I just did a body off resto and took it in for an alignment. The place is about a 2 hour return drive but I went since it was highly recommended by this Corvette Forum in my area, (Canada).

The alignment took about 1.5 hours which was longer than the shop anticipated but they stayed open and didn't rush the job even though I was the last customer of the day. I went for a 15 minute test drive and the alignment is perfect except the steering wheel is off by quite a bit (at 9 o'clock), When I returned the shop was closed.

I'd like to prevent doing the 2 hour return drive, is there anyway I can straighten the steering wheel myself? It's a stock '75 steering wheel on a "75 Vette with tilt/tele column.

 

You have to shorten one tie rod while lengthening the other equally. Then lock it down.
Just take it back. It NEEDS to be centered, as the steering box gears are a tighter mesh on center.

 

Before you take it back,center the steering box by turning the wheels full lock each way and trying to find the middle of the travel. If your wheel is badly crooked when the box is centered then something is likely wrong with the rag joint installation that should be corrected.

How far off was the alignment?

 

How does the car drive and handle since the alignment?

Have someone slowly turn the steering wheel 1/2 turn left....then back to center....then 1/2 turn right....did the two parts of the rag joint seem to "slip" (one half seemed to begin rotating before the other half rotated?

Like the other member said.....Park on level concrete.......turn the steering wheel all the way to the left.......then count the turns of the steering wheel as you turn it all the way to the right........divide that number by 2........turn the steering wheel back to the left exactly the number of turns of your answer.......Example: After turning the steering wheel all the way to the left......Then.....When you turned the steering wheel all the way to the right----it turned 17 1/2 turns......now turn the steering wheel to the left exactly 8 3/4 turns.

Does the steering wheel look straight?

Or did it end up at the 9 o'clock position again?

 

1. Your steering wheel attaches to the steering column hub with six small screws. They are equally spaced so you should be able to index the steering wheel in 60 degree increments. This won't get you exactly to 90 degrees but it will get you closer.

2. With your road wheels straight ahead (i.e. driving straight down the road) there is an indentation on the very end of the upper steering shaft at 12 o'clock. If the indentation is not at 12 o'clock, the alignment shop did not do the procedure properly.



3. The following paper is long but it will take you step by step through procedures that will determine the cause of your problem. No special tools are required to inspect the various steering column, flexible coupling, and/or steering gear connections.

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/?p=1033

Good luck,
Jim

 

That's perfect Jim, the document has the picture of the rag joint to ensure it's all together correctly.

 

was the steering wheel centered before the alignment? if it was, they screwed up by not centering the wheel before aligning it.

 

Thanks everyone for the reply.

Big2Bird, Since the car tracks well and doesn't drift I consider it a good alignment and prefer not to deal with changing anything re tie rods etc, unless I have to.

lionelhutz, I didn't get a print out as I paid before I left for the test drive but let's just say it took over an hour to get front and rear aligned and it did make a big difference.

I will try your method most likely this evening.

doorgunner, Car handles much better after the alignment and I did see the steering wheel in the center position while the alignment was being performed.

Before the alignment the steering wheel was at around 7:00 o'clock. Once I perform your test I will report back with my results.

Jim SheaThank you for the detailed write up, woooow. I also like the fact that I have more than one option, therefore it sounds like I can correct this myself. Maybe it's good that I didn't go back as this problem may have been something I created while doing the body off. I'll print out all pages and read it over twice before attempting any corrections.

MelWff, The steering wheel was off by much more (7 o'clock) before the alignment.

 

This happened to one of my Corvettes a few years ago. It turned out the shop had been doing a front-end alignment only - they had not touched the rear wheels because they were scared off by the shims etc. I took it to another place and they sorted it out.

There could be a lot of things going on there, but I would start by having a look at the flat on the steering shaft by the rag joint, then the number of shims in the front control arms to see if they are equal on both sides (this will just tell you what the shop was doing partly), and then look at the shims in the rear to see if they have been adjusted recently - if they have, and the shop is in any way decent, there should be a new cotter pin in there.

 

Brcmpbl, I was able to watch the mechanic do the alignment and they did add shims to the fronts as well as the rears. I also noticed he adjusted the rear cam on both sides.

 

That's good then. Check the number of shims on each side and look at where the flat is on the steering column when the car's wheels are straight ahead.