Truck Pulls Right - Process of Elimination?

Find a level piece of concrete and start measuring. See if the measurement from the bottom of your frame rail to the ground is the same on the front corners. If it is the same then that eliminates front springs.

Does it pull to the right loaded and empty? If something is wonky with your lift axle valve and it’s putting unequal pressure in the bags that would cause an issue.

Most of the time when a truck pulls one way or the other the issue is back in your drive axles.

 

Easiest to measure the highest point of fender to ground. If one side sits lower. It's sagging.

I drive the same axles. My loads are 60k. Load Weight at 100k. My 5th wheel also makes the most contact at the inner portion. It's the only area i lube these days. Using Lucas and not lube grease.

If the wheel is dry. It can cause the trailer to offtrack slightly. according to others on this forum.

Steer tire pull. If it pulls the other way with a rotation it's the tire. All tires pumped up? Any worn bushings in the drive suspension components.

The trailer was aligned but have you actually looked at the alignment to verify front and rear are straight with each other. On both sides. Easy to do with my side dump trailer. Not so easy on most other trailers.

What makes you say it's pulling? Does the truck actually pull or are you just thinking it's pulling because the steering wheel might be crooked?

Not trying to be offensive but some people think that since the steering wheel is crooked. It's pulling. When it's not. It's just not straight.

 

I had a similar problem twice over the years. The first time, after many suspension inspections and two alignments, it ended up being a bad steer tire. After exhausting every possible issue it could be, we ended up putting a new set of steers on and the issue went away. If a bad steer tire is your problem it should show itself when you rotate them.

The second time we installed new rubber on both the steers and drives along with a 3 axle alignment. The new alignment was way off and they had to redo it, which corrected the issue.

 

Stop messing around, go to a good shop, have a three-axle alignment, had the fifth wheel checked. Also, ask the shop to see if the axle or frame is bent. I would think MD Alignment shop would help, there are two or three that do a great job.

 

Don't discount the sagging just because the truck is new. It doesn't need to be worn out to sag or have a different height. We have had brand new chassis come in from Peterbilt with mismatched spring packs, giving a noticable difference in height from left to right side in the front.

 

The three axle alignment should start by double checking spring packs and bushings, etc., as well as the tire tread condition before starting to align anything. Don't discount a cracked spring leaf coupled with the other axles being miss-aligned perhaps from that side striking something. Depending on what is miss-aligned, the steering tires may wear quickly too.

 

Also check the bushings and alignment on your lift axle. That’s why I asked if it pulls all the time or only when loaded. Watson-Chalin were notorious for eating linkage bushings. Not sure what brand you have on your truck.