What does it mean when your car pulls to the right or pulls to one side slightly while driving?
The reason why the car pulls to the right slightly
(1) Mismatch tire pressure on the front tire.
(2) Out of alignment wheel.
(3) Dragging front brake.
Car troubleshooting
Car slightly pulling to left or right is usually caused by a mismatch tire pressure on the front tire, a wheel that is out of alignment, and a front brake that is dragging. When determining the cause of the problem start by checking the tire pressures on both front tires with the use of tire pressure gauge.How to Check Tire Air Pressure
The tire tread life will be reduced if the tire air pressure of your car is below the car manufacturer tire air pressure specified on your car owner’s manual.
Learn more: How to Check Tire Air Pressure
Compare the reading against the standard tire pressure set by your car manufacturer, the value is located on the car owners manual or the label adheres to the driver side door. If the reading is different from the standard tire pressure then this causes the problem, to fix this just make the tire pressure on both the front tire equivalent to the pressure set by the car manufacturer.
If the tire pressure of each front tire is correct the next thing to check is the dragging front brake. To check for the dragging brake, you have to drive the car for approximately 20 minutes and stop. Get out the car and touch the rim of each front wheel, check if the temperature of the right side wheel is different from the temperature of the left side wheel.
The hotter wheel is the one with a dragging brake and this causes car pulling while driving. In this case, bring the car to a reputable auto shop and ask the mechanic to inspect the site where the brake dragging occurs.
However, if there are no significant temperatures difference between right side rim and the left side rim then it is not a problem of brake dragging but rather the wheel is slightly out of alignment. Now, to fix this problem an alignment job will do. Take this kind of problem at once to avoid abnormal wearing of the tire, and prevent car pulling while driving.
How to fix car pulling slightly to Left or Right
Set the front tire first to the correct inflation pressure, the correct tire pressure can be found on the car owner's manual. if this does not correct the problem next thing to do is to have the tire align if the problem is a dragging brake then no other choice but to bring the car to a shop for checking and repair if necessary.Suggested Reading:
Why Does My Car Pull To The Left?
Car Pulls to One Side when Stepping On Brakes
When should you check your tire pressure?