car pulls or self-centres to the left

[jackal]

very strong pull to the left, immediately apparent the moment you pull away from the driveway ! Although when you hold the steering wheel straight the car drives straight, when you loosen your grip or let go the steering wheel abruptly tugs to the 11 oclock position and sits there with the car steering rapidly into the curb.

im pretty stumped on this. Tyres are all perfect, calipers are all fine and wheels all round are free, no play when you rock the wheels in the bearings or the dampers. Bushes looks sound, castor adjusters look the same, ride heights look teh same, toe was recently done but then i have played with the toe and it makes sod all difference no matter what you do. Suspension components look sound and as they should be. Any ideas ?

[Taita]

4 wheel alignment? www.alignmycar.co.uk is good.

Big jolt caused the wheel to not sit right in the rack ?

[Tripe Bypass]

What car? Has it got power steering? Has there been any work done on the rack?

[CHRISBY]

Hello,
I can but agree!
www.alignmycar.co.uk
Not that I'm biased in any way ;-)
Make sure you have a good pre-alignment check of ball joints and suspension components before the alignment check is done to ensure nothing is worn to excess causing your issue's!
Cheers
Chris

[gt2russ]

I have found that tracking has no bearing on the pull of the car to the left or the right but it is the wear on the edges of the tyre that cause the pull. I always test this by swapping the front wheels over i know they can not stay this way due to direction of rotation but it is a cheap way of finding the problem.Also cars with electric power steering can have a fault that causes this problem.Make sure you drive down the middle of the road with a wheel either side of the white line to ensure there are no cmber issue,s but watch out for other cars i only say this as i have seen your passport photo.

[Tripe Bypass]

If the steering is pulling even if the car is barely moving it could be what's called self-motoring but normally that would only happen if the valve in the power steering was faulty. I've only seen it with incorrectly built power steering on test rigs. If the car is jacked up and the car is steering with no steering wheel input I would say it's self-motoring. As an aside, the first Ford Focus steering rack was designed with a tiny amount of self-motoring to compensate for camber in most roads.