Q: Wheels alignment

Hello. I’ll be glad to help you with this. On a straightaway, at speed, with no significant crown on the road, if the car is properly aligned, you should be able to remove your hands from the wheel and the car should track straight ahead for a reasonable distance. Some cars will continue perfectly straight for an 1/8 mile or more with no steering input. If the car does not track straight ahead, but pulls or wanders, check the obvious possibilities first: uneven tire inflation, uneven tire wear, belt separation in tire.

A common mechanical cause is too much cross-camber, that is camber on one side is set such that it varies too much from the camber set on the other side. Even if a "small" amount of pull is claimed to be typical in the model year you have, perhaps because of an error in specifying the alignment settings, it can always be corrected or offset now by slighting modifying camber (and possibly toe).

To re-cap, check for obvious causes first, as well as any physical damage to tires, wheels, struts and so forth. If no obvious cause exists, set alignment to factory "optimum" (i.e., desired) settings (there will be typically be an "acceptable" range for each alignment setting, toe and camber, caster if adjustable; set to "optimum within the range) and see if that resolves the issue.

If not, an alignment specialist can work with you to diagnose this and possibly slightly (we are talking about very small changes) modify the settings such that you are not experiencing this pull. YourMechanic has such specialists and can assist you with diagnosing the pull in your steering.