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Road Crown Pull

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Kurtle, Sep 4, 2019.

  1. Kurtle

    Kurtle New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2019
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    Location:
    Salem
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I drove Camrys (second and fourth gens) for many years. I now have a Gen 3 Prius, and I hate the handling. It is super sensitive to road crown, always wanting to go right. I understand the right hand drift that is standard, and that the right wheel is the drive wheel and can cause slight pulling.

    about 9 months ago I had the car aligned and was told the alignment was good. The tires were worn, and needed replacement, I put a new set of Bridgestone Turanza's on it 2 months ago, and had the wheels aligned. I was told that one measurement was off and they adjusted that, but that the camber can't be adjusted on a Prius(?).

    The pull is stronger that what I believe a road crown should cause. If I drive on a one way street in the left lane it will pull left somewhat but not like it does right on a right side crown. At high speed it kinda scares me as I have to constantly be counter steering to a degree. On a level road (hard to find around here) the right pull is greatly reduced but still there to a degree.

    Is it just that Prius are overly road crown sensitive (I have a hard time believing this)? I asked the shop if any of the front end parts were worn if they would be able to tell when doing the alignment and was told yes, and that the pull was just "the nature of the beast as the camber cant be adjusted on a Prius".

    Any ideas or pointers would be most appreciated.
     
  2. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2012
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    Location:
    Central MO
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    II
    Alignment can be done with shims but very rare to find a person that can do it and very expensive due to wheel bearing removal, that’s why I’m fortunate to do myself
     
  3. Kurtle

    Kurtle New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2019
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    Location:
    Salem
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Thanks for your response, so is this road crown sensitivity a known thing with Prius?
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    not that i have ever heard of. what tires, pressures and condition?

    my prius doesn't feel any different than my wife hycam, both with oem tires and now michelin running around 40 psi
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
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    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I know one time (with another vehicle) I was getting pretty strong pull to the right, and the tire shop swapped left and right side front wheels, and it went away. They tried to tell me about "conicity", it didn't really sink in, but anyways they thought that was the issue.
     
    RMB and bisco like this.