Alignment and steering wheel

[silverfords2001]

I have had this issue for a while now. While driving my steering wheel is off about 10 degrees to the left. I also noticed it has some play in it. It was alligned two days ago and they said all was good. I am about to get some new tires and dont have the money to waste on them so I want to make sure all is good. Thanks in advance.

 

[jimbo74]

if its 10* off while driving, its techs who dont know what they are doing and didn't bother to roadtest it... now it is possible the wheel is jsut off and the actuall tires are in spececification, jsut means the tech was lazy or cant do it properly....

 

[silverfords2001]

Thanks jimabena74, It does drive straight/brake straight. It is driving me nuts. I did forget to mention that I did have it aligned about a six months and the same thing. Is there anyway that I could fix the steering wheels position. There is alot of play in it, I am not sure if that has anything to do with it.

 

[jimbo74]

lack of tech experience, no road testing, or jsut being lazy.... i used to do alignments where i worked... and after each one i would road test it... if it wasnt straight i had to redo it..... its time consuming, but then customers dont complain......

 

[IZwack]

have u checked the inner and outter tie rod ends/joints? Most of these joints are ball joints and they wear out over time - allowing "play".

if its not the tie rods, then its probably the rack and pinion itself (hit anything big lately here in MD?) - most of the time, its just cheaper to replace the entire assembly (and if your willing to do it urself, i believe you can get a remanufactured rack and pinion for about $200 or so).

 

[silverfords2001]

lack of tech experience, no road testing, or jsut being lazy.... i used to do alignments where i worked... and after each one i would road test it... if it wasnt straight i had to redo it..... its time consuming, but then customers dont complain......

Thanks again. I hear what u are saying but IMO how does two different shops miss that? Help me understand why the wheel would be off but the wheels be in spec? The only thing I can think of is the play in the steering wheel when hep put it on the machine.


and

IZwack I just replaced the uper/lower control arm two days ago and checked everthing on both sides, all looks good.

 

[IZwack]

wow you replaced the entire lower arm? was it bent or something?

 

[jimbo74]

its very easy for a tech to miss the steering wheel being off center... agian it point to laziness or lack of experience.... the steering wheel does have al ittle bit of play, if the technician does not properly get the play out of the wheel before adjusting it, it will be off after they adjust it, even if the tires are true to each otehr and in spec.....

 

[silverfords2001]

I Think I get what you are saying. Is there an adjustment that I could make to center the steering wheel w/o screwing up the alignment?

I replaced the whole because the bushings and ball joints were bad so it would have been close money wise/time to replace it.

 

[IZwack]

I replaced the whole because the bushings and ball joints were bad so it would have been close money wise/time to replace it.

Oh wow gotcha

 

[silverfords2001]

I think it was easy, and I didnt screw up the alignment to bad at all. The hardest part was the torsion bar..