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I noticed my 2022 doesnt track straight either, but then again, the road is always slanted to one side. WHen the road is flat it tracks perfectly. Something to consider when you think your vehicle pulls to one side, pay attention to the curvature of the road.
Mine tracks straight as long as there isn't a slant on the road ( which there usually is! ) ..
That said, the steering randomly vibrates between 50 - ~ 65 mph...
When I replaced the crappy tires that came with the vehicle with OEM Michelin Defenders + Road Force Balance + Alignment ( done at dealer ) the issue went away.. but, after the first rotation ( 5K miles ).. its back and annoying as hell !! Got it checked, and no one ( dealer, indy shop.. ) can explain why!
Absolutely zero vibration driving under 50 mph or over 65 mph!
Mine tracks straight as long as there isn't a slant on the road ( which there usually is! ) ..
That said, the steering randomly vibrates between 50 - ~ 65 mph...
When I replaced the crappy tires that came with the vehicle with OEM Michelin Defenders + Road Force Balance + Alignment ( done at dealer ) the issue went away.. but, after the first rotation ( 5K miles ).. its back and annoying as hell !! Got it checked, and no one ( dealer, indy shop.. ) can explain why!
Absolutely zero vibration driving under 50 mph or over 65 mph!
As someone who is absolutely obsessed with having perfectly smooth riding tires on the highway.... This is 100% a small imbalance with one of your front wheels. Typically when a shop does road force balancing, they will put the wheel/tire combo with the worst readings in the rear, and put the wheel/tire combo with the best readings on the front (since it's easier to detect a wheel imbalance when it's on the front obviously). Plus, the 50-65mph range is the classic speed to feel a tire imbalance, any speed lower than that is too slow to really show one, any speed faster than that tends to cancel out any minor imbalance for some reason.
Long story short, I'd request that they try re-road force balancing the front two wheels.
Ours was pulling to the right and they did an alignment and it seemed to make it better. But it drives me absolutely crazy if the base of Lexus L on the steering wheel logo isn't exactly parallel with the floor. My wife doesn't notice it, but I am the crazy customer at the dealership asking them to look at it. I understand if they hate me.
I have them do a 5 tire rotation according to the manual, which means that the passenger tires should be slightly larger (spare rotates only on passenger side in front to back rotation). I would think that over time that would mitgate the effect of the crown in the road. FWIW I swapped to the Michelin Defenders. I have them rotated every 5k miles at the dealership - I guess I should just do it for free at Discount Tire where I got them, but that often takes ages even with an appointment, and there is no where to really sit to get my work done while I wait.
.... it drives me absolutely crazy if the base of Lexus L on the steering wheel logo isn't exactly parallel with the floor.
Most steering wheels, although splined, are also indexed with a master spline so they will only go on in one position. An off centre steering wheel is the result of the toe-in adjustment not being symmetrical. When aligning the steering wheel is centered and locked in that position, then the toe-in on each front wheel is adjusted based from the centre of the vehicle, not setting one wheel then adjusting the second to achieve the total toe-in.
I did tire and alignment service until retiring in 2012. In order to get an alignment done in a reasonable time and not have a "come-back", I would try to talk briefly with the customer to find out their problem so I could take care of that as a priority. Then I would test drive the vehicle to verify the complaint/problem. Only then would I put it on the rack and check the alignment.
If the caster, camber and toe (and rear camber and toe) jived with the customers complaint, then I made the adjustments, followed by a road test. Sometimes a pull would be from a tire and a quick crossing of the front tires would diagnose that.
SUV's, like our GX's were a special case. Heavy vehicles with a high center of gravity have an increased tendency to follow road crown. Fortunately, GX's and 4Runners have BIG cams on the lower control arms allowing plenty of caster/camber adjustment to correct pulls and tire wear problems. I saw lots of "if it's in spec, set the toe and go" form lazy, uncaring techs. The specs are guidelines but the relationship of the measurements on the left and right sides is key to how the vehicle drives. Plenty of "in spec" alignments can still pull pretty hard.
Aligning a GX or 4Runner, it's not much trouble to turn those big cams to add some caster to the right and/or reduce the right camber, assuming the left side is in spec. If done right, you can greatly reduce crown dive to the right without causing no more than a slight pull to the left on truly flat, non cambered roads. It's a bit of a trade off I would explain to the customer.
Steering wheel centering is part of a good alignment. I liked to actually set the steering wheel slightly to the right so that on crowned roads it would be near perfectly centered. Centering the wheel is done as part of the toe adjustment and has no effect on the caster or camber. The toe has to be pretty far out to be noticeable while driving and toe setting has really no effect on steering pulls.
I did tire and alignment service until retiring in 2012. In order to get an alignment done in a reasonable time and not have a "come-back", I would try to talk briefly with the customer to find out their problem so I could take care of that as a priority. Then I would test drive the vehicle to verify the complaint/problem. Only then would I put it on the rack and check the alignment.
If the caster, camber and toe (and rear camber and toe) jived with the customers complaint, then I made the adjustments, followed by a road test. Sometimes a pull would be from a tire and a quick crossing of the front tires would diagnose that.
