Steering wheel off center after alignment
06-27-2011, 12:06 PM
#21
Le Mans Master
I just had the wheel go way off center yesterday after an autocross. I'm thinking that the cam bolts down there loosened up too.
Haven't had a chance to get her in the air to check, but I wasn't sure if it could've been the control arm bushings as well.
gives me some things to check now.
Good luck to the OP in getting yours done right. I hope you get them to get it corrected and I would definately want to be there when they did it.
Haven't had a chance to get her in the air to check, but I wasn't sure if it could've been the control arm bushings as well.
gives me some things to check now.
Good luck to the OP in getting yours done right. I hope you get them to get it corrected and I would definately want to be there when they did it.
06-27-2011, 12:31 PM
#22
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CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Its CRITICAL that the steering wheel is dead nuts centered when the car is going straight down the road.
The EBTCM uses that steering wheel position to make Active Handling adjustments. IF,, it is not properly centered and the EBTCM cant compensate for the out of spec condition, you will get a SWPS DTC or could even get erronous ACTIVE HANDLING activation.
Trust me! Been there,, had that issue!
Glad the dealer stood behine their mistake!
I also always mark my excentric cam bolts after an alignment. I do it right there in the shop after there done. Just so were all on the same page if theres an alignment issues later down the road.
BC
The EBTCM uses that steering wheel position to make Active Handling adjustments. IF,, it is not properly centered and the EBTCM cant compensate for the out of spec condition, you will get a SWPS DTC or could even get erronous ACTIVE HANDLING activation.
Trust me! Been there,, had that issue!
Glad the dealer stood behine their mistake!
I also always mark my excentric cam bolts after an alignment. I do it right there in the shop after there done. Just so were all on the same page if theres an alignment issues later down the road. BC
06-27-2011, 01:40 PM
#23
Le Mans Master
HMMMM so what's that say when I drove it 120 miles home after the event yesterday and NO issues came up?
Thanks for the info Bill !
Thanks for the info Bill !
06-27-2011, 04:13 PM
#24
Le Mans Master
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St. Jude Donor '08
Adjusting toe will not affect caster or camber, so no worries there. Since your wheel is to the left you want to loosen the left tie rod and tighten the right (passenger) equal amounts (so you don't knock the overall toe off and cause scrubbing). Both sides are normal threads, you know...lefty loosey, righty tighty. The tie rod has flats on it. Turning three flats = 1/16" of movement. Mark them before moving so its easy to tell how many flats you have moved. They are very easy to adjust but its a trial and error type thing. Move both sides 6 flats or so (depending on how off the wheel is) and then go drive it. Repeat as necessary until you get the wheel centered.
My steering wheel was off-center to the left. I did what you said in the post above BUT ONLY turned each tie rod end one turn. Now the steering wheel is even more off-centered to the right.
What's going on?
06-27-2011, 04:48 PM
#25
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St. Jude Donor '08
If its off center enough, you will see a LOT of ACTIVE HANDLING WARMING UP messages.
BC
BC
06-27-2011, 06:40 PM
#26
Drifting
Thread Starter
You went way to far. One full turn on each side was way too much. Try backing it up 1/2 turn on each side and see where the wheel is.
06-27-2011, 11:22 PM
#27
Drifting
Thread Starter
Update;
After putting a few miles on the car, I noticed that the steering wheel is still off center to the left just a bit, and it pulls to the right. It is strange that at low speeds it is not noticable, but the faster you go the more it pulls. I took it back to the dealer last week. This time the shop foreman, "Bill", came out with me and we went for a ride. (I suspect the alignment tech saw the car and wanted nothing more to do with it, or me
) Bill admitted he could feel it pull. He said that the alignment is spot on, that the problem has to be a bad tire. He said that he can not move the tires around on a Corvette like he would do on a regular car to pinpoint the bad tire, or just move it to the rear if the owner did want to replace it. He suggested I take it back to the store I bought the tires from, gave me a card with his phone number on it in case they have any questions. btw, the alignment tech marked every bolt under there with marking paint stick last time.
I took it directly to Firestone. They said no problem, they will order in four new tires and find out which one is causing the issue. I am still waiting for them to call me.
I hope that they can find and replace the bad tire and put this problem to bed.
After putting a few miles on the car, I noticed that the steering wheel is still off center to the left just a bit, and it pulls to the right. It is strange that at low speeds it is not noticable, but the faster you go the more it pulls. I took it back to the dealer last week. This time the shop foreman, "Bill", came out with me and we went for a ride. (I suspect the alignment tech saw the car and wanted nothing more to do with it, or me
) Bill admitted he could feel it pull. He said that the alignment is spot on, that the problem has to be a bad tire. He said that he can not move the tires around on a Corvette like he would do on a regular car to pinpoint the bad tire, or just move it to the rear if the owner did want to replace it. He suggested I take it back to the store I bought the tires from, gave me a card with his phone number on it in case they have any questions. btw, the alignment tech marked every bolt under there with marking paint stick last time. I took it directly to Firestone. They said no problem, they will order in four new tires and find out which one is causing the issue. I am still waiting for them to call me.
I hope that they can find and replace the bad tire and put this problem to bed.
06-28-2011, 04:13 PM
#28
Pro
I have the same problem. My steering wheel is to the left in order to drive straight. My lower control arm eccentrics are fine, as I have them marked with a pen. Do I simply adjust the steering wheel with the tie rod ends? Do I risk getting anything else out of alignment?
08-09-2011, 06:26 PM
#30
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More likely the lower eccentrics slipped than the tie rods moved. The lower A-arms are attached with eccentric bolts. Moving these are how the Caster and Camber are adjusted. They are quick and easy to use for adjustment but they have to be mucho tight or they will slip and wham....you are out of alighnment again. Maybe they marked them with a paint pen (I always do) so you can see at a glance if they slip.
These are the four bolts located where the A-arm mounts the car (the base of the "A" as it were)?
Are there also some eccentrics at the back end?
My car has done the same thing. Dealership has aligned it twice and both times it's gone out w/in a month.
08-09-2011, 07:02 PM
#31
Hope you get it figured out. I finally got around to adjusting the tie-rod ends to straighten my steering wheel recently. I just used a sharpy to mark the rods and then made equal but opposite adjustments to each side. For me one side took a full turn out/which meant the other got a full turn in.
12-22-2014, 11:15 PM
#32
Banned Scam/Spammer
Mine also is slightly to the left, maybe they are like certain body parts and just naturally hang a little to one side or the other, seems the majority here is to the left..lol
Anyone that adjusted the tie rods, how many turns did it take you to get it straight?
Anyone that adjusted the tie rods, how many turns did it take you to get it straight?
12-24-2014, 03:20 PM
#35
Banned Scam/Spammer
I will admit I am not real familiar with this but don't ya have to turn them in full turns, like 1 full turn, 2 full turns, etc... I do have a digital caliper, I can measure the before and after and also mark it with a paint pen in case I need to revert or anything.
If 12 is straight, mine is about 11:58 or 11:59 but not 12. So it is not off by much.
If 12 is straight, mine is about 11:58 or 11:59 but not 12. So it is not off by much.
