Car pulls to the left, why?

You did the alignment, or was that done in a shop by a professional? If you did it yourself, what was measured or adjusted, and how did you perform the procedure?

If this was done by a professional, an alignment should always include a test drive where a pull or an off-center steering wheel should be noticed. One problem I've observed is all alignment computers can be set to read values to a tenth of a degree or to a hundredth of a degree. Either setting is infinitely more accurate than we could read many years ago with mechanical alignment equipment, but that accuracy is needed for today's vehicles. When the computer is set to read to hundredths of a degree, it shows the specialist is more interested in precision and doing the job right the first time. When the mechanic sets his computer to read to tenths of a degree, it shows he's more interested in speed and getting more jobs out the door, at the expense of making precise adjustments.

When an adjustment comes into specs, the number on the computer screen turns green. That's all many inexperienced mechanics look for, but that can leave a vehicle with a pull. Some beginners don't even know how to use the numbers to determine if there's going to be a pull or off-center steering wheel. If you have a printout of the alignment, try to post a picture of it, or list the "after" values for "camber, "caster", and "toe" for both front wheels. Also see if there are values shown for "SAI", (steering axis inclination). That one can point to potential crash damage.

We also "read" the tire wear patterns to look for evidence of an alignment problem. There's no point in looking further into that because we don't know the recent history of the vehicle or whether tires were switched or rotated. What you can look for is if the tires are the same size and brand on both sides. Same brand front to rear is not so important on 2wd models, but they all must be of the same outer circumference if the vehicle has anti-lock brakes.

If nothing is apparent by this time, the best suspect is a tire pull. That doesn't necessarily mean a tire is bad, although it could be. It usually just means the two front tires have different rolling resistances. To check for that, switch the wheels and tires from side to side on the front. If the pull goes the other way now, it's due to one of the tires. You can rotate all four, front to back, and leave them there until they wear out, or you can switch just two on one side, front to back, then drive it to see if the pull is gone. If it is, the tire just moved to the rear is the one causing the pull.

Another clue to identifying a tire pull that only applies to front-wheel-drive models is observing, on the initial test drive, the vehicle pulls one way during light to moderate acceleration, and it pulls the other way during braking. Regardless of outcome, that should always be followed with a steering and suspension system inspection. Loose or worn parts can allow a pull to occur but will usually be accompanied by some noticeable tire wear pattern.

You might find more information in this article:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-car-tires-work

Let me know what you find, then we'll figure out where to go next.

There's no point in looking for other causes just because they won't give you a printout.

I always made two printouts of my alignments, one that I kept and one that I placed on the passenger front seat, with the items highlighted that I changed or adjusted. Most shops don't take the time to make printouts, and in your case, the information has left the alignment computer as soon as they set it up for the next car. They can't go back and make a printout for any previous alignment, only the one that is currently connected to the equipment.

Also, I don't know of anyone else who makes a printout to keep for themselves, like I did. I was very well known at my dealership to take longer than "flat rate" times to complete jobs, but I was also well known to have very few "comebacks", or complaints. In case a customer did have a complaint, or even just a question, I had my copy of the printout to refer to and use for explanations. After ten years, my stack of printouts was over ten inches high.

What I was hoping to not see was that you did the alignment yourself. Many of us used to do the "race car method" that included strings and tape measures. That can work for some racing applications, but I can cause a front-wheel-drive minivan to have a noticeable pull by increasing "camber" on one front wheel by 0.06 degrees. That's less than 1/64" on a tape measure. There's no way a competent do-it-yourselfer can get that accurate, regardless of how they take the readings.

So the good news is the alignment was done with an alignment computer, but as I explained previously, we don't know the specialist's experience level or commitment to doing a quality job. You won't find anyone to go so far overboard as I did, but the mechanic has to be conscientious and experienced to know how to interpret the readings and to know what to adjust. The only thing I have to go on in this regard is whether a test drive was performed. If not, why not, and if it was, why wasn't the pull noticed? You wouldn't have surgery at a hospital without some kind of follow-up care later. That test drive is the follow-up care to prove the alignment was done properly.

