Cross Caster Left 2.8 Right 4.2 Vehicle Pulls Left HELP

[rreid]

My vehicle has an annoying pull to the left. I noticed this after I installed new tires.

My dealer (very friendly people) checked my alignment… (see photo).

Left Caster is 2.8
Right castor is 4.2

My steering wheel needs to set about 10 to 15° clockwise for the vehicle to track straight, and I’m constantly “tugging” ok the steering wheel clockwise (to the right) regardless of the road crown.

I’m not sure if I understood my dealer correctly that castor cannot be directly adjusted??

By now we probably have all seen John from OWL explain how he adjusted his caster by adjusting his eccentrics…

View: https://youtu.be/OiQ7E7a8Gds?si=iRacoQrCFOx8q6V4


I have my fourth follow up appointment now at the dealer, I don’t know how a 1.4° cross caster variance would result in anything other than the vehicle pulling… not at all a neutral steering experience!!

How do we know that those eccentrics are properly set if they’re not properly set is it expected that the result would be a caster variance?

Anyone run into this problem before?

Appreciate your thoughts in advance!!

Best
R

 

[Dokatd]

You cannot adjust caster on each side independently. If one changes so does the other by exactly the same amount. If those are your real caster numbers then Ineos owes you a new front axle.

 

[rreid]

That spreadsheet with those caster numbers are with the Ineos dealwr here provided me with… they use their other dealership for their alignment system so not to be misleading. That is actually my vehicle. A 2024 Grenadier.

 

[rreid]

You cannot adjust caster on each side independently. If one changes so does the other by exactly the same amount. If those are your real caster numbers then Ineos owes you a new front axle.

And in looking at the video, John did from OWL it would appear as though you could adjust one side and wouldn’t it have the opposite reaction to the other???

 

[RB60]

I have a similar problem. Mine pulled left from new. I have 3K miles and it goes in Monday for another alignment. I want to put new tires on it and am concerned about the same issue.

What tires did you install? On my jeep, I installed Nittos and a pull left was immediate. When I searched the web, Nittos are known to cause this issue. Tire PSI can be part of it as well.

When spring gets here, I plan to get the Jeep aligned with the new tires.

I am not technical in the mechanics of adjustments during alignment, but I saw some adjustable control arms from Agile Off-road that allow for caster adjustment. I may look into those. I’ll ask my dealer how they play with the warranty.

 

[landmannnn]

You cannot adjust caster on each side independently. If one changes so does the other by exactly the same amount. If those are your real caster numbers then Ineos owes you a new front axle.

I am sure you are right, just wondering why the before showed a 1.2° difference and the after 1.4°?

 

[Dokatd]

And in looking at the video, John did from OWL it would appear as though you could adjust one side and wouldn’t it have the opposite reaction to the other???

Both sides adjust at the same time. When you adjust one side then the other you are just taking the preload out of the rubber bushings.

These trucks are solid axle, you cannot twist the axle. So whatever one side does so does the other.

 

[Dokatd]

I am sure you are right, just wondering why the before showed a 1.2° difference and the after 1.4°?

Error of the machine or operator. That's why I would be suspicious of the numbers. That's a huge error in the axle assembly that I just can't see cararro making.

 

[Zimm]

Take it to a third party, and have them review it.

 

[C-Mack]

Those caster angles don’t make any sense. As others have mentioned on a solid axle those measurements are in a fixed relationship left and right and would only differ by a small amount due to how the axle was jigged and assembled when built.

The adjustment cams will indeed adjust your caster settings (rotate the axle fore and aft) and it is possible for one cam to be positioned carelessly 180 degrees out from the other but that would only cause the axle thrust angle to be off meaning the centerline of the axle is no longer inline with the chassis centerline (crabbing) putting an uneven pre-load on all the control arm bushings.

Either the axle was built incorrectly, bent, or some other damage issue. Most likely the person doing the alignment was not very particular when setting up measuring heads on each wheel. I’ve seen and suffered from apprentice alignment techs just wrenching on adjustment cams but not having a full understanding of what impact it has on the overall setup as they chase measurements on the alignment machine screens. I’d take it somewhere else and compare their readings to the current ones you have.

 

[rreid]

Well, thank you all for your input. It’s very appreciated.

