10 4 on the pull following, thats how we figured it out. Rotated front to back drove perfect like the two alignments said. Refund time for new tires.

 

My 2010 SS had a pull issue. Turned out to be radial pull, there's a procedure in the shop manual which tells the tech how to identify the problem. In my case, swapping the left rear with the left front made the problem go away. Initially, the dealer did the alignment and made some minor adjustments. Still pulled left. Then the radial pull troubleshooting chart was followed and they replaced the bad tire. I would look to your tires as the problem you experience. Hope it works out for you.

 

Isn't that called "rotating the tires"? Or, did you have directional tires mounted on the wrong sides after rotating like the manual states,( for non-directional tires RR to LF, LR to RF, LF to LR, RF to RR). (Simple F to R ONLY for directionals)? Do SS models come with directional tires, or at least owners buy replacements without understanding the implications? Basically, if there is a large arrow on the sidewall it should be pointing to the front rotationally, and probably has some sort of instructions printed on the sidewall.

Wrong direction will cause many different problems, like "radial pull"; I never heard that one from a non-salesperson. We used to call that sh-- talking. "Reverse molding makes the center wear out when the tire in under-inflated, and the wear on the outside of the tread is caused from high speed cornering". I was a Tire Salesman, and I can say "tire salesmen are lying scum" that is what they taught me to say, and don't get me started on ball joints and tie rod ends and idler arms and tie rod "bushing kits" (I sold a $100,000 worth in 1 year, and I was the trainee). I can only hope that the new guys are only the dummy type that I have run into lately are better, the ones that will not sell you a tire without looking at what's on the car and then consulting the computer, then saying "they only come in white wall".

 

The SS tires are not directional. Radial pull is caused by a defective tire. The car handled absolutely perfect until the first rotation of tires was done. The procedure for identifying radial pull is outlined in the GM shop manual for the HHR. The dealership followed the trouble shooting chart and then replaced the defective tire. After that everything was fine once again. Tires have been rotated again after that initial event and everything is still fine, so problem solved.

 

PLEASE READ TO THE END. I HAVE INCLUDED A SOLUTION.

Consider the possibility that you are sensitive to the subtleties in the steering system like me. I, too, have a 2011 HHR that pulls to the left and like you I took it back to the dealer for an alignment just to find out it is in spec. I only took this car in once before throwing in the towel. You see, I have had this problem with the last four cars I have owned. It has pissed me off ever since.

From the late 70’s to mid 90’s I drove Japanese cars that had firm bushings and wheel alignment with absolutely no pull or slop. When I bought a Dodge neon in 1995 that all changed. I noticed that the steering always wanted to sit a little left of center and even that would vary due to the slop. The slop didn’t bother me so much but the ****-eyed steering was frustrating. I took it back to the dealer over and over and each time I was told that it was in spec. To make a long story short, the arbitration board required the manufacturer to replace the car. They did, and wouldn’t you know, the dang replacement did the same thing.

I went through the same issue with a Saturn Ion and now the HHR, each time I would press the issue less and less. They wore me down. I like these cars but the steering issue still annoys me.

Recently, I have read that some manufacturers set the alignment to adjust for the crown of the road by compensating with a slight cross-camber, cross-caster or both. THOSE IDIOTS!! You can’t compensate for varying road conditions with a fixed setting. Additionally, that road feel is important feedback for the driver. They have actually introduced a problem where one didn’t exist.

With this in mind, you may want to consider some caster/camber kits to have that adjusted back out. I know that I will. I also read that some shops also will try to adjust for road crown so make sure that they know that you want it dead on even.

 

They don't do the "crown" thing anymore with the "computerized" laser systems. The computer tells the tech what is right, and that's factory settings.

Pull to the left is mostly torque steer.

This is a 2 year old thread.

 

No, torque steer is only during acceleration. Mine is perpetual. It's also not due to worn or bent parts or radial pull. I can say that it feels less pronounced in the warm summer months but it's still ever-present, though, this aspect may have to do with the rather soft suspension bushings.