I gotta stop here and point out one thing I forgot. That is to take the vehicle back to the shop that did the alignment. If you do nothing, the mechanic could assume whatever he did or whatever values he set the adjustments to worked out okay and you're happy. He will remember that and do the same thing on the next model like yours. That could end up with multiple unsatisfied customers who spread negative word-of-mouth advertising. Everyone is better off if you return and explain what's wrong. Also, no shop owner wants someone working for him who can't be counted on to do quality work. If one person keeps getting multiple complaints, he is either going to be assigned to other types of jobs, or he may be asked to find a job at some other shop. You're helping make it in his best interest to take the time to do quality work.

Another common alignment issue is the design of some adjustment methods leaves them susceptible to slipping later, especially when hitting bumps or potholes. On most models, due to the geometric relationship of the parts, a slipped adjustment will also cause the steering wheel to go off-center. This can be confusing, but an off-center steering wheel is very different from a steering wheel that is turned to one side because you're fighting against a pull the other way. This is where experience comes in when performing an initial test drive before the alignment is started. Most of us don't do that one.

The biggest issue has been a sore point with Ford alignment specialists since the mid 1980s. That is the engineers didn't see fit to design in a method for adjusting camber. This started with the Escort that came with extremely high camber that caused the front tires to wear out in 15,000 miles, and there was no way to fix it.

"Camber" is the inward, (negative), or outward, (positive), tilt of the wheel, as viewed from in front or in back of the vehicle. For reference. a wheel standing perfectly straight up and down is 0.00 degrees. If you could imagine a wheel tipped out so far on top that it is laying flat on the ground, that would be 90.00 degrees. Most cars call for up to 0.75 degrees, which is getting pretty high, but it is needed to achieve best tire wear and it places the vehicle's weight right over the wheel bearing to lower stress on those parts. (The Escorts were built with just under 2 1/2 degrees camber which was easily noticeable when following them down the road. It also caused the outer edges of the tread to wear out very quickly.

The first image below shows the alignment specs for your model. Front camber is shown as -0.03 degrees, which, for all practical purposes, is perfectly straight up and down. That value is very respectable, but it's the tolerance of 0.75 degrees that is a heart breaker, (blue arrows).

First let me explain more about camber. Back in the days of old heavy rear-wheel-drive cars, a common specification for camber was 0.50 degrees. On top of that, we either made the left wheel 1/4 degree higher or the right wheel 1/4 degree lower, to offset "road crown". That is the slant of the road surface so water runs off. Without that extra 1/4 degree difference, the car would drift to the right on almost all roads and highways. If we leave camber perfectly equal on both sides, the same road crown offset can be achieved by increasing "caster" on the right wheel by 1/2 degree, or by lowering it 1/2 degree on the left wheel.

A pair of tires wants to pull in the direction of the one with the higher camber value. OR;

A pair of tires wants to pull in the direction of the one with the lower caster value.

To say that another way, camber has twice the effect on pulling as does caster. Now I have to add an important comment. With front-wheel-drive cars and minivans, a difference in caster, even a big one, has no effect on pulling. In all the classes I've attended or taught, no one has ever been able to explain why, but it's only true on those models. That means a pull has to be corrected by adjusting camber on one or both front wheels.

The second image shows the available adjustment instructions for your model, and front camber is not listed. That is a major shortcoming that Ford is very well known for. Their answer, if camber needs to be corrected, is to replace bent parts. I won't share what my friend at the local Ford dealership does to correct pulls, but it does keep his customers satisfied, for now, until other parts wear out prematurely. (One trick is to let some air out of one tire).

I apologize if some of this sounds technical, but my reason for describing these things has to do with the rest of the specifications. Remember, we always want camber to be slightly higher on the driver's side. Besides the exact spec., they allow a tolerance of 0.75 degrees either way, (blue arrows), on each front wheel. That means camber on the left wheel could be -0.50 degrees and still be in specs. If all an inexperienced alignment mechanic knew to look at was the color of that reading on the computer screen, it would be in green, meaning it's okay. That tire now wants to pull to the right by quite a bit. Likewise, the right wheel could be set to positive 0.50 degrees and be in specs, and in green. It will also cause a hard pull to the right. This is a case of there's a total difference of 1.00 degree pull to the right and all the numbers on the screen are green. We can never go just by the color of the numbers. We have to understand what each tire will want to do, but we have to look at both of them together.

