Steering wheel off

[atistang]

So i just got my explorer about a month ago, it drove strait, steering wheel was also strait going down the road. Last week i got to work and noticed the left front wheel had a whole lot of negative camber. I already knew that the left lower ball joint was getting bad. On the drive home i noticed my steering wheel was ****ed about a 1/4 turn to the right when i was going strait. (the truck wasn't really pulling to the left or right though) So yesterday i replaced the upper and lower ball joints as well as the u joint on that side. Now the camber looks good on that wheel. I went down the road and my steering wheel is still off, i checked the steering arm, and tie rod ends and they didn't seem to have any play in them. Looking at it from the front it looks like it is toed out, so i measured the difference between the front of the wheels and the rear of them and there is no difference, i remeasured about ten times because i couldn't believe it. Then i got to looking at my roommates 94 xlt and his looks the same way so i guess that is fine.

Cliffs:
- Steering wheel is suddenly ****ed to the right when i go strait
- noticed bad lower ball joint on left side, replaced upper and lower
- steering wheel is still ****ed to the right when i go strait
- alignment appears to be in check, truck doesn't pull either way and redneck measuring of toe shows it to be within 1/6th of an inch

anyone got any ideas?

 

[IZwack]

Assuming everything is tight and doesnt need replacing, take it in for an alignment

 

[atistang]

Assuming everything is tight and doesnt need replacing, take it in for an alignment

i was thinking that but it shouldn't have gotten out of alignment, if everything is fine they are just gonna center the steering wheel, i can do that

 

[IZwack]

Well then there you go, center the steering wheel

 

[atistang]

Well then there you go, center the steering wheel

thats what i think i am gonna do, then i'll just keep an eye on my tires for wear

 

[atistang]

well i figured it out, the damn steering shaft was designed by retards, it doesn't have splines but it has a shaft with two flat spots

and who ever designed this brilliant setup made sure to make the wheel out of a harder metal than the shaft itself, so the shaft rounds off and not the wheel.

i can only image how much a shaft will be and how fun that will be to replace

 

[little x]

Glad you discovered what it was before you totaled the truck, when it failed going down the road at 60 mph.

good luck replacing it.