I had new tires put installed so I took it in for a front-end alignment. The mechanic said that it needed one, so he aligned it. Now, I have to drive with the steering wheel cocked to the right for the car to drive straight. If I keep the steering wheel center the car veers to the left. Before I never noticed this. I mean, surely this isn't normal? Anyone know whats up? I'm guessing I need to take it back?
Yes, take it back and tell them what it is doing. I'm surprised that the car wasn't test driven before being returned to you. Something is wrong with their equipment or the mechanic who did the procedure isn't skilled or made a mistake. With new tires and a proper alignment the car should go dead straight on a flat highway. On a normal road there is a crown, a convex hump, the length of the pavement, this provides drainage for rain water to not sit upon the road and cause dangerous puddles.However, with the crown, you'd really need to (removed) gently to the left to go straight.Sometimes a shop will compensate for the crown and tweak the specs a little so the car runs straight and isn't pulled off the road by the tilted road surface.Maybe this guy seriously over compensated??Did you get the computer specs on the alignment both before readjustment and what it was after the adjustment, any good shop will provide this information without being asked to.Good Luck! Let us know what happensDave
How far is the steering wheel cocked? It is normal to have the steering wheel not exactly straight. If you wanted it perfectly straight, you could pull the steering wheel off yourself and realign it. As long as the alignment was done at a reputable shop, it should be right. If you are concerned that it wasn't done right, take it to a different shop to determine if the alignment is within specs or not. I know that my steering wheel is cocked about 5 degrees to the right when I'm driving straight.
March 2011 MOTMFebruary 2010 MOTM My GenVibe garage
Quote, originally posted by lovemyraffe »How far is the steering wheel cocked? It is normal to have the steering wheel not exactly straight. If you wanted it perfectly straight, you could pull the steering wheel off yourself and realign it. As long as the alignment was done at a reputable shop, it should be right. If you are concerned that it wasn't done right, take it to a different shop to determine if the alignment is within specs or not. I know that my steering wheel is cocked about 5 degrees to the right when I'm driving straight. No!Do NOT do as just suggested. The steering wheel is on the center mark of the steering for equal turns left and right. The only way to adjust and off center wheel is to adjust both of the tie rods equally to center it. If you pull it off you'll have (making this quantity up for example) 1 1/2 turns to full lock left and 2 turns to full lock right.Again, do NOT pull off the wheel and "center it", just bad mechanical practice to do so.dave
Quote, originally posted by djkeev »No!Do NOT do as just suggested. The steering wheel is on the center mark of the steering for equal turns left and right. The only way to adjust and off center wheel is to adjust both of the tie rods equally to center it. If you pull it off you'll have (making this quantity up for example) 1 1/2 turns to full lock left and 2 turns to full lock right.Again, do NOT pull off the wheel and "center it", just bad mechanical practice to do so.daveReminds me of pulling apart a rubiks cube if you can't solve it! Totally ruins the algorhythms. I would think something weird happened if your wheel WAS straight before, and then after the alignment, was not straight anymore. Clearly it was supposed to be straight, since that's how you received it in the first place!
2009 2.4L Automatic with Preferred Package and Sun and Sound package May 2010 MOTM March 2011 VOTM