong) it could be that?

blued

TiTheRev wrote: »

FYI, a car will ALWAYS pull slightly to the left. It is the way a car is set up at manufacture to avoid any head on if the drivers dozes off or cannot control the steering. Even a brand new car will pull left.

While this may be true for some cars you certainly shouldn't feel it when driving. It would only be noticeable on a completely flat road when you let go of the wheel.

When was the last MOT?

johnnyroper

rather than getting just tracking done you need a four wheel alignment and all the bushes/suspension items checking.

as said on our roads you will notice most cars will not so much pull to left but wonder to left with the camber of road.if holding wheel in straight ahead position you should not notice it though.

as above you need to try it on a level surface and see what happens then it should not pull when on flat surface.