I’ve reached out to a friend … Tim Hines from Adrenaline HQ who is also a very good friends with John from Agile off-road

Tim very bullish on the bolt in adjustable control arms, which easily allow for a cast adjustment to be flawless…. (he has them on his vehicle) …

I’ll be talking to him later this week. He’s done a lot of work on my vehicle already and I already have a number of agile off-road high-quality products on my vehicle.

I’m fully stocked on all my suspension. I’ve touched nothing.

The only thing I’ve done is add Agile off-road HD wheels and BFGKO3’ everything else otherwise is stock

 

[Dokatd]

Well, thank you all for your input. It’s very appreciated.

I’ve reached out to a friend … Tim Hines from Adrenaline HQ who is also a very good friends with John from Agile off-road

Tim very bullish on the bolt in adjustable control arms, which easily allow for a cast adjustment to be flawless…. (he has them on his vehicle) …

I’ll be talking to him later this week. He’s done a lot of work on my vehicle already and I already have a number of agile off-road high-quality products on my vehicle.

I’m fully stocked on all my suspension. I’ve touched nothing.

The only thing I’ve done is add Agile off-road HD wheels and BFGKO3’ everything else otherwise is stock

The adjustable arms are a pain to adjust. The factory arms with cam bolts allow you to exceed max and min caster. You won't want to max out caster because that will work your drive shaft too hard. To little caster and you will be all over the road.

Point is the factory arms achieve everything you need.

The pulling is something else entirely. Take it to a regular alignment shop and get accurate numbers before you do anything else.

 

[rreid]

The adjustable arms are a pain to adjust. The factory arms with cam bolts allow you to exceed max and min caster. You won't want to max out caster because that will work your drive shaft too hard. To little caster and you will be all over the road.

Point is the factory arms achieve everything you need.

The pulling is something else entirely. Take it to a regular alignment shop and get accurate numbers before you do anything else.

So are you suggesting that the factory arms/caster is adjustable?

 

[Dokatd]

So are you suggesting that the factory arms/caster is adjustable?

Suggesting? No, they are factually adjustable. Your dealer should have done an alignment on the truck during PDI. This would include setting toe and caster along with centering steering wheel. The Ineos factory only has two alignment racks so they can't keep up. They ship the trucks unaligned and pay the dealerships to align.

 

[rreid]

I

Suggesting? No, they are factually adjustable. Your dealer should have done an alignment on the truck during PDI. This would include setting toe and caster along with centering steering wheel. The Ineos factory only has two alignment racks so they can't keep up. They ship the trucks unaligned and pay the dealerships to align.

interesting I wonder why my dealer is struggling to fix this??

 

[Dokatd]

I

interesting I wonder why my dealer is struggling to fix this??

There has to be a misunderstanding. This is really simple stuff. Take it back and demand they try again. Something is amiss on your truck and it could very well not be safe to drive.

Or as I said before take it to a shop that specializes in alignments. It will cost you about $150-200 but that's worth knowing for sure and maybe they can solve the problem. Then take the bill to Ineos and tell them to reimburse you.

 

[rreid]

Well, I spoke to my dealer today and again they are very, very friendly very friendly. I love them.

And they indeed confirmed they can adjust the caster … and the current setting is according to them set up to accommodate anticipated road crown … they explained that this castor would not affect pull (the current readings that you see in my post) …. Which again I’m not a suspension professional at all. I’m just trying to use as much research as I can online and from online research and AI research across castor condition like I have would indeed induce a pull to the left… again I’m not saying that this is or is not true. I’m simply saying that my AI content research from a variety of AI engines have all unanimously said it would indeed introduce a pull to the left given my values.

My dealer is willing to set that caster to neutral so I’m hoping that solves the problem we’re going to find out !!

 

[C-Mack]

Your dealer is not doing you any favors adjusting in compensations. Take the alignment specs below to an independent shop that understands live axle setups and compare your vehicle to the “Nominal” specs in the image below. Notice they are even side to side. They may not be able to get it perfect but the closer you are to those nominal specs the better. Throwing money at adjustable arms at this point is pointless until you know for sure you don’t have damage or issues preventing your rig from being set properly to stock specifications. There is plenty adjustability in the stock suspension (assuming you don’t have a lift or damage) to hit these targets.