SUV's, like our GX's were a special case. Heavy vehicles with a high center of gravity have an increased tendency to follow road crown. Fortunately, GX's and 4Runners have BIG cams on the lower control arms allowing plenty of caster/camber adjustment to correct pulls and tire wear problems. I saw lots of "if it's in spec, set the toe and go" form lazy, uncaring techs. The specs are guidelines but the relationship of the measurements on the left and right sides is key to how the vehicle drives. Plenty of "in spec" alignments can still pull pretty hard.
Aligning a GX or 4Runner, it's not much trouble to turn those big cams to add some caster to the right and/or reduce the right camber, assuming the left side is in spec. If done right, you can greatly reduce crown dive to the right without causing no more than a slight pull to the left on truly flat, non cambered roads. It's a bit of a trade off I would explain to the customer.
Steering wheel centering is part of a good alignment. I liked to actually set the steering wheel slightly to the right so that on crowned roads it would be near perfectly centered. Centering the wheel is done as part of the toe adjustment and has no effect on the caster or camber. The toe has to be pretty far out to be noticeable while driving and toe setting has really no effect on steering pulls.
If you're in the DFW area, any shop recommendations for having the '50-65 mph steering vibration' issue looked at ? Did the road force balancing again, in vain..
If you're in the DFW area, any shop recommendations for having the '50-65 mph steering vibration' issue looked at ? Did the road force balancing again, in vain..
I don't live in your area, sorry. I suggest talking with your service writer, or even better the service manager. One thing that I used to do was to dismount the tire(s), lube the tire beads and wheel and remount the tires in a different position on the wheel. This could often reduce force variation. Michelin was very good about warranty replacements for "ride disturbance" during the first few 32's of wear. The trick is to find somebody in the service department who knows how to deal with ride complaints.
My 2023 GX has this exact same issue. Took it back to Lexus and it’s been aligned twice and it’s still pulling right and the steering wheel needs to be held a bit to the left to track straight on most roads. Here is my current alignment. I don’t feel like going back a 3rd time and I may just live with it as long as the tires wear evenly. What do you guys think?
My 2023 GX has this exact same issue. Took it back to Lexus and it’s been aligned twice and it’s still pulling right and the steering wheel needs to be held a bit to the left to track straight on most roads. Here is my current alignment. I don’t feel like going back a 3rd time and I may just live with it as long as the tires wear evenly. What do you guys think?
im experiencing the same thing in my 2012. have you noticed that the wheel will snap back to center when you release it after turning left, while if you do the same after turning right, it feels lazy and needs help to return to center?
My 2023 GX has this exact same issue. Took it back to Lexus and it’s been aligned twice and it’s still pulling right and the steering wheel needs to be held a bit to the left to track straight on most roads. Here is my current alignment. I don’t feel like going back a 3rd time and I may just live with it as long as the tires wear evenly. What do you guys think?
Those measurements would be perfect......if you lived in England and drove on the left side of the road. As is, that GX will be pulling right. When I did alignments, I would have increased camber and decreased caster on the left side and increased caster on the right side.
Last edited by robert1408; 12-07-22 at 06:36 AM.
Reason: correction
I'm probably in the wrong thread, but I was curious if anyone had any CV Axle issues with their GX? I have a 15 GX460 Luxury with Stage 2 Icon Suspension lift, airbag delete. I have had the lift on since Sep 21 and just had to replace the DS CV Axle, it failed. My dealership tells me to reach out to a offroad specialty shop...alignment issues will continue without the right adjustments...not sure what they are specifically talking about. If I need annual alignments, then fine, but if if I need control arm adjustments? Upper/lower? I just need a direction to go in if anyone has a clue. Thanks!
My 2023 GX has this exact same issue. Took it back to Lexus and it’s been aligned twice and it’s still pulling right and the steering wheel needs to be held a bit to the left to track straight on most roads. Here is my current alignment. I don’t feel like going back a 3rd time and I may just live with it as long as the tires wear evenly. What do you guys think?
Per those alignment numbers, the vehicle will pull to the right. Positive camber leads, in other words pull to the side with higher camber. Caster is the opposite, i.e. the vehicle will lead towards the side with the lower caster angle. In you case both camber and caster lead right.
I know there is a Lexus service bulletin explaining all this but in my experience most technicians don't understand this. In a previous life, I did suspension and alignment work for 10 years.
Preferably, you want a lead to the left to compensate for road crown. I would start with .25 to .5 degree caster lead to the left and keep both cambers the same. I dont have the service manual nearby but I think the preferred camber is +.17 degrees.
My new '23 had an off-center steering wheel. I didn't notice any pulling. Anyway, I took the GX in today. The technician test drove it and verified the problem. He wrote that "the driver's side camber, caster, and toe were all out of spec." He adjusted and confirmed with a test drive. Covered under warranty.
Initially the service writer said that alignments weren't covered--even for a new vehicle . . . .He asked me if I hit a pothole. I said no and that I've only had the GX for 3 weeks.
07-11-22, 08:02 AM
Got it checked, and no one ( dealer, indy shop.. ) can explain why!
