My cars has it's suspension set perfect or well I'm happy with it anyways. Problem is the wheel wasn't perfectly straight when it was done. Now it's kinda getting on my nerves.

So what I was planning to do was just adjust the tie rods myself. Turn it 1-2 turns and do the other the exact same amount. Just want to know if this is a good idea or should I just head back to the alignment shop to get it done?

 

do it yourself and you will being to realize that doing your own allignment isnt hard at all, just need the right tools.

I laugh at myself when I used to race on my own "by eye" allignment.

 

nothing wrong with "by eye" alignment!

 

actually, i would take it to the alignment shop for the first time.

you very well can easily adjust the front end by rotating the tie rods until you go straight. but then you really dont know if youre toed in or out or how much, and more importantly, you wont know if the rear wheels have a thrust angle and you are just masking that by overcompensating the front alignment.

thats why you need a 4 wheel alignment first. once you know the rears are straight, then you can fiddle with the front end to tune toe or alignment.

 

Couldn't you unbolt the steering column from the threading at the top of the pinion and move it over a spline?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by litterbox &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Couldn't you unbolt the steering column from the threading at the top of the pinion and move it over a spline? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Why the hell would you do that?

 

I actually have this same problem since I put my momo wheel on (I never actually drove the car w/ the stock wheel on, so it might have had the same problem for all I know). Mine's off by about 30 degres or so. I was planning on taking the wheel back off to make sure that I didn't just put it on crooked or something, but I'm not sure if that's possible. I don't really remember what it looked like when I did it. If the wheel's on straight, I think I'll just take it to an alignment shop to make sure everything is good on all 4 corners. If you've already done that though, you should be able to do the adjustments yourself.

One thing's for sure though, it's REALLY annoying to try to drive the car at the limit with the steering wheel off center. None of your corrections look or feel right. It sucks to not have that center reference point.

 

if youre 30 degrees off, you MUST be at least one steering column spline off.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why the hell would you do that?</TD></TR></TABLE>Well, when I swapped racks, of course it was off (+30degrees) when I initially attached evertyhing together so I had to move the column over a little to center the wheel before I went and got an alignment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by litterbox &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, when I swapped racks, of course it was off (+30degrees) when I initially attached evertyhing together so I had to move the column over a little to center the wheel before I went and got an alignment.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you could have repositioned the steering wheel instead.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">actually, i would take it to the alignment shop for the first time.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did take it to the shop maybe I didn't word it right but the alignment is done but they did it with the steering wheel off center a bit.

 

take the wheel off, see if theres a closer spline to center.

there was one time i slapped the wheel back on off center, then i actually adjusted the tie rods to make the off center wheel, drive straight. then i got it aligned, and got it back with the wheel back off center. he told me to take the wheel off and put it back to center, and i did, and it was dead on straight. so he did it without referencing the steering wheel. which i thought was kinda interesting.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">take the wheel off, see if theres a closer spline to center.</TD></TR></TABLE>

HAHA yeah I tried that today. So then it rides to the other side.

 

same amount?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FlyZlow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I actually have this same problem since I put my momo wheel on...</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah, Momo's always do that 8^D

 

I'm having this same crap problem. I dropped the crossmember and rack this summer while doing a bunch of work.

Also replaced the tie rods. So the steering was off a bit, and the wheel is now tilted about 15 degrees to one side.

Already tried pulling the steering wheel, but it just makes it like 10-15 degrees the other way. So I'm assuming the only way to fix it is to adjust the tie rods a bit until its dead straight, but I just got a 4 wheel alignment and dont want to screw it up.