With the wheels pointed strait down the road on level pavement, if you put your hand on the steering wheel at the 12:00 position, there should be a place, there, where the steering should want to settle. That area is not a single point but a zone of relatively easy movement from a little left of center and little right of center. As you deflect the steering to either the right or the left of that zone, you should notice a distinct increase in the amount of force it takes to turn the wheel. For lack of a better term, I will refer to those two points as the “bumps”. Now those bumps should be equidistant from the 12:00 position. For example, if the left bump is 1 inch to the left of 12:00 then the right bump should be 1 inch to the right of the 12:00. The width of the zone can vary from car to car but its associated bumps should always be equidistant from the 12:00 position. If you have never notice this before on the cars you have driven, then you may be hard-pressed to acknowledge the problem, much less, provide a solution to correct it.

Now that I have established terms and a basis with which to start, the last four cars I have owned have done the same thing. The right bump sits right at the 12:00 position and, due to the slop in the suspension system, occasionally pushes slightly left of that. The left bump starts a couple of inches left of the 12:00 position and it is rather vague. By vague, I mean that it is not distinct and provides little push back to the center. It is always easier to turn the wheel left than right.

As I suggested in my original post, it may be that only a few of us even notice the issue. I have had a number of people drive these cars and I would ask them their impression of the steering response and usually they wouldn’t notice anything. If I mentioned that it had a slight pull and asked them to try to identify which way, they would say that it slightly favors the left. For me, though, it is not slight.

If absolutely every car I had ever driven had a little pull to it then I probably would accept the fact that it is just not possible to achieve. If this were true, why do they all favor the left? Surely some of the cars would favor the right and occasionally a few cars would fall right in the center of that bell curve. But no, it’s always to the left. Prior to 1995 all the cars I had ever owned (mostly Japanese) and driven, including my parents cars (RWD with ball joint front ends), were dead on strait, so I know it can be done.

In the material I have read about alignment adjustments to compensate for road crown, they would say something like: “You can compensate for road crown with ¼ degree of cross caster but ½ would create a noticeable pull”. I think that a few of us may actually notice that ¼ degree. We are like the “Princes and the Pea”. Unless you have any other suggestions that I haven’t already considered then I think that the caster/camber kits may be the answer.

The only other thing that I might suggest is that the soft suspension bushings allow for so much movement to where the unequal length drive shafts have an effect on suspension movement. This would not be seen in the static analysis that is the alignment rack.

What did you mean by "The computer tells the tech what is right..."?

 

Did your alignment show caster numbers? I'd like to see them. I have raced FWD cars in the past and a pull is usually indicative of something bent somewhere. In my my experience... If the caster is off, the car might nave seen a wreck that you weren't told about. Many times, it's correctable, but the numbers should show that.

 

Mine wants to go left under power, does not need to be accelerating. I did have an alignment done recently and all of the numbers are at spec.

Watch a car get aligned on a modern machine. After the tech tells it what kind of car it is, it tells him what to change and where to stop changing.
In the old days, before computer print outs the tech might look in a book and set the caster, camber and toe the way he wanted to.

Without doing a body pull on an HHR you cannot change the caster. It is possible to put an after-market camber kit on it. The only adjustment that can be done on a stock HHR is the toe.

Perhaps a blown out strut on one side could cause a weight distribution problem?

 

I have done many alignments in my day. I have used old alignment equipment with analog gauges and I have used newer equipment with lasers. When you enter the cars info it sets up the alignment machine with the manufactures specs.

You then move the adjustments on the car until all of the numbers shows in specification. Here is the part where a good alignment tech and a poor one will stand out.

Each manufacture specification has a tolerance number built in. It allows so many numbers of deg. Positive and negative from the actual specification.

A good tech will continue adjusting the car until it is very close to the manufacture specification if not right on. where the poor tech will stop when it is with in tolerance. Both of these will show green numbers on there board which means it's aligned correctly but the one that continued to adjust to the closer factory spec will be a much better alignment.

There is also a reason you don't have caster and camber adjustments on today's cars. Because the manufacture found out they could save time and money not having to align a car on the assembly line. if there was no adjustments and they were in the acceptable tolerance of the alignment you can just bolt it up and move to the next one.

I remember drilling out strut to spindle mounting to repair and align brand new cars to correct alignment tolerance problems. And yes it was a factory approved operation. For example when the ram truck came out in 94 the front end was so far out of spec ( but in tolerance ) they never went straight down the road with out doing very specific alignments and adding shims of different thicknesses between the wheel and the hub to get them to track straight.

With all that said I would use camber kits to adjust my front end but most important find a good alignment tech. That can put them to good use.