Dinhx8

I have a question regarding my steering wheel in relation to alignment-

I noticed that when driving "straight" my steering wheel is actually turned just a pinch to the right. It seems 'fairly' consistent no matter what type of road I'm on. When I say its tilted 'slightly' to the right its just that- I know its not dead on straight, but its not necessarily turned either.

- I'm confused cause my car does not "pull" to the right per se. I.e, when i let my hands off the wheel, the car goes dead on straight. So my 'alignment' feels right, yet when I'm going straight, the wheel is still tilted just a pinch to the right.

I'm not sure to get another alignment or what to check out, cause the car doesn't pull in either direction, so my gut is that my alignment is okay- but why the heck is my steering wheel like that I wonder.

now, i just got the MS suspension on maybe a month ago (and alignment then). I also got new rims and tires recently. I do not know if it was doing this PRIOR to the new wheels cause I never noticed it.

thoughts?
thanks for any input.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

They didn't align the steering wheel correctly when they did the alignment. It's easy to do...and easy to fix. Take it back to the alignment shop

gyeaboy

I have the same problem as you. I got my alignment at another local shop. Then i had the same problem. The car was still pulling to the right.. I took my car to Just Tires and got my alignment done again. They fixed my rear toe and set it to factory settings.. I also requested a tire rotation.. Alignment is perfect but the car seems to steer to the left. The tech stated that if it's doing that than that's because of the tires...

I put tein s-tech springs as well as new rims. I did a search and everytime you put on new tires and wheels, you need to buy hubcentric rings. It helps to spin the wheels straight and cause less vibrations.. If this doesn't solve the problem. It's your tires.. I put on my hubcentric rings purchased from tire rack and it seems to still pull to the left.. so It's my tires..

If you purchased your tires locally then u can take it to where u bought them and have them look into it.. since i bought mine online, i can only drive them until they wear out.. I'm still not sure if it's because i put my 18 x 8.5 rims on a 225/40/18 instead of 45's.. the rims seem to look like it's a tight fit.. If i were you i'd buy hubcentric rings or rotate your tires and see if it pulls to the left... than it's ur tires..

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

You both need to find an alignment shop that knows how to align a car to spec....not to what the stupid book or machine says...but to what you want it to be.....exactly. not close..or "within factory spec"

There are alignment shops out there that know what they are doing.....find one. Ask the local racers, or performance drivers......

gyeaboy

I got a print out of my alignment report from Just Tires. wacky shop didnt provide me with any..

First alignment done at wacky shop

Left front Right front
-1.1 -1.0
camber camber
6.8 6.6
caster caster
0.03 0.41
toe toe
front total toe
0.44
steer ahead
-0.19

left rear right rear
-0.9 -0.8
camber camber
-0.01 -0.52
toe toe
rear total toe
-0.54
thrust angle
0.25

2nd alignment done at Just Tires

left front right front
-0.5 -0.5
7.1 7.3
caster caster
0.08 0.08
toe toe
front total toe
0.17
steer ahead
0.00
left rear right rear
-1.0 -1.0
camber camber
0.13 0.12
toe toe
rear total toe
0.24
thrust angle
0.01

The settings were changed to 04 rx8 spec.. the alignment is perfect.. it definately not the alignment.. prior to rotating my tires.. it was going to the right.. when i rotated.. now its going to the left.. so the tires are bad..

gyeaboy

the hubcentric rings seems to help.. when driving locally.. i still haven't driven my car on the freeway where the steering is noticeable at high speeds. so it'll post again on how the car runs tomorrow..

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Unless you are a total dip...you don't need hubcentric rings...all they do is hold the wheel centered until you tighten the lugs. The lugs have conical seats..and they center the wheel when they are torqued down.

They are a convenience item only.

Tire wear will make the car pull...especially if they wore with a shitty alignment.

Put the ones with the worst wear on the rear and see if that helps.

If your wheel is crooked...they didn't center it when the set the toe.....it needs to be adjusted if you want the wheel to be centered

Dinhx8

good to hear the input-

to reiterate, my car tracks completely straight. I do not feel as if I have bad alignment- but rather, the steering wheel is just a bit "to the right" when I'm going straight. My tires are brand new, so its not a wear issue.

Hands off the wheel, the car is completely straight and does not pull.
If this is just a simple "they didn't set up the steering wheel right" than thats cool by me.

FWIW i will say I do not have hubcentirc rings on my new rims. they are , like many aftermarket rims, 73.1mm as opposed to OEm 67.1

I got my rims mounted at a very good tire shop (hand torqued, very accomodating) , and they did alert me to this. However, i have no vibration on my rims, but havent gone much faster than about 85. I will take it back to them for an alignment again.

I know when it comes to wheels and tires, often the smallest thing makes a difference, so anyone with input however minor- I'll take it into accont- thanks.

gyeaboy

test drove the car and the car feels alot smoother. vehicle doesn't steer to the opposite direction as much as it used to. i didnt get my alignment after two months later i had my suspension, tires, and wheels replaced so it's probably due to uneven tire wear. the hub rings solved my problem by more than half. i didn't have too much control when i was going 80-90mph but now i have control.

get hub rings along with that alignment. ask for a print out or show you what your alignment looks now and what they're going to do. when i measure the drop on car using my fingers (s-tech).. it seems that the right passenger side is slighlty lower then the driver side.. hope that's not what's causing the steerin prob..

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

it's a simple toe adjustment, if you adjust the toe equally on both wheels in the direction that the steering wheel is turned then when the wheels straighten themselves out so to does the steering wheel, the amount of toe doesn't change if you do it equally

Dinhx8

thanks Team- I'll mention that to the tire place when I get another alignment.

Turns out, my drivers side rear tire, has been losing pressure, most likely from the searching I've done from a leaky TPMS gasket (bought them another forum member).

I inflated itthis morning to match the other, non leaking tires, it was lower by almost 9psi.

I then checked my steering wheel, and its still tilted to the right when going straight, though to a lesser degree than before. It must be a combination of the toe and diff tire pressure.