steering wheel off center after alignment

[zpyro]

k so i replaced the steering rack in my 90 sho and the steering wheel is about 1/4 turn to the left even though the wheels are aligned. the guy at the shop said to take the joint off at the rack, turn the wheel 360* to the right and put the joint back on, but this makes no sense because the whole damn thing is connected and 360* at the steering wheel is 360* at the end of the linkage. the joint goes onto the input shaft one way only, one of those round shafts with a flat part to keep both parts turning together. the shop guy said that if he adjusted the tie rod ends to make the wheel straight, one side would only be on there by like 4 threads. any ideas on what to do?

 

[Ishodu]

If your streight driving is the center of lock to lock make sure you take it back and get them to fix it. They must have forgot to center the wheel and use there locker to hold it there when doing the alignment.

 

[Shoaz]

What he said. There is a lock-to-lock issue since the airbag clock-spring thingie only has so much freedom (does yours have an airbag?). But if you can turn the wheels lock-to-lock both ways without any trouble then it sure sounds like they just didn't have the wheel straight when they did the alignment. They should definitely fix that.

 

[zpyro]

funny you should mention the airbag. the light keeps flashing at me and it's REALLY annoying.
like i said, the shop guy said that if he adjusted the tie rod ends to make the wheel straight, one side would only be on there by like 4 threads
i've also noticed that, when i give the car some gas, it shakes pretty noticeably. this car is very quickly becoming a huge burden on me

 

[Shoaz]

Sounds like the rack and wheel weren't centered when the rack was installed. That's easy enough to fix, a good shop ought to be able to do it. I'm surprised that that's beyond the talent level of the alignment shop.

 

[zpyro]

what do you mean? I know the shop is supposed to center the wheel, but like i've said three times now, he said if he did that then one of the tie rod ends would only be threaded on about 4 threads. I don't understand why only turning the wheel 1/4 of a turn would cause that though. i'm still good n ****** offat my damn car

 

[INDO SHO]

I have the same thing happen to me I had just got the front struts tierod ends and alignment done and my wheel still had to be held slightly towards the left for my car to drive straight. when I told the people at the shop they said that thats normal but I think thats bull. I looked at the bottom of my steering wheel and noticed that two bolts that are by the sw retainer are missing maybe thats why my wheel quickly got mis aligned

 

[projectSHO89]

what do you mean? I know the shop is supposed to center the wheel, but like i've said three times now, he said if he did that then one of the tie rod ends would only be threaded on about 4 threads. I don't understand why only turning the wheel 1/4 of a turn would cause that though. i'm still good n ****** offat my damn car

Did you center the rack in its travel when you installed it?

Is the subframe properly aligned and secured?

When the rack is centered, each side should have between 15-20 threads assuming everything else is correct.

BTW, any chance you installed the slider joint upside down?

Steve

 

[NJSHO]

What SHOAZ is saying is that the rack was not centered when it was installed. So now you have one inner tie rod end much closer to the knuckle than the other one. To make up the difference the outer tie rod end must be almost at the end of the threading as in your case and the other side is probably threaded almost all of the way on. If the rack had been centered (ie turning the gear so that the parts that move stick out the same amt. on both sides) then it should take approx the same amt of turns for both outer tie rod ends to get them the same distance from the knuckle.

Now on to the alignment shop: At first I though what they were saying was bullsh*& but then again I never take way a shop says verbatim, but this time they may be sorta right. If the rack is not centered, a way you could center it would be to turn your steering wheel till the rack is centered, take the joint off, re-center the wheel, reattach the joint, then turn the tie rods till you are back in alignment spec. This isn’t a simple turn the wheel 360deg and be done, it would require them to redo the alignment. Im surprised that they couldnt figure it out themselves, or maybe they are just lazy. If you really want, there are a couple of good threads on here about how to do an at home alignment if you dont want to take it back to this apparently incompetent shop.