Leaning to the Right - 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk Long-Term Road Test


Leaning to the Right - 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk Long-Term Road Test
Our 2015 Jeep Renegade seems to have developed a slight pull to the right on the highway. The tires were recently rotated, so there's a good chance that has something to do with it.
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With the weight off the tires, and with each of them properly inflated, check their circumference with a tape measure pulled tight around the center of the tire.
You'll probably find that the left tires are bigger - sometimes up to 3/8" - which translates into about 1/8" in diameter. This means the car will tend to pull right. I've seen this many times, even on brand new tires, and some vehicles are particularly sensitive to it.
In the US, you want the 'larger' tires to be on the right side, which helps correct for road crown.
They need to swap the tires side to side and see what happens. If the pull (lead) changes then swap the tires on one side of the car from front to back and then see how it handles again. What is usually happening is one of the tires is causing a dynamic pull/push because it is rolling more like a Styrofoam cup. This routine will identify first if a tire is causing the issue and if so which tire is it. Then a repair can be discussed.
To get to this answer, the person investigating it deserves to be paid fairly for taking the time to do so. The same goes for measuring the alignment angles if need be. There are places that say that they do that for free, and yes it might not cost you money today if a given vehicle doesn't need correction. But it isn't really free and its costing you a lot more somewhere else. Come on already, figure it out!
I think you misunderstood my post; I'm not recommending buying tires marked differently. I'm saying that identically-marked tires are NOT all precisely identical.
The reason swapping the tires side to side works - recommended by many other posters here - is for this reason. The tires aren't bad, and the alignment can be just fine. I dealt this with this problem on several cars over the years until I figured out the issue.
The math works this way: If you have a tire that is 1/8" larger in circumference (not diameter), and it is rotating 800 times per mile, that tire is trying to travel 100 feet less per mile than the opposite tire. Something has to make up the difference - that something is steering angle, which amounts to drag and wear.