A Ford instructor explained this in more detail, and it can apply to other manufacturers. They know a tolerance of 0.75 degrees is too much, but they're relying on our experience to know that and to not take advantage of it. We still want to get those adjustments as close as possible to perfect. The reason for publishing those very high tolerance values is as long as a car's numbers fall within that range, they will not pay the dealer to perform an alignment under warranty. That means it's up to the car owner to figure out the solution and to pay for it after the car is out of warranty. That's an extremely common trick GM likes to pull.

Related to this, every alignment computer has a button to "reduce tolerances" that we can use. That doesn't change any important numbers. All it does it force us to get an adjustment closer to perfect before it turns green. Even that can still leave us with a pull if we don't understand what those numbers are telling us.

That brings me back to the adjustments. I don't have an explanation as to why they don't provide a camber adjustment, but you will also run into that on many import models. The third image shows how they want us to correct a pull. That is to replace one or both upper control arms with ones that are offset a little to increase caster pull against the pull. Remember, caster on most vehicles doesn't cause a pull, and on those models where it does, caster only has half the effect on a pull as does camber. If both arms are replaced, we can gain or lose 0.80 degrees of caster pull which equates to a change of 0.40 degrees of camber pull. While that can be significant, what if it isn't enough?

The next problem is the mechanic has to perform the alignment, determine the need for one or both replacement control arms, order them, have you come back a second time to have those parts installed, then align the car a second time. It's even likely the dealer won't have those parts in stock. Ford is also famous for not having replacement parts available for vehicles over three years old. If you go to an auto parts store, how do you know if you're getting an aftermarket part that is like the original or it has that offset built in? This is usually a one-time modification, usually done under warranty, and even then the parts usually have to be special-ordered. In other words, after this many years, there may be no way to correct camber.

To address your question about worn parts, yes, there are ball joints, tie rod ends, and control arm bushings that must be inspected. Those are responsible for holding the wheel solidly in alignment. Ford had way more than their share of ball joints and tie rod ends that separated, leading to loss of control and crashes than all other manufacturers combined, but that hasn't been such an issue since the early 2000s. A separated part can happen on any vehicle which is why a steering and suspension inspection once every year or two is a good idea. Some parts can get a quick once over during other routine services such as oil changes. There's two things you can watch for yourself. One is a clunk or squeak, usually occurring over bumpy roads. The other is to keep an eye on tire wear patterns. This article has some dandy information:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-car-tires-work

The problem with tire wear is it can take a long time to show up. Also, there can be parts worn enough to be dangerous while nothing is seen with tire wear. Also understand not all clunks are caused by something that can turn dangerous, but they can be annoying.

Except for extremely rare instances, steering gears won't cause a pull. Their two most common problems are power steering fluid leaks and "morning sickness", which is our term for loss of power steering assist first thing in the morning, that goes away minutes after the fluid warms up. The clue is the loss of power assist always occurs when turning in just one direction first, then the other way weeks later. This was a perfect example of where GM knew the solution, but performed a quick fix to get the cars out of their 50,000 mile warranty, then when the problem returned a little while later, it was up to the owners to pay for the proper and permanent repair. That design defect still didn't result in a pull.

Every alignment must start with this inspection of parts and with reading the tire wear. If bad tire wear is seen, you had better find a cause and fix it first. No conscientious mechanic will take your money and do an alignment if there's worn parts because we know those parts will not hold the wheels in alignment. Most worn parts can be replaced by a competent do-it-yourselfer, especially when you have one of us to "hold your hand" and offer advice or post instructions from the service manual. When you prefer to have the work done by a professional, we can help with parts choices, questions to ask, or specific services to request.

You didn't say if anything was done after my first reply, specifically, if the tires were switched side to side on the front. When you take the vehicle back, there should be no argument about rechecking the alignment. We do make mistakes at times, hard as that may seem to believe, and we deserve the chance to make it right. Most shops will have at least a 30-day warranty so there should be no additional charge to you. The exception would be if they find a worn part. If that was missed on the last visit, they will often offer to replace it with a discount for "customer satisfaction", but there should be no charge to redo the alignment. At the dealership I worked for, they would not charge you if I switched the front tires, and I didn't even have to tell anyone I did that, or any other service that solved what appeared to be my alignment problem. As long as it got handled, everyone was happy.

