my steering wheel is crooked, as in off rotated about 35 degrees to the right. does this mean that i need an alignment? im a noob to alignment tech, so bare w/ me. my car drives straight, no shaking(other than normal non-ps shakes), no funky noises . . . i dont get it! i just recently got an alignment, id say about 3 months ago. TIA.

 

take it back to where you got the alignment and tell them they didnt fix that. they should fix it no problem

 

yah. . . i moved about 2500 miles since that alignment.

 

have you removed your steering wheels recently? if not its probably your alignment.

 

havent touched the wheel, although, i was thinking of taking it off and just correcting it that way, but if it is something wrong w/ my alignment, that sux!!

 

dont adjust it by removing the wheel. your alignment will still be off. just go to firestone or so and get their lifetime warranty for like 150

 

Put it on a rack and look at your specs. The alignment may be just fine. After I had mine done to the specs I wanted my steering wheel was slightly off. Nothing you can't just take off and fix.

 

exactly, alright, ill find a good shop around here. thanks!

 

have you changed wheels since u got your alignment, that could be a possibilty

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 97civhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my steering wheel is crooked, as in off rotated about 35 degrees to the right. does this mean that i need an alignment? im a noob to alignment tech, so bare w/ me. my car drives straight </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, since you said you're a "noob" when it comes to alignment work, I really won't go into what to do with lower tie arms to correct your toe (which is all an alignment machine does). But if your steering wheel is that much off, and your car drives straight, put the wheels point straight forward and remove the 19mm nut holding the wheel on and pull the wheel back just enough to get it off of the grooves and turn it the other direction to make it straight, then put everything back together and tighten up that 19mm nut. Then, when your steering wheel is slightly off, you can fix that by adjusting the toe with the lower tie rods from the rack, but I wouldn't touch it if you have no idea with what you're doing or you can really throw off the alignment easily. Otherwise, take it to a shop and spend the $40 to get it aligned.

 

well, i put azenis on my steelies siince then. does that count? and i know what tie rods do, the thread in/out changin the toe of the wheels. but i dont have a rack,, so i really dont wanna touch that. so ur saying just to adjust my steering wheel?

 

Nope, were saying to sell your 16+ sec civic

Why the change in username????

 

dude, its ZOOLANDER! hello!! McFly!!!!

 

its the camber on that side...i bet its way off
(mine was that way this past summer when the bolts slipped)

 

thats how my wheel was then when i changed the steering wheel i just put it on straight .just watch out for your srs hub you dont want to rotate it to many times they only go i think 2 1/2 spins each way

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pdiggitydogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its the camber on that side...i bet its way off
(mine was that way this past summer when the bolts slipped)</TD></TR></TABLE>

really? its dropped equally in the f/r, so i dunno about this.

 

If you got it aligned and your steering wheel is still crooked then your steering wheel is probably just on crooked. Did you or someone else ever take the steering wheel off?

 

nope, never took it off.

 

jack it up and look at your front camber kit
I really believe i am right

 

Like diggitydogg said.. its all in the CAMBER.. doesnt matter on the toe-in or toe-out ... if u want the wheel back straight you will have to buy a camber kit to get the wheels back into specs. My 2000 si had the same problem, purchased a Skunk2 camber kit had it aligned at an import shop that knew how to adjust the camber kit and the wheels was perfectly straight again.

 

you do have a camber kit right?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Op IVY Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Like diggitydogg said.. its all in the CAMBER.. doesnt matter on the toe-in or toe-out ... if u want the wheel back straight you will have to buy a camber kit to get the wheels back into specs. My 2000 si had the same problem, purchased a Skunk2 camber kit had it aligned at an import shop that knew how to adjust the camber kit and the wheels was perfectly straight again. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Did the same shop try the alignment before the camber kit? I have trouble believing this 100%. I lowered mine and the wheel was WAY crooked. I have NO CAMBER KIT and took it to a mechanic and he got the steering wheel perfect.

I'm not calling you a liar, just going off my personal experience

 

honda_joe... no offense taken.. but yes, I did have an alignment and it left the wheel crooked still? From my experience it seemed it was only the camber although it was two different shops that aligned it... the first one may have done a shotty job ... you never know

 

My steering wheel has been taken off and put back on. I know it hasn't been put back in the right spot though. I have taken it in and gotten many alignments and the shop aligns everything with the steering wheel straight. My car drives straight when you hold the steering wheel straight, but as soon as you let the steering wheel go, the car immediately pulls to the right and the steering wheel turns to the right slightly. Is this what's happening to you car too??

I was wondering if there is a center to the steering rack that the rack and steering wheel will naturally return to when you let go of the wheel? I mean theoretically couldn't you turn your wheels slightly to the right, pull off the steering wheel and put it on so it sits straight, then align everything so its all straight. Everything like camber and toe would be adjusted to the steering wheel and the wheels would be pointed straight, but your steering would be off, wouldn't it? and also as soon as you would let go of the wheel wouldn't it pull to the left cuz of this?

 

:sigh: You do not "NEED" a camber kit you get your steering wheel straight. Go get an alignment, look at the specs they print out and if it's right and your steering wheel is off then just adjust it.