I got new tires and immediately went to Tire Kingdom for an alignment. I chose TK because I may be moving around the country and I wanted to be able to use the 3 year alignment package anywhere I went. When I first took it in, it had a slight pull to the right and the steering wheel was very obviously not straight. The manager of the store did the first alignment. He said the right caster adjustment was “maxed out” and that I may need new front springs/shocks to correct this(160k miles.). But he said the alignment was perfect now. Driving home, the steering wheel had not been corrected and the van still pulled to the right. I took it back the next day and told them it wasn’t right and specifically asked them to look and see if anything needed to be replaced. A different alignment tech aligned it again, made a toe adjustment (I haven’t hit any potholes or bumps since the first alignment), test drove it and said it was perfect. Said there was absolutely no issues with suspension parts and everything was in “excellent shape.” I literally gave them the opportunity to sell me repairs and they didn’t, so I assumed they really didn’t find anything wrong. Driving home, it still pulls to the right. The steering wheel is not straight again, but this time in the other direction. The tires are brand new, the pressures are all proper. I really don’t want to take it back to this shop since they haven’t been able to fix it in 2 alignments. Is there something wrong with the van or are they not doing it right? My next inclination is to take it to the dealership as they may be more familiar with Chevy and may find a problem that TK missed - is there any logic in this?

 

First thing I would do is to swap tires one side to the other and see if it makes a difference.

I had the same problem with a car lately just after installing 4 brand new tires. The alignement tech swap front tires left to right and the problem was solved.
So even if a tire is new... like the tech told me you would be surprised how many are not perfect.

 

Road surfaces are rarely flat. They are typically inclined to shed water. Usually towards the outside -- the right side in N.America.
A vehicle on an incline will never track straight and the wheel MUST be turned slightly to keep it moving straight.

Try driving somewhere with a slight incline to the left and you will see it pulls to the left.

Sometimes asphalt roads will even have ruts worn into them by constant heavy truck traffic. This affects tracking too.

 

IMO the wheel not being straight is a key that somebody doesn't know what they are doing, doing an alignment. To eliminate possibilities of road surface issues drive in a parking lot, if it still pulls in a parking lot at low speed something isn't right.

 

I’ve tried multiple road surfaces, flat and sloped to the right, still pulls left. I’ve owned multiple cars in my life and worked on many more. Something is not right here, it’s not the road.

 

oh, you said it pulled right in your first post.

Did you inspect all the brakes to make sure they weren't dragging?

 

post the 2 alignment printouts