18 LX Pulling to the Right
08-13-21, 01:09 PM
#16
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Again, mine pulled to the left AFTER a dealer alignment which they said was normal pull with crown of road, but I knew this was false because it never pulled like this before. I took it to another dealer with a great service advisor and I talked to the tech working on my car and he confirmed the other dealers alignment was bad and it definitely was pulling. He aligned it 3 times, still said it was pulling, cross rotated the tires, still pulling, 4th alignment he got it not to pull but it still wasn’t right, 5th time on the rack + VGRS calibration it was perfect. My point is your current dealer techs may not be qualified enough or aren’t spending enough time aligning your LX. I was fortunate enough to get a tech who takes pride in his work, acknowledged the fact the truck was pulling and was willing to put in the time and effort to nail down why for whatever reason (toe, camber, caster).
You can cause yourself more wasted time and headaches fooling around with a dealership that just doesn’t have the expertise or try a different dealership with techs who actually care to fix your issue.
You can cause yourself more wasted time and headaches fooling around with a dealership that just doesn’t have the expertise or try a different dealership with techs who actually care to fix your issue.
08-13-21, 01:14 PM
#17
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
well i recenty bought a 2018 LX, and i can honestly say it does NOT pull any.
I am not sure what sort of suspension adjustments are underneath an LX, but back in the day you could adjust ALL of the parameters so there was a bit of a self-centering force.
for instance, if you added more positive caster, this will happen:
"The re-centering speed of the wheel will also increase with increased positive caster. "
https://suspensionsecrets.co.uk/caster-2/
Basically, if the car wants to wander, positive caster tilts the wheels slightly so that going left or right makes the car front end rise up a little, and gravity puling down will provide a restorative force to the wheels so that they "self-center" to fix the wander.
back in the day, we would just take the car in to our fav mechanic and tell them how we want it to behave, and poof, they would tune it up that way. It all came with the whole "hot rod" age, where mechanics were used to modifying the stock car settings to do what you wanted it to do.
Nowadays, not sure it still works like that! The dealer will probably insist that they only set it up to the book settings. maybe you need to take it to an independent mechanic, who has the equipment needed, and tell him the problem, and let him experiment around a little?
as someone said, if there is an electronic module screwing with the steering position (to cure lane wander), then that might be the problem.
also, worn bushings, tie rod ends, etc, might be causing it. i.e. it tunes up one way in the dealers shop, but while actually travelling down a highway, the worn out parts have enough play to act differently? Also, i suppose the previous owner might have got in trouble off-roading, and bent something in the front end that needs to be found/fixed. I would look for evidence, like big scrapes in the skid plates underneath.
I am not sure what sort of suspension adjustments are underneath an LX, but back in the day you could adjust ALL of the parameters so there was a bit of a self-centering force.
for instance, if you added more positive caster, this will happen:
"The re-centering speed of the wheel will also increase with increased positive caster. "
https://suspensionsecrets.co.uk/caster-2/
Basically, if the car wants to wander, positive caster tilts the wheels slightly so that going left or right makes the car front end rise up a little, and gravity puling down will provide a restorative force to the wheels so that they "self-center" to fix the wander.
back in the day, we would just take the car in to our fav mechanic and tell them how we want it to behave, and poof, they would tune it up that way. It all came with the whole "hot rod" age, where mechanics were used to modifying the stock car settings to do what you wanted it to do.
Nowadays, not sure it still works like that! The dealer will probably insist that they only set it up to the book settings. maybe you need to take it to an independent mechanic, who has the equipment needed, and tell him the problem, and let him experiment around a little?
as someone said, if there is an electronic module screwing with the steering position (to cure lane wander), then that might be the problem.
also, worn bushings, tie rod ends, etc, might be causing it. i.e. it tunes up one way in the dealers shop, but while actually travelling down a highway, the worn out parts have enough play to act differently? Also, i suppose the previous owner might have got in trouble off-roading, and bent something in the front end that needs to be found/fixed. I would look for evidence, like big scrapes in the skid plates underneath.
08-13-21, 01:16 PM
#18
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Update: Spoke to the service director and the next step is wait for a brand new LX to come in. They will then swap the wheels and tires to my car and go for a drive.
08-13-21, 01:55 PM
#19
Driver School Candidate
I sure hope that something is discovered when your dealer tries new wheels and tires. But your recent post stating “ (it pulls very bad giving some gas) “ is interesting. I’ve heard of torque steer with front wheel drive cars but something strange is going on. Depending on when your dealer can try the “swap” (sounds like a delay tactic) and what expertise the other dealer has if you give up on this one and drive to the other, you are living with something nobody should have to.
Speaking for myself, I’d get in touch with Lexus corporate and get their resources to help your dealer.
So if you accelerate “hard’ it pulls hard to the right. You let up on the gas and it pulls less. To stay in a “straight ahead” course you need to compensate for the variable pulling by adjusting the position of the steering wheel? No automobile or truck owner should have to do this. I feel for you. That is not an example of what _any_ vehicle should be doing, even less so with a Lexus. Contact corporate and they will help.
