2018 power wagon pulling to the right

[Tackett1980]

Hello all,
I bought a 2018 power wagon which was a demo model and had about 9k miles on it. It’s currently sitting at 41k miles and honestly I’m starting to hate it.

About 6 months ago the truck started to randomly pull to the right. I’m talking severe. You let go of the wheel and it just goes right over the line. So you have to fight the thing to keep a straight line. Well I let it go for a while until my tires started to feather/wear unevenly. I took it into the shop to have it aligned and the tires rotated. After the alignment and rotation, the truck still pulled to the right in the same exact fashion. I chalked it up to the tires being worn and just left it.

A few months later I noticed that both front tires were worn/cupped on the outside, right more than left. So I thought this will all be resolved once I put new tires on it, which I did today.

I put brand new tires on, had the shop align it again, took off and what do you know? It still pulls to the right in the exact same way.

I returned to the shop, they swapped sides with the tires to see if it was a tire issue, no change.

They put it back on the alignment and aligned it again but they said it was not really out again. I took it down the road, no change. Still pulling to the right.

I called the shop (it was closing time) and told them the issue remains, he said to bring it back and they would look harder at it, but he admitted they are really at a loss as to what the problem could be and he actually refunded my alignment.

So my question is, what gives? Anyone have any ideas?

 

[G. Mcpherson]

Go to the Thuren Suspension Website and look up Alignment Specs there. Have the Shop use those and see how it drives.

 

[crazy jerry]

Go to the Thuren Suspension Website and look up Alignment Specs there. Have the Shop use those and see how it drives.

im not saying what thuren wrote isnt good advice but you dont need his specs. mine was at 5.0* ds and 5.3* ps (ive since put boths sides about 5.0 simply to get rid of chassis lean) with slight toe in and it drove perfectly straight. hell i could let go of the wheel and it would go straight probly 1/4 mile until it hit pot hole or something to knock it off course

you should of got a printout from the alignment shop to see whats going on. funky tire wear isnt good. fyi usually they dont have much mechanical skill to diagnose problems

 

[thkbaron]

Yeah I mean I know mine doesn’t have thuren specs either. Drives fine. Something else is going on. Why didn’t you press this issue right away? It’s out of warranty now.

 

[jr27236]

Pulling is not only a symptom of bad alignment. You could have a bad bearing, a stuck caliper or a bad ball joint. You need to look more. Drive it and shoot you rotors and calipers with a infrared thermometer. Also if the alignment shop you went to had any confidence in their work they should of shown you and said you allignment is on and not messed with it further. Problem is half these places are entry level mechanics who are thrown on the rack to do allignments. They have no experience or knowledge of other contributing issues that will cause a vehicle to pull/drift. Good luck keep us appraised of your findings.

 

[Tackett1980]

Thanks all for the replies.

I’m taking it back to the shop again today and see what they find. I agree with everyone that I don’t think this is an alignment issue.

If they can’t figure it out I guess I’m going to have to try again to take it to the stealership.

the reason that the issue hasn’t been addressed is that FCA service is horrid. I’ve tried previously to make it but I’ve been told at both places I was looking at a 3-5 month wait in addition that they say they would need the vehicle “for a few days”. It’s my only car so I don’t see how that’s feasible.

 

[crazy jerry]

take the alignment printout and go to a real mechanic that knows what the hell hes doing . if printout shows good, he will find if somethings bent, broke , wore out

have you been jumping it or extreme offroading ? i cant imagine anything worn out under normal use.

 

[Tackett1980]

No, I haven’t done anything with it at all except drive it.

When I was at the shop yesterday the guy said that it was aligned and they couldn’t find anything else wrong.

so I crawled under it yesterday and laid there looking and I could see anything wrong either. Nothing obvious at least. Bushings looked ok, I lifted it up and yanked around on the wheel and it was nice and tight plus it’s quiet when turning so it doesn’t seem as though the wheel bearings are bad. Ball joints look ok.

I’m going to take it to a different dealer this week. I’d really like this truck if I could get the dang thing driving straight.


Happy new year everyone!

 

[olyelr]

Jack the front tires up and make sure they spin freely.

 

[Rampower2012]

You mother have a broken belt in your tire to ?? You also can have your tire road force tested to and see if you got a bad tire

 

[RamCares]

No, I haven’t done anything with it at all except drive it.

When I was at the shop yesterday the guy said that it was aligned and they couldn’t find anything else wrong.

so I crawled under it yesterday and laid there looking and I could see anything wrong either. Nothing obvious at least. Bushings looked ok, I lifted it up and yanked around on the wheel and it was nice and tight plus it’s quiet when turning so it doesn’t seem as though the wheel bearings are bad. Ball joints look ok.

I’m going to take it to a different dealer this week. I’d really like this truck if I could get the dang thing driving straight.


Happy new year everyone!

Hey Tackett1980,

If it would be of interest, we would be more than happy to connect you with a specialist for an extra layer of support for your dealer visit. Our team is just a private message away to get the process started.

Mark
RamCares