Passat pulls to the right

In December 2017 I bought a 2015 Passat TDI. While test driving it I noticed it pulled to the right, so I figured it needed an alignment. I did not hound them to fix it or anything because I had to make the deal and go home. Basically if I wanted the car I had to take it as is b/c it was a silver SEL, which at the time was only 2 in the state. This one had the black interior I liked and the other was some weird color that I didn't like.


Anyways, I drove the car like that for about 3 months and when I had to have my 40k mile service done I had an alignment and balance done. The vibration the car had felt better at higher speeds, but the car still pulled to the right. It was not as hard as before, but it definitely pulled to the right still. I figured they didn't do anything, so I called back to tell them it was still pulling. The tech told me they did the work, but to bring it back.


I took it back a few days later and they did the alignment and balance again. The car still pulled to the right the same, but now the balance issue was back to square one when it was worse. The tech showed me the print out of the tires all in the green area, to show the alignment was done. He ended up telling me one of the rims is slightly bent and that's probably what is causing the issue. I just didn't worry about the slight vibration anymore because I kept hating to waste a few hours there each time.

My tires have 46k miles on them now, so in a few months I will change them out when they have about 55-60k on them. They still have a decent amount of tread on them, so I don't want to change them out just yet. I figure new tires will help with the balancing issue, but probably won't fix the pulling issue.

The wheels do have a lot of scratches on them from whoever was the previous owner, so it would not surprise me if a wheel actually was bent some, but would this causing the pulling issue? I figured it would be more of a balancing issue if that was the case, but I could be wrong.

I'm thinking about just buying new wheels also whenever I get new tires just because of the fact how scratched up they are. And if once really is bent, then it wouldn't hurt to buy the other 3 so they all are new. This would rule out the pulling issue if it still happens.


So do you thinks think the bent wheel could be causing my pulling issue, if it really is bent? Do you think it is something else?

The tires on my car now are Continental ProContact

I, like you, bought a 15 SEL in March. It pulled to the right, as well as shook at various times especially around 70-75 MPH. The dealer told me they aligned the car before I purchased it. When I brought it back in for these issues, they found a bent rim and replaced it, and installed four new tires (Goodyear Eagle-RA - not recommended due to road noise). The alignment was re-checked and found to be in spec. After balancing the new tires, the vibration went away. However, the car still pulls slightly to the right.

After, I brought the car to an independent body and frame shop to have them look over everything, and to inspect a rattle-ish noise I would hear when going over bumps. On a test drive, their mechanic also noticed a slight pull to the right. He mentioned that the Passats lack adjustment (camber? caster?). I asked if it was possible the sub-frame shifted and he told me it takes a lot of force/effort to budge a subframe, even when you are trying to get it to move. All the bushings and suspension/linkage components he inspected were OK.

As an aside, the mechanic attributed the noise when going over bumps to a small gap at the top of the strut tower that he recommended I fill by shoving a slice of rubber hose into. Cheap fix.

You can find this fully discussed, do an "advanced search"...there should be several very good threads.

Dealing with a balance issue now, new tires haven’t fixed it.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=486976

Do a search for alignment passat and add zero to search words and you'll find info you need to correct your pull.

These cars must be ready for Nascar! Or is that pulling to the Left?

Make sure all the wheels are the same. ie: same offset and width. If a replica wheel has been put in place of an OE wheel, there may be a centering ring that is missing. OE wheels don't need centering rings but aftermarket wheels usually do. The typical VW hub center is 57.1mm diameter. Missing centering rings will cause a major vibration but when the wheels get balanced they appear fine. I had this happen to me before with some new wheels.

All tires and wheels are original from what I can see.

Here is a small video where you can see how bad it pulls to the right. There were no cars around me at all and no houses on this road. Keep in mind I'm already holding the wheel to the left some. As soon as I let go it starts to drift to the right pretty hard. I'm just going to keep driving it till I get new tires and wheels on it in a few months.

