It's like all of a sudden the turning radius got worse. do you think my steering rack is shot? I've been through multiple alignments and nothing's changed. Also, my steering wheel is cocked to the right a bit, which means the steering wheel isn't straight. Anyway is there reason why I haven't been able to center my steering wheel or why my car keeps darting to the right once I let go of the steering wheel? can anyone please shed some light, I'm at wits end here. Thanks for your time.

-Jonathan

 

If you've had multiple alignments and your steering wheel is off that far you need a find a different place to get an alignment

 

+1 on finding a new shop to align your car. I've went through several shops over the years, and I finally found my alignment guru/ninja/perfectionist. I might have to drive 2 hours to his shop, but it's gas $ well spent. I hope you can find someone as serious about about their work as I have.

 

does anyone know what the symptoms are on a bad steering rack? I've had over 4 alignments by different people and they can't center the steering wheel. would a hit from the back cause the steering rack to go bad?

 

Hard to steer. Vibrating, shaking. Looseness. Centering the steering wheel is a pretty easy and straight forward task. Has your steering wheel ever been taken off? Any accidents? Airbag deployments? Who did your alignments? You should have received a print out. Take a picture of it.

 

the back driver side wheel was hit a bit but the front was untouched. could it be inner or outer tie rods? please feel free to chime in and help me.

 

Unless there is some chassis damage sounds like your tie rods are definitely out of adjustment, If you recently had an alignment maybe you can check the threads on the tie rod to see if they even touched it. You can actually adjust them yourself just to get you're wheel back to straight, its tedious since you gotta keep putting the car up and down till you're happy with it but its free. If you manage to make it better than you know you need a new alignment shop. goodluck.

 

I already told you what to do. You should have received a print out from your alignments. Take a picture of it so we can see the numbers. Noone can really help without seeing that sheet. In reguards to the steering wheel being off. Its a very very simple process, I do it daily. If they can't make it straight then they should be telling you why they can't. In your accident how bad was the damage? what was replaced? Specifics. As i suggested before if you did not receive a print out and the car is pulling that bad with a off steering wheel YOU NEED TO FIND A NEW ALIGNMENT SHOP!

 

here's the latest specs


camber Left Right
-1.4 -1.4

Caster 3.6 3.9

Toe 0.03 0.01

Sai 13.9 13.5

included 12.5 12.1
angle


Rear specs -1.0 -1.0

toe 0.10 0.10


your help is much appreciated. again, thanks to the guys that have been helping me sort this out.

things that were replaced suspension-wise was the left cv joint. Then I got new tires put on and yes i did get an alignment. I can't understand why the shops haven't been able to straighten out my steering wheel.

 

anyone wanna take a stab at this, i don't know what in the world is wrong with my car but it's really bothering me.

 

do you think something in the rear is bent and making it not track straight?

 

 

could be that I need new struts all around? someone help me.

 

if one of the back wheels gets hit, would it cause the steering wheel to go off center or cause any damage to the steering rack? excuse my ignorance but I'm no mechanic.
wish i knew what the problem was but I'm at wits end here.

 

you have been told 5 times what to do... FIND A PROFESSIONAL ALIGNMENT SHOP.. TELL THEM WHAT THE PROBLEM IS.. AND THEY WILL FIX IT... you giving poor examples and "is it? or "what if's" isnt going to help nor fix your car