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| frankieh |
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Hi all,
I took out my steering rack and swapped the tie rods.. then put the whole rack back in again as close to where it was and got a wheel alignment. My steering wheel is slightly more than about 4 inches off center and it's driving me nuts. The steering box is centered with the wheels so it goes straight when it's supposed to.. but the steering wheel is way off line by that point. Other than the tie rods.. there doesn't appear to be any adjustment anywhere.. and if I use the tie rods to correct it... wouldn't the front wheels then be out of line with the center point of the steering box and it would then center the wheels way out of straight? Took the steering wheel off and it's a square post that only goes on one way so no correction there.... took the steering shalf off the firewall and steering box and took a look at that but both ends have cutouts to lock with the bolts in only one position... I'm lost... how do I get this wheel on straight without messing up the center point of the steering? rgds Frank |
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| kevman |
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Drive in a straight line ,stop with the wheels pointing straight ahead and turn the steering wheel to the left and count how many turns to get to full lock and back to center and then to the right and count the turns to the right till full lock.That is all I can think of at the moment .Do that and keep us informed.
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| frankieh |
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Ok.... If the steering wheel was a clock.. then full lock on both sides is 1 hour less than two full wheel rotations..
so there is no problem there... exactly the same both sides and my clock spring is working fine. There doesn't seem to be any center point that it self centers too now that I checked... so I'm going to try marking both tie rods and turning them the exact same amount to keep the wheels straight till it's perfect... and hopefully not mess up the new wheel alignment. |
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| TROYMAN |
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its off centre because of the tie rod adjustment..
the tie rods need to be adjusted/wheel alignment with the steering wheel straight.. if your taking it for a wheel alignment they should fix it in the adjustment.. |
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| MAD |
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If you just adjust the tierods equally, everything should be fine, the only thing that could go out of whack is the toe-in.
I'm surprised the place that did the wheel alignment didnt put the wheel straight. |
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| frankieh |
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Thanks guys... I didn't read these in time, but turns out we reached the same conclusion...
I put some tyre white on the top of each tie rod and round one side in 3.25 turns and the other out by the same amount. The car steers straight with the wheel now, but the full lock is slighly less on one side as a result. I'm very annoyed that the wheel alignment place didn't do this when they did the car..... I did pay 60 bucks for the alignment so would have expected a half decent job. |
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| Gonadman2 |
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Maybe try WA Suspensions in Osbourne Park for wheel alignments. I had my VE done there when I had it and they did an excellent job, and I have heard a lot of other very good reports from there.
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| MadMatt |
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They would have reset it if you took it back...
_________________ Member Number 8804 |
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| frankieh |
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MadMatt wrote: They would have reset it if you took it back... what do you mean by reset it? |
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| MadMatt |
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They would have reset the steering wheel straight via the tie rod ends for you.
Free of charge. Go back (be polite) and tell them what happened.
_________________ Member Number 8804 |
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| frankieh |
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what would be the point now?
I've already done it. |
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| MadMatt |
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I spent 10 years in fitting/selling tyres and wheelaligning.
If they are a decent workshop and worth your repeat buisness, they will thow it back up and reset it for you. A quarter of a turn out at the tie rod end will cause uneven wear.
_________________ Member Number 8804 |
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| philaddis |
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frankieh wrote: what would be the point now? I've already done it. I'm gonna hazard a guess that a laser wheel alignment machine is going to be marginally more accurate than your 3.25 turns on either side, using tyre white. As you've pointed out, you've already paid, you might as well get value out of it. And even a small difference in each side will result in premature tyre wear.
_________________ ED XR8 Spri-mitatio-nt |
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| frankieh |
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true... I guess I'll have a quiet word with them...
had though as I don't have any more work time off and they don't do weekends. |
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