Car drives straight, steering wheel not straight.

[Sukhoi]

On Tuesday, I managed to clip the end of a 4" pipe at 70 MPH, blowing out my front driver side tire and messing up the steel rim. I went to a junkyard, got a new rim, and had my front pair of tires replaced. Oh, and the car is a 1995 Corolla.

The car drives straight. I can take my hands off the wheel at any speed and it will pretty much go straight in a line. No real pull at all. But I've noticed that to drive straight the steering wheel must be turned a wee bit clockwise. Not much, just a couple degrees. I have no clue if it was like this before hitting the pipe, never noticed it. Would the steering wheel turn indicate an alignment problem?

The car is at 130K miles now, and hasn't been aligned since at least the 90K mile mark or possibly longer. Can the car still drive straight with no pull but be wearing the tires unevenly? I'd rather avoid paying for an alignment if I can avoid it.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
On Tuesday I managed to clip the end of a 4" pipe at 70 MPH, blowing out my front driver side tire and messing up the steel rim. I went to a junkyard, got a new rim, and had my front pair of tires replaced. Oh the car is a 1995 Corolla.

The car drives straight. I can take my hands off the wheel at any speed and it will pretty much go straight in a line. No real pull at all. But I've noticed that to drive straight the steering wheel must be turned a wee bit clockwise. Not much, just a couple degrees. I have no clue if it was like this before hitting the pipe...never noticed it. Would the steering wheel turn indicate an alignment problem?

The car is at 130K miles now, and hasn't been aligned since at least the 90K mile mark or possibly longer. Can the car still drive straight with no pull but be wearing the tires unevenly? I'd rather avoid paying for an alignment if I can avoid it.

Yes, under the circumstances I'd say the steering wheel being off center indicates an alignment problem.

Yes, the car could be damaged and still drive straight.

 

[cardiac]

Or, the wheel was off center before you hit the pipe and everything is fine. When you have a front end alignment done, they remove your wheel from the steering shaft and line up your steering wheel that way. Have a shop check it out, at least for peace of mind.

Bob

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: cardiac
Or, the wheel was off center before you hit the pipe and everything is fine. When you have a front end alignment done, they remove your wheel from the steering shaft and line up your steering wheel that way. Have a shop check it out, at least for peace of mind.

Bob

I've never heard of that being done. Usually they adjust the tie rods to center the steering wheel.

 

[cardiac]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: cardiac
Or, the wheel was off center before you hit the pipe and everything is fine. When you have a front end alignment done, they remove your wheel from the steering shaft and line up your steering wheel that way. Have a shop check it out, at least for peace of mind.

Bob

I've never heard of that being done. Usually they adjust the tie rods to center the steering wheel.

Most shops will do an accurate alignment, and then center the wheel the way I said above. 3 or 4 shops in our area, at least, do it that way (I delivered parts for NAPA on my days off from the fire dept and saw a ton of alignments being done)....

It's way easier than trying to get the tie rods/drag link/pitman arms, etc. adjusted to center the wheel. Nothing wrong with it either....

Bob

 

[Zenmervolt]

Something is wrong with the alignment. It's possible that something is simply knocked out of adjustment, but it's also possible that you've bent a tie rod (typically the tie rod is the first thing to get damaged in a forceful impact). Have an alignment done and ask them to check the tie rod on the side of the car that had the impact.

ZV

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: cardiac

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: cardiac
Or, the wheel was off center before you hit the pipe and everything is fine. When you have a front end alignment done, they remove your wheel from the steering shaft and line up your steering wheel that way. Have a shop check it out, at least for peace of mind.

Bob

I've never heard of that being done. Usually they adjust the tie rods to center the steering wheel.

Most shops will do an accurate alignment, and then center the wheel the way I said above. 3 or 4 shops in our area, at least, do it that way (I delivered parts for NAPA on my days off from the fire dept and saw a ton of alignments being done)....

It's way easier than trying to get the tie rods/drag link/pitman arms, etc. adjusted to center the wheel. Nothing wrong with it either....

Bob

Nothing wrong with it? I don't know too many cars that come from the factory with the steering wheel cocked. If you have to have the wheel turned 10 degrees to either side to drive the car straight, the steering wheel most definitely did not slip on shaft. More likely there's something wrong with the car that needs to be fixed properly.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: cardiac

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: cardiac
Or, the wheel was off center before you hit the pipe and everything is fine. When you have a front end alignment done, they remove your wheel from the steering shaft and line up your steering wheel that way. Have a shop check it out, at least for peace of mind.

