Purchased a new 2010Grand Caravan and have had alignment issues from day one. Service manager told me the van was designed for Germany's roads with no crown and that was the reason it pulled to the right as most US roads have crowns for drainage. When he told me this the BS flag went to the top of the pole. I returned 3 more times with the same complaint and the dealer had to outsource the alignment to the local Goodyear shop who stated in was "within specs". The car continued to pull to the right and I told the service manager I would return when the tires started to wear abnormally, he stated the tires would be fine as the car was designed to pull to the right. I'm an old Vette guy who does a lot of my own work so his comment left me shaking my head. I returned 4 months later with both front tires bald on the outer tread edge. The service manager said this was due to not rotating them at 6000 miles! I had the maint history pulled and he told me my "beef" was with Goodyear not Dodge - amazing! He inspected the tires and FINALLY agreed I had an alignment issue, he was able to get a zone mgrs. approval to have the tires replaced ($50 "deductable) and a special "alignment kit" ordered to fis the problem that I had told him existed since day one. Still waiting for the fix, so don't know what will happen.

I'm beginning to think my van either has a bent frame (rear tire wear is normal), was dropped off the loading van, hit a curb very hard, or is just a lemon. Anyone had a similar experience? This is my third Grand Caravan and it will be my last as the quality has slowly but surely gone down hill since I purchased my first one in '95.

Other issues I had included a loose HVAC drain line that saturated the int carpet, and a leaky windshield. In both cases they told me the carpet had been dried when in fact it wasn't, their "fix" to dry the carpet was to run the heat on high for one hr. when I heard this I got the svc mgr involved AGAIN, after three visits for wet carpeting the problem was fixed and I insisted on new carpet due to mold concerns, which they finally installed.

Small wonder Detroit is in the shape it's in!!

 

WHEEL ALIGNMENT


NOTE: All specifications are given in degrees.


FRONT WHEEL ALIGNMENT PREFERRED SETTING ACCEPTABLE RANGE
CAMBER - LEFT +0.35° −0.05° to +0.75°
CAMBER - RIGHT +0.05° −0.35° to +0.45°
Cross-Camber (Maximum side-to-side difference) +0.30° −0.20° to +0.80°
CASTER* +2.50° +1.50° to +3.50°
Cross-Caster (Maximum side-to-side difference) 0.00° −0.75° to +0.75°
TOTAL TOE** +0.26° +0.06° to +0.46°
REAR WHEEL ALIGNMENT PREFERRED SETTING ACCEPTABLE RANGE
CAMBER* −0.06° −0.46° to +0.34°
Cross-Camber (Maximum side-to-side difference) 0.00° −0.25° to +0.25°
TOTAL TOE* ** +0.10° −0.15° to +0.35°
THRUST ANGLE 0.00° −0.30° to +0.30°
Notes:
* For reference only. These are non-adjustable angles.
** TOTAL TOE is the sum of both left and right wheel toe settings. TOTAL TOE should be equally split between each front wheel to ensure the steering wheel is centered after setting toe. Positive toe is toe-in and negative toe is toe-out
Here is the factory specs for the alignment.

 

I am having the exact same problem with the pulling and outer tire wear as well. It is going in Monday for rim defect on all four (pitting), front end vibrations and alignment. Has 8,000 km but has been present since day 1. They did center the steering wheel but as we all know that won't help. Vibration they do think is balance related but they are going to refinish all 4 rims reinstall and balance.

 

Try and get them road force balanced, alot of pull issues are tire related and road force balancing is the only way to correct that.

 

Hi , I,m in my 60's an have bought a new vehicle on avg. every five years . So , I have run into this same problem. I generally had to resolve with a 10 foot ruller . I set the toe end @ .250 . That is I screw the front of the front tires 1/4 inch closer than the rear of the front tires by turning the toe end adjustment till I get my 1/4 toe in front of the rear of the front tires . Works every time. I only have 64 miles on my Grand caravan & I,m going to need just that adjustment . The caravan was pulling to the right as I drove home from the dealer brand new . my thoughts D.A.

 

Two times over the years, I have had an issue with tires causing a pulling problem. By moving them around on the van, you could either change the direction of the pulling when swapping front tires side to side or pretty much get rid of it by putting the fronts on the rears. Granted, that eliminates consistent tire rotation but at least you can determine if it is tire related as opposed to alignment.

 

My 2010 SXT 4.0L does just the opposite. It has 9,000 km on it and from day 1 it has had a constant pull to the left and the steering wheel was off center and pointing slightly to the left. Last week I took it in for it's first service and the dealer reluctantly agreed to perform a wheel alignment under warranty. Now the steering wheel is centred but the van still pulls sligtly to the left. I have a feeling all they did was to adjust the toe equally at each wheel just to centre the steering wheel.

 

Have you tried to cross rotate the front tires? If it still pull to the left,then something is out of alignment.If it pulls right.The problem is the tires.

 

mine actually little opposite seems pulls to both sides. but thats if i try to leave steering wheel. seems i have to correct its path travel.

 

will i look crazy if i bring this post in because i have finally bought my first new van ( always bought used) 2010 caravan sxt with 4.0 and have had alignment issues first to the left, then they replaced the left strut and installed camber bolt, now pulling to right been to the dealership 3 times in 6 weeks since i bought it