driversdomainuk 8 Posted January 9, 2006 (edited) Hi, Bit of an easy one I would imagine - just had the car back from having the anti roll bar bushes fitted along with new wishbones. However, I have noticed that the steering wheel needs to be kept slightly off centre (to the right a bit) when driving in a straight line. I guess this is the work of the garage who did the above. How is this caused, and how can I sort it myself. Cheers Edited January 9, 2006 by driversdomainuk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonmurgie 2 Posted January 9, 2006 Whenever you have work done on suspension elements you shoudl always have an alignment done afterwards... so get one booked in and that will sort your wonky steering wheel out It's not something you can do yourself Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rippthrough 98 Posted January 9, 2006 If it's tracking striaight and the steering feels ok otherwise, you could just pull the steering whell off and rotate it a spline. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C_W 3 1 Cars Posted January 9, 2006 If it's tracking striaight and the steering feels ok otherwise, you could just pull the steering whell off and rotate it a spline. I've always found that 1 spline is always too much movement and could probably end up being a little bit to the left aftwerwards. Any tiny change in the suspension can affect the tracking and therefore steering position, it's probably only a tiny amount though. You could toe the right hand side OUT about half a turn if you wanted and see what that is like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
driversdomainuk 8 Posted January 9, 2006 I've always found that 1 spline is always too much movement and could probably end up being a little bit to the left aftwerwards. Any tiny change in the suspension can affect the tracking and therefore steering position, it's probably only a tiny amount though. You could toe the right hand side OUT about half a turn if you wanted and see what that is like. Where would you say is a good place to get tracking sorted out..?? Your local Kwik Fit or somewhere a little more suited... Having never done this, should I ask for a simple tracking check or what..?? considering I am using the car for track use Cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rippthrough 98 Posted January 9, 2006 Where would you say is a good place to get tracking sorted out..?? Your local Kwik Fit or somewhere a little more suited... Having never done this, should I ask for a simple tracking check or what..?? considering I am using the car for track use Cheers My local motosave have always been great. I think it depends upon the mechanics rather than the franchise though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C_W 3 1 Cars Posted January 9, 2006 Never sure with tracking, I used to have it tracked at Peugeot for £15 (yes £15!) a few years ago but they changed the way they charged for stuff and it had to be a minium labour charge of £40 or something. I must admit lately I've never bothered getting it tracked properly and guess it myself, but my car isn't used that much on the road anymore. I t hink they're all as good/bad as each other. I tend to prefer ones where you can speak to the person doing it to double check what they set it to (parallel is what peugeot set mine to). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KRISKARRERA 2 1 Cars Posted January 11, 2006 Surely it's possible for a garage to bodge this up if they don't have the steering wheel dead straight when they set the tracking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C_W 3 1 Cars Posted January 11, 2006 The position of the steering wheel is only relative - it could be upside down but the tracking could still be "right". Normally the wheel is clamp in dead ahead and adjustments made to make sure that its central. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLPoomobile 958 Posted January 11, 2006 I had a rant about tracking a few months ago. Have a search under my name, the topic may give you some info. But basically, the front wheels are alligned using the the back wheels as a guide (if that makes sense), so it makes no difference if the steering wheel is off center. It can then be refitted straight on once the tracking is done. It would be interesting to know how they can accurately track the front if the rear wheels have been knocked out of allignment! My major whinge is that most places think it doesn't matter about adjusting the track rod ends equally. The guy I spoke to at the garage knows that it theoretically makes a difference but had the attitude that it is negligable and not worth worrying about. If a jobs worth it's worth doing properly! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
