Corrective Action When Vehicle Pulls To One Side

Test conditions before and during the road test:

-- Check all suspension components on front and rear axle for damage.

-- Check tire pressure and correct if necessary.

-- Check the tires for external damage. Holes, cuts, bulges in the side wall, flat spots from braking and/or damage to the tread.

-- Ask the customer if a tire had been damaged by a nail or similar object and perhaps repaired by a tire dealer. You may have to replace such tires.

-- Check tires for even wear and tread depth.

-- Are all tires of the same type, manufacture and tread pattern?

-- If the tires are non-directional, ensure that all DOT classifications on the tire face outwards. It may be that the vehicle's wheels and tires were already changed around at an earlier date.

-- Are the tire brands factory-approved as initial equipment?

-- For the road test, use a level, straight driving surface that does not slope off to one side and does not have ruts.

-- Perform the road test with the customer under the conditions specified above. The customer should demonstrate the problem.

If the complaint is justified, it is recommend to rotate the wheels and tires as described on the following pages.

Before beginning, observe the following notes, otherwise all effort will be for nothing!

• Identify tires and wheels before the first rotation.
• After rotating wheels or reversing the tire on its rim, observe very carefully how the vehicle behaves during the road test. Note what was replaced and how.
• The intensity or any possible change to the one-sided pulling should be assessed.
• To do this, it is absolutely essential that the road tests are always performed by the same person on the same road. It is best to drive the test course in both directions.
• Replacing a tire with a new one does not ensure that the pulling to one side is corrected. Refer to GENERAL INFORMATION  "taper". Therefore, it is recommended to perform a targeted exchange of the wheels as described below.
• If there are large differences in the tread depth of the tires on the front and rear axles, the tires with the deeper tread should always be mounted on the front axle.