Questions and Answers

Dodge Intrepid Has Lots Of Pull Q. Dear Mr.Ciulla, Here are the specs on my car: 1996 Dodge Intrepid 3.3 liter engine Automatic transmission 66,000 miles Now for the problem: Car pulls to the right, crooked steering wheel.

I bought the car in 1998 with 24,000 miles on it, It ran and handled great from 1998 to 2000. In 2000 I had it inspected at Kost Tire and Muffler, The service guy came out and told me I needed rear struts and tie rod ends, I told him to do the job, he did.

Now the story begins, I went back the next day for my alignment. They aligned it and I drove away with a cocked steering wheel, (car pulls to the right) so I returned. They aligned again, I drove away again with a cocked steering wheel. (Still pulls to the right.)

Well to make this part of the story short I had my car aligned by about eight different shops and heard about 800 different reasons why I have this problem. (I have noticed that the car has also become very sensitive to road pitch, On a really bad pitched road, the pull is so bad that if I let go of the wheel the car will instantly drive into the curb).

Now on to what repairs I had done to the car through advise of service techs.

Front struts and alignment (same problem)
Ball joints and control arms both left and right and alignment (same problem)
New brakes
New rotors
New link pins both left and right
Four new tires and alignment (same problem)
Rubber bushings for the steering rack and alignment (same problem)
Replaced the tie rod ends that kost tire & muffler put on and alignment (same problem)

Well after all of these repairs guess what I still have the same problem. The car hasn't been in a collision, so there is no frame damage and as you can see I have replaced just about everything in the front end. I just don't know where to go from here.

Things service techs are now telling me:

1. I need a camber/caster kit for the front of the car because the camber/caster can't be adjusted in the 1996 Intrepids.
2. I need new strut plates. The plates may be sticking and causing the vehicle to pull.

Mr. Ciulla, please help; I'm loosing my mind and my money over this problem.

Thank you Ralph

A. There was a TSB issued about this problem.

NUMBER: 02-16-99

GROUP: Suspension

DATE: Dec. 31, 1999

SUBJECT:
Vehicle Leads or Pulls

OVERVIEW:
This bulletin covers the diagnosis and repair information for LH vehicles that have a constant pull or lead condition.

MODELS:
1993 - 2000 (LH) Concorde/Intrepid/LHS/New Yorker/Vision

SYMPTOM/CONDITION:
Vehicle has a constant lead or pull on a flat non-crowned road.

The bulletin then goes on to explain what to check, how to check it and how to repair it.

I think your best bet at this point is to take it to a Dodge Dealer and let them look at your car and repair it.