steering wheel off center

[stingraycamry1996]

my car is aligned and drives straight but the steering wheel is off center, how would i go about setting it straight without the airbag popping in my face ?

[93celicaconv]

How do you know your car is aligned properly? Just because it drives straight doesn't mean it is aligned. If the steering wheel once was on center (and I would have to assume it once was), then something mechanically is wrong causing it to be off center, especially if there is no front end pull to one side or the other.

[fenixus]

i had similar trouble recently, but that was actually bad alignment which developed after hitting a deep pothole most likely. on highways over 70+ mph i could feel it was starting to lightly pull towards the left lane and in city driving it was going straight but steering wheel was rather a little to left than in middle.

i ended up re-doing alignment for $75+tax in local Firestone. from report it seems that front left wheel had a "toe" value out of spec (0.26in) and now is back to normal (so is the steering wheel) at 0.00in.

re-check alignment first.

[flyeri]

It is a front end toe adjustment. The front can be aligned in spec and the steering wheel be off center. Also the front end can be out of spec but the car drive straight. Get an alignment and tell them the steering wheel is off center. They can adjust that out during the alignment.

[n3rdifed]

^dont forget to ask for a printout of the alignment specs. they should give if you ask.




that will give you a good idea of how wrong you are.

[73sport]

Originally Posted by flyeri

It is a front end toe adjustment. The front can be aligned in spec and the steering wheel be off center. Also the front end can be out of spec but the car drive straight. Get an alignment and tell them the steering wheel is off center. They can adjust that out during the alignment.

Careful - thats jumping to conclusions. . . .

You check the tire pressure at all four corners? Have you rotated the tires? You can still have a good alignment AND a bad tire which makes the care track off center and drop the wheel to one side or the other. . . All I'm saying is don't jump to conclusions and do the obvious things first.

Note: The rear alignment can just as easily affect the steering wheel position as the front! If the rear toe is off, the car can crab walk as many call it, which tosses the thrust line off. The front toe is still good and the wheel will return to straight when the car goes straight donw the road. Again, even a bad tire can cause this.

Assuming the air is good, the front takes the most abuse and is more likely to whack curbs, hit chuckholes and all the good stuff.
- Check the air
- rotate the the tires
- When doing the above and you see the tires edges all worn and feathered away, you might take a ticket for an alignment, but remember low pressure wears the tires edge too.
- no change, get the alignment checked!

Regards,
73


It isn't a custom wheel by chance is it?