[Louse76]

Will an alignment fix a crooked steering wheel?

My steering wheel is crooked if I am going straight in my teg since my accident (it has been garaged since). It was not aligned by the bodyshop since I have a 3 year alignment with a local shop. I'm getting it done tomorrow.

 

[fordcourier72]

it should, they start by putting the wheel straight and then aligning the tires, but if something is bent then no.

 

[Louse76]

Ok, being bent shouldn't be an issue. Of course if for any reason it is my shop will stand behind their work.

BTW, if a strut was bent, would it cause this problem?

 

[98integraLs]

it would be more likely that a tierod would be bent. in order to bend a shock usually something else has to bend too

.

im going thru the same thing with my project car right now. it got hit on the driverside front fender pretty hard, bent the frame and now i have to figure out what is bent in the front suspension... such a pain/

 

[nospeedlimit143]

i ended up with a crooked wheel after i got an alignment. i ended up taking the wheel off and reinstalling it the right way.

 

[vitamin_d]

i ended up with a crooked wheel after i got an alignment. i ended up taking the wheel off and reinstalling it the right way.

I wouldn't do that. Now you've altered the turing radius of your car. For example, if you were to turn the steering wheel all the way to the right, the car will turn narrower/wider than the left (depending on which direction the steering wheel was crooked before altered).

 

[middleman]

Quote: nospeedlimit143 on Feb/10/04i ended up with a crooked wheel after i got an alignment. i ended up taking the wheel off and reinstalling it the right way.

I wouldn't do that. Now you've altered the turing radius of your car. For example, if you were to turn the steering wheel all the way to the right, the car will turn narrower/wider than the left (depending on which direction the steering wheel was crooked before altered).
[/quote]
The direction of your steering wheel while the wheels are facing forward has no effect on steering the car. You can put you steering wheel upside down, but the wheel will still only turn 900 degrees either way. Its the fault of the mechanic if your steering wheel isn't facing forward after an alignment.

 

[DaBoyNBlu]

that's not true.

if your car has a crooked wheel AFTER an alignment, that means "straight" is not longer the middle of the steering rack. it's off by however much the wheels is tilted (of course, assuming the wheel hasn't been removed and tilted in the past).

if you band-aid this by altering the angle of the column/wheel in relation to rack position, you will in fact have a car that will be able to "turn more" to the left or the right.

a PROPER alignment consists of locking the steering wheel level (assuming the wheel being level indicates a middle-of-the-rack condition, which it won't in nospeedlimit's car anymore). then, the steering links and rear tow adjustments are made to make the wheels parallel (or within toe specs) so that the car's "straight" also equals "middle of the rack" and thus, a "level steering wheel".

so, yes, a proper alignment will fix a crooked wheel. and, if you got a crooked wheel after an alignment, they didn't do it right, and changing the wheel/column relative to the rack isn't the answer.

 

[lenguaso]

mickey mousing a problem. like after i hit a curb in my girls civic. Had to buy a new tire. Well she went to get an alignment and was told she needs a camber kit. Seems camber is off a bit. Car is stock height. only thing "modded" are the rims. i'm sceptical that they even checked for the obvious. Would a bone-stock suspension need a camber kit for any reason what so-ever, other than being bent? hmmm...

 

[integradriver13]

might not help you out... but after i got into an acident my steering wheel was crooked or not centered like you say.. i drove around like thta for a while because i didnt think anything of it... after a few weeks the steering started to pop, and kept getting worse and worse... i took it to a friend and they showed me where a plug had come out of the rack-n-pinion **dontk know if thats how its spelled** and it caused all of my fluids to run out so it was not greezed up anymore.. well i had to get a new rack and do an alignment also... so just some advise for you... if you are going to get your alignment done make sure that your rack is in good shape so that you dont have to get an alignment and then figure out that something else is wrong..

like i said it may not be much help, but just to be safe i would check the rack if i was you.

 

[nospeedlimit143]

hmm... this got me thinking again.

in order of how things happened:

1) took steering wheel off to see if a different wheel would fit.

2) put stock wheel back on (not sure if it was straight or not

3) installed camber kit and got alignment and got it back with the wheel crooked.

4) put steering wheel back on straight

is there anyway to double check to see if the wheel is centered or not? are there any kind of marks on the steering wheel hub that show center?

i got suspension and underbody class in a few months... i might just wait till i get there and then worry about it.

all i know right now is my steering wheel is centered when going down the road and the alignment is as good as it can get.

 

[AUTOXER]

My steering shaft was marked on the very end at the factory like this --> _!_ to show the up postition.

 

[DaBoyNBlu]

all i know right now is my steering wheel is centered when going down the road and the alignment is as good as it can get.

alignment doesn't necessarily have anything to do with rack position.

i'd put the wheel back right, and get a proper alignment done

 

[nospeedlimit143]

Quote: nospeedlimit143 on Feb/11/04all i know right now is my steering wheel is centered when going down the road and the alignment is as good as it can get. alignment doesn't necessarily have anything to do with rack position.

i'd put the wheel back right, and get a proper alignment done

so spend another $50 or so to get my rack set properly to only fix a few degrees out of 900. i rarely turn the wheel over that far

 

[allb18b]

my steering wheel was off center a lil bit before an alignment also and after the alignment it was still off a lil bit but no biggie...i make sure its perfectly straight the next time i get an alignment...plus i dont do business with the shop that did the alignment anymore anyway...

 

[Louse76]

Just to follow up, I took my car in, came back when it was supposed to be done, they hadn't started yet, sat there for an hour an a half total, watched some ***** take it out and get it dirty, then he came back and fixed it properly.

The steering wheel is now straight and no toe on the front.