Off-Centre Steering Wheel...

[JakeS15]

Hi Everyone,

Just before Christmas, I hit quite a large pothole which threw my wheel alignment out, I took it to Halfords for an alignment and got it back, but the steering wheel was off centre by about a 1/4 turn.. I went back in and asked what was going on and they said they'd look at it again another day because they were very busy etc etc...

So I decided to take it to another mechanic who looked at it and said that my left suspension arm was "bent like a banana"... This was replaced and I took it for an alignment again.. 2nd alignment done and the steering wheel is still crooked!

I phoned up and they agreed to look at it again, which they did... After this time they printed out the alignment details and both front wheels are perfectly aligned, but the steering wheel is still not centred... They suggested it was because I was getting rear wheel steering but said a rear alignment isn't possible and the entire rear axle would need replacing..!

So I'm wondering what I should do next. If I take my hands off the wheel, the car stays in a dead straight line, so I know that the front wheels are aligned properly and I don't think there is any rear wheel steering.. It's just that the steering wheel is tilted ever so slightly to the right, probably by 2-3 degrees or so.

Is it possible that the mechanic who changed the suspension arm missed something else that was bent within the steering? Or is it just a wheel alignment not done properly?

Thoughts please!

Thank you!

[ianincheshire]

or just that they couldnt be bothered to lock the steering wheel in the 'straight ahead' position before they started the wheel alignment!

In the 'old' days it would be simple to fix, you just take of the steering wheel and move it round on the splines and refit. These days with airbags etc its a right pain! So effectively they would have to start again and completely redo the alignment with the wheel set correctly

[unofix]

On 2/5/2023 at 1:37 PM, JakeS15 said:

just a wheel alignment not done properly?

Poor adjustment by a lazy (or dumb) technician.

I've seen this problem on a number of cars, and almost always caused by adjustments been made only to one side while the steering wheel was not 100% in the centre.

Steering wheel should be put to the correct centre position (and held there if needs be) before any adjustment begins. Adjustment will then need to be made to "both" sides to adjust the tracking.