Went autocrossing today, and on my last run I spun out at a decent clip. As I was sliding sideways I heard a bit of a metal groan.

Later, when pulling onto the highway I noticed that my steering wheel is entirely off center (straight at ~11), the car doesn't track straight on it's own, and there is a little vibration here and there in the wheel. At first I thought the alignment was out, but I haven't actually experienced a wheel being off center before? How likely is it that a control arm, etc, is bent?

 

Could be the arms, or the steering rack, you can see the part near the bottom of THIS photo.

 

my guess... this would cause your car to veer off and your wheel to be crooked. If this is bent...

 

interesting.

i am fighting that same issue.. but no spin, no vibration.. just wheel at 11 and a mild pull to the right..

just had the car aligned. same issue.. odd.

beers

 

Take it back and get them to align the wheel....they screwed it up when they adjusted the toe (likely all on one side) They have to put it back on the rack to do it properly Hopefully the alignment is correct...

 

Alright, thanks for the diagrams. I'll take a look when I'm somewhere where I can lift the car. Definitely something up though, front wheel was losing traction on an on-ramp, triggering traction or stability control.

 

Yup, if they don't tighten the hell out of it after an alignment it will mess up. My alignment guy went to town on my car and found several loose bolts.

There are horror stories about certain alignment shops in Houston.

 

same here ....got it aligned and now it sits at 11 and pulls rights.....took it back they said it was fine......

 

Me thinks you need to find another alignment shop

 

i think i will after i install new springs and shocks...

 

dan nailed it. took it back, they straightened the wheel.. found the toe was off.. fixed that.

car is yummy again..

beers