Steering wheel adjustment.

[Bryan]

I have posted about this topic before but now want to know details. When I got my car it had perfect alignment but the steering wheel would be off in the "1 o'clock" position while driving straight. I had a local alignment shop fix the problem. They said it was a simple adjustment. What I want to know is what did they adjust and how did they do it. Any ideas? Pics would be great.

[Altus]

Well seeing as no one else hopped in for you here - I'll answer that Most times they'll just set the wheels straight, then take the steering wheel off and put it back on so it's even. Easy when you know how. Our cars are a bit tougher 'cuz they've got the airbag to disable before you can take the wheel off though. Not something you want to fool with unless you know how to properly disable and disconnect the airbag - they can be dangerous.

[ragingfish]

According to MadBill, if the alignment isn't dead on, then removing and reinstalling the wheel straight is simply masking the probelem...Theoretically, when the wheels are dead ahead, the wheel should sit perfectly centered. If the alignment is right but the wheel is still off, then yes, I would suppose that would fix the problem.If you're seriously considering readjusting the wheel, IM me and I'll give you all the instructions (including disabling/reactivating the SIR system).

[joatmon]

I have had the steering wheel off on other cars, nothing a modern as a Vibe, but on those there was a key in the splines so that the steering wheel could only go on in exactly one place, removing the steering wheel and putting it on a bit different wouldn't work n those. maybe it would on a Vibe, the service manual procedure for removing/replacing the steering wheel says to paint matching marks on the steering wheel and steering shaft so they can be aligned the same way when the steering wheel is put back on. How much you can adjust it would then depend on the number of splines on the steering shaft, for example, if there were 36 splines around the shaft, you could adjust it in 10° increments. An alignment shop would probably be more likely to set the steering wheel to the correct position and then adjust the toe-in to be correct. For someone that knows how to do that stuff, it would probably be a lot quicker than messing around disabling airbags and removing steering wheels. But, that's just my guess.

[Bryan]

Thanks guys for replying. Well, I need to clarify some things. First, when I got the car, the alignment was "dead on" but the steering wheel would sit off in the "one o'clock" position while driving straight. I took it back to the guy I bought it from and he told me that it was a seperate adjustment from the alignment. Well, to make a long story short, I took it to the dealer four times and each time an alignment was performed. Didn't do any good for the steering wheel. After my patience ran out at the dealership, I took my car to a local alignment shop. To my knowledge, they didn't take off the steering wheel. Also, the adjustment only took about 5 minutes. Maybe this helps?