Bob

I've never heard of that being done. Usually they adjust the tie rods to center the steering wheel.

Most shops will do an accurate alignment, and then center the wheel the way I said above. 3 or 4 shops in our area, at least, do it that way (I delivered parts for NAPA on my days off from the fire dept and saw a ton of alignments being done)....

It's way easier than trying to get the tie rods/drag link/pitman arms, etc. adjusted to center the wheel. Nothing wrong with it either....

Bob

It can be a royal pain to get an airbag-equipped wheel off the car. Not to mention the potential legal issues that it could leave the shop open to if they didn't hook everything up properly again.

You're absolutely right though that for older cars that's how it's done often. Alignment is set to specs, then just pop the steering wheel off and center it manually.

ZV

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Nothing wrong with it? I don't know too many cars that come from the factory with the steering wheel cocked. If you have to have the wheel turned 10 degrees to either side to drive the car straight, the steering wheel most definitely did not slip on shaft. More likely there's something wrong with the car that needs to be fixed properly.

He meant there's nothing wrong with doing an alignment that way. Not that there's nothing wrong with the OP's car. He also never suggested just making the steering wheel straight as a "fix". All he said was that it's possible that it was a little off-kilter from a previous alignment.



ZV

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Nothing wrong with it? I don't know too many cars that come from the factory with the steering wheel cocked. If you have to have the wheel turned 10 degrees to either side to drive the car straight, the steering wheel most definitely did not slip on shaft. More likely there's something wrong with the car that needs to be fixed properly.

He meant there's nothing wrong with doing an alignment that way. Not that there's nothing wrong with the OP's car. He also never suggested just making the steering wheel straight as a "fix". All he said was that it's possible that it was a little off-kilter from a previous alignment.



ZV

And I disagree. There IS something wrong with doing an alignment that way. The steering wheel never slips on the shaft... it never needs to be adjusted. If the steering wheel is not centered it's due to something else that needs to be corrected.

In fact, when we did alignments at college, before we even took any measurements we centered the steering wheel and locked it in place. If that meant the wheels pointed off to the side, great, we fixed it... but not by pulling the steering wheel off.

 

[cardiac]

OK, the many shops in the Chicagoland area are wrong, according to you.

I don't do pissing matches. Not at all. I respect everyones opinion. I won't respond about this any further.

OP, hope you do go and get this checked out, just so you know.....

Bob

 

[Sukhoi]

Bah, guess I'll take it in. Thanks all.

 

[Kadarin]

Taking it in would be a good idea. It's certainly possible that the car drives straight even though the alignment is off, and this can lead to significantly increased tire wear.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Kadarin
Taking it in would be a good idea. It's certainly possible that the car drives straight even though the alignment is off, and this can lead to significantly increased tire wear.

Not to mention the possibility of it being unsafe to drive, especially if an emergency situation arose. If the car's alignment is off it can affect the way it handles especially under extreme conditions such as a panic stop or swerving to avoid something.

 

[AllenAllen]

Hello.

Some info here.

Being a delivery driver doesn't make a mechanic out of you, no matter who you talk to or what you see.

The only time a steering wheel should ever be removed is if it is being replaced with a new one. Steering wheels are on a geared shaft connected to a hydraulic system or mechanical gear box. The only time screws and nuts are used within a steering system are as fasteners on splined (geared) shafts, the rack and the pinion (if equipped) are essentially gears as well. There is no way for a steering wheel to "slip" out of place, or need to be recentered because it is not possible.

It is illegal and impractical to "recenter" a steering wheel this way in any certified automotive shop or facility. If you're caught doing this, you can be fined, sued and lose your license or worse, cause an accident or safety failure.

On to the impractical part: the male and female connecters for the horn and airbag (if so equipped, as they are on every car made since 1978 practically) are on the column and the back of the steering wheel and cannot be off center as they usually have centering holes with counterpart tubes or shafts in which the wiring runs or connects.

They literally for the most part cannot be adjusted. This is not a part of any legitimate alignment process, past or present.

It is some safety disregarding, ghetto chop shop shade tree bs cooked up by some lazy jagov who didn't want to adjust all the parts (toe, camber, centering, pitman arm linkage, tie rod end, etc. And so forth) and just wanted a quickie job in rush times.


Been a mechanic as long as time has existed and built cars more often than most people microwave meals in a lifetime

Have a good day.

