I just noticed tonight that my steering wheel is turned a hair left when I'm going straight down the road. I recently got a performance allignemnt (more aggressvie than stock Z specs) and ran the G&W fall fling at Vir. At Vir I never noticed it b/c there lots else to focus on and the car was handling awesome. On the street I normall drive with my left hand, but tonight it was raining hard so I had both on the wheel and noticed it was off.

How easy of a fix is this... is it a simple case of them alligning the car w/ the front end a bit off?

Thanks for the help! :

 

It's easy. Take it back and have them fix it. It should be straight and don't let them talk you out of it.

 

To answer your question... ...let's assume that the toe is correct and that the car is not pulling to one side, simply that the wheel is a bit off.

Let us say that the wheel is turned slightly to the left while going straight and that when you straighten the wheel the car turns right.
If it is the front end that is off, all that is needed is to mark both of the tie rods ends and the adjustable tierod shaft, realizing that you need to to shorten the tie rod on the passenger side of the car and lengthen the rod on the driverside. As long as you turn (clock) both of the rods exctly the same amount, you will not change the toe. Then drive the car and see if the wheel is straight. Go 1/4 of a turn at a time, and then test drive. if you have gone too far, back off the adjustment 1/2 the amount. If it is the rear end that is off, then the above symptom would be corrected by lengthening the left rear tie rod and shortening the right rear. The C5 has a very similar track width both front and rear so you can string or eyeball both sides of the car to see which end is off.

Of course, a simple solution is to "Take it back and have them fix it."

 

Thanks mark... the car tracks straight, just w/ the wheel a hair off. I"m going to take it back.

 

I would like to add to this thread to keep it open a while.

Yes the front tie bar adjustment is the way to center the wheel.

But why do we (OK i) have so many difficulties getting a car aligned with a centered wheel.

Even tried the GM dealer once ... they did not center the wheel.

In the repair manuals, under alignment, it states to use the Tech 2 to find the center of the wheel.

Does nobody know that? What about an independent shop, how can they center the wheel corectly?

As above I gave up and adjusted the tie rods myself...just as outlined. I monitor the wear pattern and have yet had in inside or outside edge excess wear. But do have typical vette wear from -1.3 camber.

 

The mechanic must anchor the steering wheel on the final adjustment. Otherwise the wheels will shift slightly as you have noticed. I had Firstone re-align the front end and asked him to pay close attention to the wheel position. It came out just fine. I don't believe there is any problem with your situation except for the irritation of seeing the wheel off center.

 

Plus they need to know what they are doing and be fussy.

Toe plates are cheap and than you can experiment yourself a bit. Two plates are about 65 I'll send you pic's if you want.

 

NO NO NO! There should never be any adjustment to your alignment without the proper equipment (such as an alignment rack). I've been doing alignments now for quite a while and I've seen how sensitive the adjustments are - it took me months before I could get the steering wheel acceptably straight after the first try. I mean really, for example if you forget to start the car (to utilize the power steering) when centering the steering wheel to lock it in place it'll be crooked on the road test. If I turn a tie rod too fast or too abruptly it will kick the steering wheel - again it will be crooked on the road test. And this is all just the steering wheel alignment, if you screw with your alignment at home you're sure to thow something out of spec and wearing your fancy tires out pretty quick. Just a warning there .

 

Just a note here to help others.
If the steering wheel is centered when you take the car in to be aligned, tell the tech that. Tell him not to change it.

Servohead makes a good point, however I have tweaked all my cars steering wheel centering for 20 years without a problem.
This is why I always have the alignment tech set the alignment to the exact middle of the specs. That way I have a little room to be off when I change the tie rod adjustment.
Dave

 

Hey John,
MSI's toe plates are only $49.97

They are great for setting up a car for the track and then returning it to your street settings when you return home.

http://www.motorsportimage.com/produ..._toe_plate.htm

 

How new are your tires? I have also had this problem as a result of excessive wear on the front tires. Got a new set and the problem vanished.

 

Maybe I'm just lucky, but when I've had my car aligned, I ask to sit in the car and they tell me to put the wheel where I want before they tighten everything down, with me sitting in the car...the wheel is perfectly straight. I've never had anyone say I could'nt do that.

 

TTT

Any comment/ advise on the Tech 2 comment I made above.

Those MSI plates seem interesting..easily made? Simple does it work? Is level ground front to rear a requiment in useing the plates?

 

I've done better alignments at home over the last 40 years then I've gotten from professional shops. Porches, Corvairs and Corvettes, years ago were put on the rack backwards to do a rear alignment. I've used a Wayne Mitchell Engineering caster, camber alignment tool and paralell strings to set front and rear toe. If you road race or auto cross you'll need to know how to adjust your car your self while you're at the track. All you need is some simple tools, the knowledge from a good book like HP's "How to make your car handle" and get with it.
I want my cars to drive the way I want and not how some shop kicks it out the door. Modern alignment systems are very accurate but the man using it still has to loosen all the bolts and make the adjustments. It's not easy work and close enough or within specs may give you a car that isn't a joy to drive.

 

I'm sorry that your experience with professionally done alignments has been a disappointment, and honestly I agree with you. I've never been satisfied with an alignment done by another shop. Above I was expressing the caution that is really necessary concerning the adjustment. I usually think "make the tires last longer" instead of "set it up for best handling" which is kind of the business that I'm in and it does require the precision of the alignment rack - and a mechanic who wants the car to come out right.

 

Performance Drivers need to understand under/over steer and how tire/wheel size and anti roll bars/spring rates affect handling. It doesn't take much to make a car dangerous when pushed to limits that may have been lowered.

 

I agree entirely with you.



However, for those just driving on the street though, stay away from that tie rod in your driveway and bring it down to the shop with the best alignment reputation!

 

I just had my 2001 Coupe aligned....toe was way off on rear wheels.
(LR 9/32, RR 3/32)

I talked with the mechanic (who is widely recommended as THE alignment specialist in this area) afterward and he said...no wonder you were chewing up those tires.

I took the car home, handled fine, no pulling, etc. Then, I read the alignment sheet closer....

The caster LF was 7.9 degrees, RF 7.1 degrees. No change before/after the alignment. This is out of spec.....as far as I know.
Went back today and talked to the mechanic. He said he preferred to leave it alone, and if it doesn't pull, it is OK. Not to worry....

Can anyone give me an opinion on this from their experience. Car handles just fine...no problem evident.

Thanks in advance....

 

Honestly - like it or not, out of spec is out of spec. On the alignment rack when you make your adjustments the computer shows an arrow on a Green or Red bar. If the arrow was in the red (out of spec) at all, that's no go. Even if the arrow is in the green, but not close enough to the middle I still make an adjustment so the car stays in spec longer. Thats my take.