Control arm bushings can wear and cause a pull too, but it's more common to run into a clunk first. Those used to last the life of the vehicle, but with smaller and lighter cars today, those bushings are made from softer rubber compounds to absorb shock, so they deteriorate faster. Another common symptom of a worn bushing is the pull may change direction, often surprising the driver, when braking. The forces change between braking and acceleration on suspension parts causing them to shift position. That can change caster and camber momentarily on the affected wheel.

Worn tie rod ends are the easiest to spot when the tire is off the ground. Years ago, when walking past a Ford Escort or Tempo on a hoist, I couldn't stop myself from grabbing the front tires and tugging them lightly left and right. Nine out of ten times I found at least one that was sloppy and ready to fall apart. The originals lasted very little past 15,000 miles. We used to joke if we found that tenth one that didn't have slop in a tire rod end, they must have just been replaced within the past few weeks. We used to call them "killer cars" due to how many came in on tow trucks with the front wheels steering in two different directions. Thank goodness those days are gone.

For my final comment of value, I mentioned that caster can also be used to offset road crown. If you look at the red arrows in the first image, you'll see they're specifying slightly higher caster on the right front wheel. For anyone who does get a printout or is able to see the computer screen, these four values for camber and caster will never ever be exactly as shown on this list. When we do have adjustments available, it is a very tedious process to nudge one close to where we want it, then it becomes even more tiring to tweak all four so as a group, they will give good tire wear with no pull. One car will end up with a little more camber on one wheel and a little more caster to offset it. Besides being within the tolerance range, we take what we get when those four numbers say the car will go straight.

Hopefully that gives you some more ideas, but the first things are to recheck the alignment, and switch the front tires side to side. Ask if they can give you a printout of the alignment too. I can interpret the numbers for you. Let me know how this turns out, then we'll figure out if we need to look further.

Yes, ... The shop you started with. We're all over the world so we aren't familiar with the shops or shop owners. I can tell you in my extended city of around 100,000, when I worked for a very nice family-owned Chrysler dealership, we cooperated with the Pontiac / GMC dealer down the street, the Ford dealer, Cadillac dealer, and we had a really nice import dealership owner. We borrowed service manuals to each other, helped over the phone, and would sometimes repair each others' trade-ins. We also had a real lot of reputable independent shops. The two notable exceptions were the Chevy dealer and one independent who went out of business for lack of repeat customers and a bad reputation.

Any of those shops could be counted on to provide a bad service experience, but they were known to make it good to keep their customers happy. As my dealership owner used to say, "it takes more advertising dollars to get one new customer than it takes to keep ten repeat customers coming back". It was in their best interest to do the job right the first time. That's why I concentrated on that and rarely watched the clock. I also worked late and through lunch break to help my service writer keep on schedule.

With all the unnecessary, complicated technology on today's cars, and the huge number of breakdowns, there is way more than enough work to keep every shop busy. With all this legitimate work available, there is no need to "manufacture" unneeded repairs or to sell parts and services that aren't needed. I will never defend an unscrupulous mechanic or shop owner, but there are a lot of ways customers can have "unrealistic expectations", interpret repair estimates incorrectly, not understand the need for multiple parts, and especially compare estimates from multiple shops.

No two doctors will treat a person the same way. No two architects will draw house plans the same way. No two bakers put a loaf of bread together the same way, but we get excited when one service advisor produces a repair estimate higher than the one you got from another shop. An example might be, ... When you have a tire blow out and shred, one mechanic might think he's doing you a service by selling you just one new tire to save you some money. Another mechanic might want you to buy two new tires so they match, even though the good one is only partially worn out. The decision should be yours, just like you might want to buy only one new sock because only one developed a hole in the toe.

Another tire example has to do with just a very select few models that absolutely must have all four tires that are of the same outer circumference. One or two new tires at a time, even when they're the same brand, same model, and same size, but purchased at different times can lead to very expensive transfer case damage. Well trained salespeople are aware of that, but they can get a bad reputation if they aren't able to explain the reasoning to their customer.

