Hello fellow owners, with 65k miles now on the 07, I've been unhappy with the straight-line tracking of this car, esp. on surfaces with crowning, although it is not as bad as some I've driven.

The car seems happiest on perfectly flat roads, but when that road crown starts, the car just wants to pull, just enough to be annoying.

The dealer has watched the alignment and everything is spec. They explain "that's the way it drives". And I have to agree.

Has anyone found and used alternative specs in their alignment to improve straight-ahead driving, or, the ability to keep a track?

Thanks in advance! I love the car but find this aspect unneccesary and annoying.

 

Interesting..... they are 'twitchy' on some roads and especially in gusty winds.

 

My previous car, also a Camry, seemed to develop a severe pull to the left. I had it aligned at various dealers and even a specialty alignment shop and it was in spec. I could change lanes just by letting go of the wheel. I just lived with it until one day, one of my tires flatted and had to be replaced. Afterwards, the pull was significantly reduced, if not gone altogether.

I thought my wheels were being rotated periodically when serviced by the dealerships and that the pull would have changed sides if it was due to the wheels or tires.

My hybrid seems to track quite well--better than as you describe so I don't think yours is normal. I'd consider the tires before aligning the car out of spec and verify that the wheels are actually being moved around if troubleshooting by rotating the wheels.

 

Don't know if it is still true but radials never got rotated across the car - only front to back.

 

Front to back rotation is the normal for radials.

I did have a car many years ago that pulled to the side like that. The alignment was to specs, and a new set of tires fixed the problem. The tire dealer told me that radial tires can be damaged pretty easily by any type of minor accident and this could make them pull - even a panic stop can knock some tires out of whack.

 

As previously stated, during normal rotation, the tires are to be rotated front to back.

There is/was a TSB concerning the vehicle pulling to one side (ST005-01). In this TSB, it recommended to swap the two front tires and see if the "pulling" direction/amount changed. If so, the problem is with the tires, not alignment.

 

You can also SLIGHTLY increase the toe-in to help with tracking issues. Talk to your alignment guy and explain what you want the car to do. They can put the car at the limits (or slightly over) and help with your problem.

 

We run ours at 1/2 degree pos toe in on all fours, makes a differance.