W123 240D Pulls to Left
 

Hello All,

I have a 1983 240D that pulls to the left. You must constantly hold the wheel to the right and it otherwise cruises well. Every once in a while it will feel as though the steering is "true" although this does not last. It is not just that the steering wheel is off center, pressure must be held to prevent veering.

Car sat for about 14 years before I got it. No history of accidents.

New pads and rotors on all four corners. New calipers up front. New steering damper, idler bearing, and drag link. New ball joints, upper control arms, and bearings. New tie rods with an "oldschooler" doing the alignment.

I did not replace the guide rod bushings or lower control arm bushings although I can detect no wheel play or drag with the car jacked. Steering box was adjusted minimally after all of the above and the steering wheel play is within specified limits.

Any thoughts on what could be causing this leftward pull? There is no clunking, drifting, or abnormal tire wear that I have noticed.

Pic for clicks:
https://i.imgur.com/sNeKH3B.jpg

How old are the rubber brake hoses? Old hoses can collapse internally and act as a check valve, causing pulling and symptoms of a stuck caliper.

All 4 were replaced with the pads, rotors, and front calipers. Brake system was then flushed and bled with a Motive Power Bleeder.

I'll have to pay attention to if there is any change with braking. I don't think there is though.

Another thought I had is to swap tires around just to rule out an abnormality with them.

This may sound a little ridiculous, but to what PSI do you inflate your tires? And what size tires do you run?

Recommended tire size, and PSI wise whatever is in the door jamb. 29 in the rear, 32 in the front, something like that.

This is driving me nuts, NOTHING is ridiculous to try.

I was having tire wear issues that suggested an alignment problem -like you, I had gotten multiple, good alignments.
In the end, Inflating my tires (195s) to 35 all around completely resolved the issue.

I'll certainly give it a shot. Thanks!

Beautiful 240D!
I am having a similar issue where my 300D pulls at higher speeds, I'll be sure to share if I figure it out.

Swapping front wheels is a good idea. At this point I would suspect a bad tire. You describe a common symptom of a tire belt issue.

Thanks. A lot of blood and sweat into this!

Tires are non-directional so I swapped the fronts and aired up about 2psi. Actually made a large difference. Swapped the backs side to side and there was no noticeable change.

At this point the steering wheel is slightly off and pull is minimal to nothing. I can certainly live with it.

A tire belt separation can also cause pulling to one side in addition to low tire pressure. Great looking car!

Sweet 240D
 

I remember when my '82 240D looked *just* like that....

I run a bit more pressure in my tires , you can try chalking them to discern the absolute best inflation pressure for your tires, needs and driving .