My buddy recommended me putting my wife's (2017 Passat TSI) wheels on my car and see if it still happens, so that way I could rule out the 'bent wheel' theory. I want to do that, but that's a lot of work. I wish I could find the print out of the paperwork they gave me for the alignment, but I have no idea where it is. I do remember everything was in the green though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOjNDXYFTe4&feature=youtu.be


The only thing I have found doing searches is that it's an alignment issue. I guess I'll get another alignment done after this, maybe at another shop, if the problem persist.

Smashed Ixnay said:

All tires and wheels are original from what I can see.

Here is a small video where you can see how bad it pulls to the right. There were no cars around me at all and no houses on this road. Keep in mind I'm already holding the wheel to the left some. As soon as I let go it starts to drift to the right pretty hard. I'm just going to keep driving it till I get new tires and wheels on it in a few months.

My buddy recommended me putting my wife's (2017 Passat TSI) wheels on my car and see if it still happens, so that way I could rule out the 'bent wheel' theory. I want to do that, but that's a lot of work. I wish I could find the print out of the paperwork they gave me for the alignment, but I have no idea where it is. I do remember everything was in the green though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOjNDXYFTe4&feature=youtu.be


The only thing I have found doing searches is that it's an alignment issue. I guess I'll get another alignment done after this, maybe at another shop, if the problem persist.

Click to expand...

See Post #5 above for the possible solution.

Also, ANY tire shop can verify a bent wheel quickly.

thundershorts said:

Do a search for alignment passat and add zero to search words and you'll find info you need to correct your pull.

Click to expand...

Alignment Passat zero doesn’t seem to be working for me. The search term zero is dropped because it’s too common. Any chance you could post a link to a thread with the right info?

Thanks

My first brand new 2013 SEL also pulled to the right just a hair.

I brought it in maybe 6 months after buying it and had them double check. It was all perfectly within spec.

6 months later, I took it to Firestone and they got it tracking perfectly.

I almost wonder if Firestone uses different machines or specs from the Vw dealerships?

My used 2015 pulls just a hair to the right and I am almost at the point where I am going to visit Firestone again.

Mine is 2015 Jetta SEL but had similar problems even though it had only 11,800 miles when I bought it. The car had vibration and pulling to the right and all for wheels had various curb rashes on them but they're all original wheels came with the car. I had all 4 of them repaired and they look decent now, paint etc all matched fine. Then I took the car to my local tire/alignment shop to put new tires--Pirelli Cinturato AS Plus and do alignment. They found that 2 left wheels were bent, which got straightened and alignment was off. With the new tires and alignment the pulling was gone, however the vibration after 65 mph was still there. The shop then voluntarily changed all tires with Continental purecontact ecoplus 225/45/R17 and realigned the wheels and now the car drives very smooth no vibration or pulling anymore.
So it could be combination of wheel/tires/alignment issues causing your problems.

Bronco, try search using my handle, thundershorts

OK, I found one that might be of interest to you:


First find a shop that aligns to minutes of arc rather than tenths of a degree. Sixty minutes in a degree so a tenth of a degree equals 6 minutes, hence minutes is six times more finite than tenths.
set both front and rear tow to zero, 0.0 , compare left and right castor and camber readings, they should be close, each on my car came out to be within 2 minutes. Set rear camber both sides to -1 or - 1 3o'. FYI, the 30' is what the printout would show for 30 minutes of a degree. If your front shows a sizable difference between right and left, you may have a subframe misalignment. You should end up with a thrust angle of 0.00. Let us know how it feels afterwards.
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with these settings, 2013 passat ran 55k miles before buyback, conti's still had 5-6 /32 tread left front. 2015 has 18k running same settings.

thundershorts said:

OK, I found one that might be of interest to you:


First find a shop that aligns to minutes of arc rather than tenths of a degree. Sixty minutes in a degree so a tenth of a degree equals 6 minutes, hence minutes is six times more finite than tenths.
set both front and rear tow to zero, 0.0 , compare left and right castor and camber readings, they should be close, each on my car came out to be within 2 minutes. Set rear camber both sides to -1 or - 1 3o'. FYI, the 30' is what the printout would show for 30 minutes of a degree. If your front shows a sizable difference between right and left, you may have a subframe misalignment. You should end up with a thrust angle of 0.00. Let us know how it feels afterwards.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I had found a few different related posts from you. I’ll see what’s available for alignment in my area.