Referring back to those 1980s Ford Escorts with their 100% failure rate of outer tie rod ends, you would think a mechanic is conscientious if he sells you just one replacement for the one that's about to fall apart. But that can leave you with the other one that hasn't developed that play yet, but may come apart in the next few thousand miles and send you into oncoming traffic. The true conscientious mechanic is the one who would explain why you should have both replaced right now. That gets the future problem handled at the same time with no need later for a second alignment.

Very often those additional parts are judgement calls. The decisions should be left to the car owner, but very few today understand how those parts work and how they fail. At larger shops, it's the service advisor who is supposed to help you decide, but most of the time they were never mechanics themselves. Their job is to take what they think they heard from the mechanic, and translate it into something they think you will understand. Most of the time things get lost in translation. Too often customers came back to see me for more information, and I realized I had recommended more parts or services than the service advisor told them about. Sometimes he knew things I didn't, like this regular customer doesn't have a lot of money, they're about to trade the car in, or even this is a secondary back-up car, and an unexpected breakdown isn't such a big deal.

To address finding a different shop, that is the last thing you should be doing now. If you don't like the diagnosis you get from your doctor, you don't run to a different doctor over and over until you get a diagnosis you like. Each one has to start all over from scratch, and they likely won't know what each previous one did. The same is true with this pulling problem. Each new mechanic will start with the same inspection and alignment, so you'll be paying for the same service over and over. If the alignment really is the problem, the original specialist should correct any mistakes at no charge to you, or he must do a better job of explaining why the needed adjustments weren't designed in by the manufacturer. The pull can be due to that design that can't be corrected. Once an alignment problem is ruled out, switching the two front tires side to side is the next thing to try, but you'll never get to that step if you keep on involving new mechanics.

I can share a couple of my experiences with comebacks that fortunately involved very patient and understanding customers. One required nine return trips, with me spending over half a day on each visit, to find a very intermittent electrical short. I spent so much time on that car that the dealer told the service advisor to stop charging him. The second one involved two lemon law buybacks. Unlike most other manufacturers, Chrysler insists those vehicles must be repaired, regardless of cost, then they go to an auto auction. Two were brought to my dealership by the district representative. They visit every dealership once a month. No one else had been able to solve a very hard brake pull that only showed up after prolonged heavy braking. I solved the first one so he brought us the second one a month later and I solved it too. Everyone thought I was a genius, and of course I wasn't going to argue with them, but in reality, I was the first person to simply follow an old service bulletin provided by Chrysler for this problem. Since then the cause of the problem now applies to most other brands of light trucks.

The point of this sad story is to show that running to different shops is not the answer. For that electrical problem, for example, if you calculate that it took me well over 36 hours to find the solution, if the owner had given up after his second visit and gone to another shop, they would have started at the same point I did and would have repeated each step. Every new shop would have done the same thing and none would have ever gotten close to the solution. It's in the owner's best interest to stick with one shop as long as there is progress to be made. When a mechanic is out of ideas, there are a lot of resources at his disposal. A more experienced coworker might get involved. There's all kinds of online resources. New-car dealers have manufacturer-sponsored helplines. We also had a very nice training center where, between the days they weren't teaching a class, they took in the cars the dealers couldn't figure out. Their job was to spend as much time and money as necessary to figure out the problem. That's where service bulletins are generated, and design changes can be recommended. Independent repair shops have access to similar helplines. Some of them develop and put on classes in remote locations for those independent mechanics. We have one, for example, in Joliet, IL who owns a shop that only works on the one out of a hundred cars that no one else has been able to solve. Most of their customers are other shops. Once diagnosed and repaired, they build a six to eight-hour class around a subject that includes that problem.

To boil this down, I want you to return to the original shop, (banging the counter and screaming won't help), and explain the pulling problem is still there. Ask to have the alignment rechecked and / or switch the two front tires. If they agree to another alignment, ask if they can give you a printout. Don't be offended if they can't. Some may have broken printers or they just never kept them in working order.

Remember you and your mechanic want the same thing, just as instructors and students want the same thing. Look at your mechanic as your advocate, not your adversary. You're less likely to find a solution if you're fighting each other. They should be asking you all kinds of questions that might help them solve this faster. They want your repeat business too. That's not likely to happen if they can't keep you happy.

Let me know how you make out, and if possible, post a photo of the printout or list the values for front caster, camber, toe, and SAI.