 

[Meghan54]

Thank you, God of Mechanics. Of course, no one in this 10 year old thread was advocating removing the actual steering wheel. What was being talked about was the lower intermediate steering shaft, most of which are splined on the lower section, like with Toyota, GM, Ford, etc. One can adjust via that if one needs to. No need to touch the steering wheel albeit to center it.

*This is from an ASE cert'd mechanic with over 35 years experience.

Hello.

Some info here.

Being a delivery driver doesn't make a mechanic out of you, no matter who you talk to or what you see.

The only time a steering wheel should ever be removed is if it is being replaced with a new one. Steering wheels are on a geared shaft connected to a hydraulic system or mechanical gear box. The only time screws and nuts are used within a steering system are as fasteners on splined (geared) shafts, the rack and the pinion (if equipped) are essentially gears as well. There is no way for a steering wheel to "slip" out of place, or need to be recentered because it is not possible.

It is illegal and impractical to "recenter" a steering wheel this way in any certified automotive shop or facility. If you're caught doing this, you can be fined, sued and lose your license or worse, cause an accident or safety failure.

On to the impractical part: the male and female connecters for the horn and airbag (if so equipped, as they are on every car made since 1978 practically) are on the column and the back of the steering wheel and cannot be off center as they usually have centering holes with counterpart tubes or shafts in which the wiring runs or connects.

They literally for the most part cannot be adjusted. This is not a part of any legitimate alignment process, past or present.

It is some safety disregarding, ghetto chop shop shade tree bs cooked up by some lazy jagov who didn't want to adjust all the parts (toe, camber, centering, pitman arm linkage, tie rod end, etc. And so forth) and just wanted a quickie job in rush times.


Been a mechanic as long as time has existed and built cars more often than most people microwave meals in a lifetime

Have a good day.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Something is wrong with the alignment. It's possible that something is simply knocked out of adjustment, but it's also possible that you've bent a tie rod (typically the tie rod is the first thing to get damaged in a forceful impact). Have an alignment done and ask them to check the tie rod on the side of the car that had the impact.

ZV

This.

Many years ago (before this thread was new), I hit a big rock in the snow on a county highway. bent the wheel, got a flat, and didn't quite evacuate my bowels.

Drove home fine w/ the spare, but with the steering wheel at 3 o'clock.

Bent tie rod.

 

[bruceb]

It should be centered by adjusting both tie rod ends for the proper toe in or toe out as per spec with the steering wheel in the center position. Most shops will use a tool to hold the wheel in position while they do the adjustment. I used to use a good shop, Eurotire in Fairfield, NJ and that is how they always did it. And I never had any issues with the results of them doing alignments on my cars.

 

[jlee]

Holy necro. 3 months shy of a decade.

 

[AllenAllen]

Thank you, God of Mechanics. Of course, no one in this 10 year old thread was advocating removing the actual steering wheel. What was being talked about was the lower intermediate steering shaft, most of which are splined on the lower section, like with Toyota, GM, Ford, etc. One can adjust via that if one needs to. No need to touch the steering wheel albeit to center it.

*This is from an ASE cert'd mechanic with over 35 years experience.

Yes, actually, someone directly said several times early on that they were a delivery driver to several automotive shops and that this person had witnessed five or more shops physically remove the steering wheel and reposition it.

So, you're welcome, God of Paying Attention.

You just wanted to call someone out on something, sorry it can't be me

 

[mindless1]

heh, old top NM.

 

[XavierMace]

So, you're welcome, God of Paying Attention.

You just wanted to call someone out on something, sorry it can't be me

We can still call you out on the 10 year old necro.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

So, you're welcome, God of Paying Attention.

Says the guy reviving a 10 year old post.

 

[AdamK47]

The rantish lecturing in his reply to the people/posts from 10 years ago adds comedic value to the absurdity.

 

[C1]

re: "someone directly said several times early on that they were a delivery driver to several automotive shops and that this person had witnessed five or more shops physically remove the steering wheel and re-position it."

That is a "no no ".

The steering wheel and the spline-ed shaft that it is set on have alignment marks. When the steering wheel is at center, the steering mechanism is on what is called the "high point". This is a real physical condition inside the steering box mechanism in which slack or lash in the system is minimum because of pressure from the recirculating ball bearings. (It is actually noticeable by a slight increase of the steering wheel's turning resistance as it rotates through the null or center position.)

Adjustment at the tie rod ends is he correct procedure for adjustment of steering wheel center (along with setting of toe).