Steering wheel not horizontal after tracking adjustment - what is wrong ?

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I took one of the cars for a wheel alignment today to the same place I use all the time but when I picked it up, the steering wheel was not horizontal when driving straight.

More worryingly they said it was out again when they rechecked it. After a second adjustment, it was out the other way !

On their third try, I sat in the car, up on the ramp and I kept the steering wheel dead horizontal. When done, it was still off and 10 to 15 degrees off horizontal.

How is this possible ? I've googled around and it appears though this is not a one off. Something about "hub" and other stuff, more than just the tracking rods.

Can anyone please shed some light on this before I go back again tomorrow as I'm going to have to question their ability to use their own machinery or suggest their machinery is wrong because nothing else makes sense.

SailorSam

The steering wheel was probably horizontal before the tracking was done but now thats been adjusted, nothing is wrong but to make it more comfortable to drive you need to replace your steering wheel.
It will depend upon the car exactly how to do it but it's relatively simple. Probably a plastic strip along centre of the wheel which you can loosen and pull off by self tappers at the back of the wheel, you may see behind this a big nut (about 2" across) held on with tab washers , If you remove this, pull the wheel off the spline and refit in the correct position when the road wheels are straight, DON'T over tighten the nut, make sure to lock tabs to stop nut moving, frive up and down to make sure you are happy with the position before putting plastic cover back.

SteveJW

This was well coverd in a thread a couple of months ago

Basically job not done correctly, usually caused by technicians adjusting one side track rod end only, this does adjust the tracking but puts the steering wheel out of alignment

Best way would be to start from scratch

Centralise steering rack, many have a removable plug to insert a bolt / pin to determine this position,
In this position the steering wheel should be dead in line, if not either the steering wheel or the column is not positioned correctly on the splines, this needs to be rectified

Assuming this is OK
Remove both track rods from the drop arms, remove both track rods from the steering rack, count the number of turns, on each one add the total together and divide by 2, each track rod should then be screwed on the same number of turns.

Next the tracking is checked, if any adjustment is required both sides should be adjusted by the same amount. Adjusting one side will put the steering wheel off centre again

Dont forget to remove the bolt / plug centralising the rack

Bodge it way, if tracking correct
Slacken both track rods, screw one in a full turn, screw the other one out a full turn, check steering wheel alignment. Persevere in small steps. Ensure adequate thread still in the track rod end
Bodge it old fashioned way
Take off steering wheel and reposition, not a practical solution with air bags etc, used to work on old minis etc

You would be surprised at the number of vehicle delivered new with steering wheels out of alignment, I just send them back to the dealer

Good Luck

rs65

You used to be able to simply take a wheel off and refit it straight. Maybe not as straight forward now with airbags though.

RichGold

It has nothing to do with the steering wheel, its the car that's not on straight.

property.advert

Thanks for the replies.

Just out of interest, it was this company http://www.merityre.co.uk/wheel_alignment.htm and this technology http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/WheelAlignmentAllYouNeedToKnow/fourwheelalignment

They have been fine in the past but just this time they don't seem to be able to get it right.

They got it right the last time on the same car 6 months ago so why not now ?

I don't have the knowledge to feel comfortable teaching them to suck eggs but I guess that is what it will have to be, if they are only adjusting one part when they should be doing a more thorough job.

Thanks for your help.

reeac

I understand that the steering rack has hardened teeth at the central position in order better to resist wear as that is the section normally in use and softer but tougher teeth elsewhere. That means that the bodge to remove and reposition the wheel is bad practice.

banger9365

just take it back and get them to do the job right
centralize the steering wheel and then do the tracking ,some have a thing that lock it in place so it do's not move when thier doing the tracking
no need to remove steering wheel

property.advert

banger9365 wrote: »

just take it back and get them to do the job right
centralize the steering wheel and then do the tracking ,some have a thing that lock it in place so it do's not move when thier doing the tracking
no need to remove steering wheel

They locked it, the steering wheel that is and then on the last occasion, I sat in the car making sure it was horizontal. I swear it didn't move a millimetre.

Drop the car down and the damn thing is way off. How I do not know as I do know for absolute certain that the steering wheel was horizontal until the car was back on the ground.

mikey72

property.advert wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Just out of interest, it was this company http://www.merityre.co.uk/wheel_alignment.htm and this technology http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/WheelAlignmentAllYouNeedToKnow/fourwheelalignment

They have been fine in the past but just this time they don't seem to be able to get it right.

They got it right the last time on the same car 6 months ago so why not now ?

I don't have the knowledge to feel comfortable teaching them to suck eggs but I guess that is what it will have to be, if they are only adjusting one part when they should be doing a more thorough job.

Thanks for your help.

What happened to the car to make you get it done again if it was only done 6 months ago?

property.advert

mikey72 wrote: »

What happened to the car to make you get it done again if it was only done 6 months ago?

Like getting a scale and polish from the dental hygienist, I get it checked every 6 months or whenever I feel it needs it. Keeps tyre wear and handling good and works out at only a few pounds a month over a year. If I want tyres rotated I get this done at the same time.