Speaking for myself, I’d get in touch with Lexus corporate and get their resources to help your dealer.
So if you accelerate “hard’ it pulls hard to the right. You let up on the gas and it pulls less. To stay in a “straight ahead” course you need to compensate for the variable pulling by adjusting the position of the steering wheel? No automobile or truck owner should have to do this. I feel for you. That is not an example of what _any_ vehicle should be doing, even less so with a Lexus. Contact corporate and they will help.
08-13-21, 04:02 PM
#20
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
I sure hope that something is discovered when your dealer tries new wheels and tires. But your recent post stating “ (it pulls very bad giving some gas) “ is interesting. I’ve heard of torque steer with front wheel drive cars but something strange is going on. Depending on when your dealer can try the “swap” (sounds like a delay tactic) and what expertise the other dealer has if you give up on this one and drive to the other, you are living with something nobody should have to.
Speaking for myself, I’d get in touch with Lexus corporate and get their resources to help your dealer.
So if you accelerate “hard’ it pulls hard to the right. You let up on the gas and it pulls less. To stay in a “straight ahead” course you need to compensate for the variable pulling by adjusting the position of the steering wheel? No automobile or truck owner should have to do this. I feel for you. That is not an example of what _any_ vehicle should be doing, even less so with a Lexus. Contact corporate and they will help.
Speaking for myself, I’d get in touch with Lexus corporate and get their resources to help your dealer.
So if you accelerate “hard’ it pulls hard to the right. You let up on the gas and it pulls less. To stay in a “straight ahead” course you need to compensate for the variable pulling by adjusting the position of the steering wheel? No automobile or truck owner should have to do this. I feel for you. That is not an example of what _any_ vehicle should be doing, even less so with a Lexus. Contact corporate and they will help.
Agree it is a delay tactic, so I decided to just go to a different dealer just as another poster suggested.
Will keep this thread updated with progress.
08-14-21, 04:37 AM
#21
Are they still making LX 570s or did production end with the Landcruiser? I would be skeptical if your dealer will be receiving any brand new LX 570s, but maybe they have one in transit?
08-14-21, 07:00 AM
#22
There are still LX570 coming in, but not sure all dealers will get any.
My local dealer only have 2 more coming this year.
My local dealer only have 2 more coming this year.
08-14-21, 08:25 AM
#23
Would be great if his dealer had a new LX coming in and the they would actually swap out tires/rims to test on his rig.
08-14-21, 09:13 AM
#24
Pole Position
Last edited by hankinid; 08-14-21 at 09:16 AM.
08-14-21, 09:15 AM
#25
Pole Position
Swapping tires and/or rims adds another variable. OP's need to be checked and I'd guess that needs to happen asap if it hasn't happened yet.
I'd still note that IMO involving corporate will help OP a bunch, and the experience may help others in the future. OP should not see a charge for corporate assistance.
Last edited by hankinid; 08-14-21 at 09:20 AM.
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samosuv (08-14-21)
08-15-21, 11:29 AM
#27
Pole Position
The heart of the VGRS is the sensor in the steering column.
This from a cut/paste on ih8mud.com...
"While driving forward very slowly, turn the steering wheel all the way to the left then all the way to the right, repeat, then drive straight. This should get the sensor in sync with the actual wheel position and hopefully clear the warning."
No guarantees but nothing to make your issue worse. I think we'd all appreciate the rest of the story, especially anything related to corporate assistance.
This from a cut/paste on ih8mud.com...
"While driving forward very slowly, turn the steering wheel all the way to the left then all the way to the right, repeat, then drive straight. This should get the sensor in sync with the actual wheel position and hopefully clear the warning."
No guarantees but nothing to make your issue worse. I think we'd all appreciate the rest of the story, especially anything related to corporate assistance.
The following users liked this post:
montyf33 (08-16-21)
08-15-21, 07:18 PM
#28
Issue with the current LX570 is that production has stopped so new models coming in to dealers is limited, next gen based on the LC300 is supposed to be in US be end of the year, so the production line is now focussed on that model.
To OP, hope that you get your issues resolved.
08-18-21, 09:14 AM
#29
Intermediate
SO if tires and alignment were checked out, also dealer should have inspected the suspension components, w/ no obvious issues, next would be to check brakes (including parking brakes) see if they are dragging
08-18-21, 01:11 PM
#30
2018 LX Pulling
When I purchased my 2018 LX, I bought it from the local dealer. The dealer found the vehicle in Las Vegas and had it transported to Denver. My alignment was fine but the steering wheel was off. My service writer thought it had to do with how they strapped the car down.
I had an alignment at 18,000 miles and the toe was off on the front tires. At almost 20,000 miles I had to buy 4 new tires and the dealer in Seattle did an alignment for me. The toe was off again after just 2000 miles. I’m not sure why this happened. I never had this issue with my 2007 LX470.
I had an alignment at 18,000 miles and the toe was off on the front tires. At almost 20,000 miles I had to buy 4 new tires and the dealer in Seattle did an alignment for me. The toe was off again after just 2000 miles. I’m not sure why this happened. I never had this issue with my 2007 LX470.