Steering Wheel Alignment
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 121
Likes: 24
From: Tucson, AZ
Steering Wheel Alignment
Hey all, looking for the down low on what to do about my steering wheel being out of alignment. Just did the front control arm bushings, had an alignment done, and to my surprise the car tracks perfectly straight - even while flooring it and on as flat of a road as Tucson has - but the steering wheel is a good 1" to one side to drive "straight", and it's tight as a drum now, too. It just looks and drives like the factory mounted the wheel itself off-kilter.
Frankly if it's not going to cause any damage I don't really care, but if it's something that I'm within my rights to go back to the shop and ask for them to fix, I'd like to do that since I didn't even think to ask them to look at the steering wheel, but if it's indicative of another problem or a pain in my rear to fix myself, that'd be good to know as well. The shop did say that the only thing not zeroed was Toe when I took it in, even after the new bushings were installed.
Wisdom / thoughts appreciated, thanks
Frankly if it's not going to cause any damage I don't really care, but if it's something that I'm within my rights to go back to the shop and ask for them to fix, I'd like to do that since I didn't even think to ask them to look at the steering wheel, but if it's indicative of another problem or a pain in my rear to fix myself, that'd be good to know as well. The shop did say that the only thing not zeroed was Toe when I took it in, even after the new bushings were installed.
Wisdom / thoughts appreciated, thanks
Last edited by b_willmon_; Jan 9, 2024 at 08:12 PM. Reason: typo
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 25,381
Likes: 2,735
Well the shop it seems didn't have the wheel locked to center when they did the alignment and toe.. If the car is an early car and you confirm that it's actually equal turns lock to lock then you could pull the wheel and relocate it. Toe should have been done by shop and wheel should be centered when a full service alignment is done. You might ask them to investigate and check if it can be corrected by adjusting tie rods. It should be corrected by tie rod adjustment if possible. You haven't had the intermediate shaft disconnected from the rack? The shaft is 36 spline so each is 10°. If a '90 or newer the column is indexed for SIR and you can't rotate to correct.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 25,381
Likes: 2,735
***If they offer to do a steering wheel rotation to correct you say NO until/unless they can show you that is the issue.
Last edited by WVZR-1; Jan 9, 2024 at 10:19 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,891
Likes: 591
From: New Port Richey FL
I'm most sure that your off center was caused by them having a little preload in the machine or just didn't have the wheel locked straight, So I would take it back to them and have them reset the toe.
Now can you fix it yourself YES, all you need to do is if wheel is to the right since the tie rods are forward of pivot you would extend/lengthen the Right then go to opposite side and shorten that one an equal amount. In short your turning the wheels in the direction of the error, and do it in small increments 1/4 turn would be a good start and take a sharpie or paint pen and mark before doing to have a base start point and a visual to help guide you.
Now can you fix it yourself YES, all you need to do is if wheel is to the right since the tie rods are forward of pivot you would extend/lengthen the Right then go to opposite side and shorten that one an equal amount. In short your turning the wheels in the direction of the error, and do it in small increments 1/4 turn would be a good start and take a sharpie or paint pen and mark before doing to have a base start point and a visual to help guide you.
Last edited by s carter; Jan 13, 2024 at 12:51 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,891
Likes: 591
From: New Port Richey FL
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Le Mans Master
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From: St. Charles MO
Rear wheels being out of alignment will indeed make it crab when going on a straight path...which will also cause the steering wheel to be off center when going on a straight path. So yeah, either set of tie rods could be off, even if their total toe measures within spec. However, I think it would be difficult or impossible to put a car on an alignment rack and set the rear toe off like that because the rear tie rods (toe links) are anchored to a fix frame mount instead of a movable steering rack. The car would have to be sitting in a crabbed position on the rack to get the rear toe to measure correctly while steering off center. So I think the steering wheel just wasn't centered when they aligned it and it needs to be fixed at the front tie rods, just like WVZR-1 said.