One of my pet peeves is having a steering wheel that does not line up straight. I recently had a new steering box put in the car and now my wheel does not line up. From my understanding, there are three things that need to be adjusted correctly, the steering box, the alignment, and the steering wheel.

1. My understanding is that the steering box needs to be centered first. How do you find the center? Does the shop doing the alignment count the total revolutions the steering wheel can turn and then place it in the middle?

2. I would assume with the box in the middle, the wheel alignment comes next.

3. With the those two things done, if the steering wheel is not straight, what is the next thing to look at? Unfortunately, my steering wheel is not stock so that could have been put in incorrectly to begin with.
Does the steering shaft itself have any adjustment where it ties into the steering box. It does not appear to have any. What about the wheel itself. I have not pulled it off yet.

Thanks
Glenn in San Diego

 

not sure but i can tell you how i centered my grand prix when i had it years ago.

i cut wheel all the way to the right(or left if you prefer)
i marked the column itself and the base of the wheel and then turned it
all the way full lock the other way, counted the wheel revolutions and basically divided by 2. i then removed the wheel and and installed it straight.
from there i went to the alignment shop and told them that i had centered the wheel and had them align the wheels to the centered steering wheel. not sure if this is the correct method but it worked for me and i didnt have any problems with the steering.

 

The arm will only fit on the steering box in one place. The rag joint also will only go on one way. A alignment shop will tie the wheel straight and make adjustments. The wheel has two lines to line up that should be straight but you can make the wheel straight by moving it off the marks.

 

This is what I do in similar circumstances.

I too have found that occasionally when everything is adjusted as correctly as possible and there are no worn parts that could be contributing to the problem and I am satisfied that the alignment is correct... the steering wheel can be off by a few degrees or more. I then drive on as flat a road as possible in as straight a line as possible and put a grease pencil mark from the steering column to the steering wheel hub. This becomes your reference mark. As long as the car is tracking straight, it doesn't really matter where the mark is. When you park the car (with the mark aligned) you can now center the wheel and see just how far it really is off.

I then go to the tie rods and shorten one side by adjusting it about a quarter turn and lengthen the other tie rod the exact same amount. Test drive it and make any additional adjustments necessary. Usually with no more than 2 adjustments the wheel will be centered. Which tie rod to lengthen and or shorten will depend on which side of centered the wheel is when you start. If you pick the wrong side the first time, it will be obvious and just reverse the adjustments.

The only really important thing is to ensure you make the same adjustments (turns) to both tie rods each time, lengthen one and shorten the other. I have performed this adjustment on both recirculating ball steering as well as rack & pinion with excellent results.

Good luck... GUSTO

 

Here is a link to a paper that pretty much explains the steering wheel centering procedure.

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/wp-co...Rev18MY061.doc

Jim

 

Best procedure is to center the box, then if the steering wheel is still out of line, pull the hub and recenter it. That way the box and steering wheel are both centered. Of course, you can have my problem - being on perfectly straight with the hub 180* out...one of these days I'll fix it.

 

If the bolts are removed from the rag joint they can get you 180 out also.

 

That's how I got it 180* out - rag joint rebuild. It's better than using the joint's stop pins to steer, though.