My Car is Having Tracking Problems

Driving a vehicle in traffic can be a stressful time, not only are there distractions and other drivers but if your vehicle is not driving straight it can be down right scary. Many people and mechanics will instantly blame the steering gearbox or steering rack but this may not always be the case.

If a vehicle is not driving straight when the steering wheel is at center there can be a huge number of reasons. Not only can the steering be out of alignment but the whole vehicle may be as well. This can be caused by an impact on the road with debris or maybe  pot hole. Sometimes even after a repair or a modification the alignment may be off from where it should be.

The reason that a vehicle will track incorrectly is because all 4 tires are no longer facing the same direction as they did originally. This can cause the vehicle to pull when driving or it can even cause a condition known as "catapillaring" which is when the direction of travel is not quite the same as the angel of the vehicle. There are some simple fixes for this condition but sometimes it is not so easy. If the issue was caused by a simple alignment issue it will take a mechanic about an hour to fix it. If there is something more than car may need some serious work to get back to proper operation.