steering wheel allignment???

[ras50gt]

Probably 2 years ago my brother changed the ignition on my 93 GT. I'm not too sure what he did, but when he put the steering wheel back on,etc it wasnt aligned right. So from that day on it tilts to the left a little when driving straight. I remember him doing the work when the car was parked up the driveway which kinda slanted a little, so I thought maybe that was why. Today, I decided to try to correct the steering wheel alignment. I made sure the wheels were straight(steering wheel tilted a little to the left) then I removed the steering wheel. The arrow on the inside was higher than the Y that your suppose to line it up with so, I centered it. Then I installed the steering wheel again and bolted it up. Took the car around the block- still off to the left. I parked, pulled the steering wheel off again. Decided this time to allign the arrow below the Y and that maybe this will off center itself. So, after that put the steering wheel back on,etc and tried to drive again- its still off!!!

Is there something I need to do to get this right? Anyone have this issue before? I tried to search but didn't come up with much. I did see that someone had the problem after installing a new steering shaft and keeping the key in the on position, and it was said that you have to remove the shaft from the rack and pinion. The steering shaft has never been removed, just the wheel was pulled when doing the ingintion.

Also, once you take the steering wheel off, theres instructions under there saying that you must turn the inside part in the direction of the arrow until tight then turn it 3 1/2 tuns the opposite way and align at Y- if you do that your wheels turn, and after after 1 1/2 turns im almost at full lock- am i missing something? Am I suppose to have the front end in the air? Anyways, I need help- im not sure how to fix this. I thought it would be no more than a two hour job at most taking my time and relaxing, but its taken a lot more

 

[HISSIN50]

You might have issues with clockspring indexing if you do it your way (let alone that I thought the hub was indexed so the wheel only went on one way).

I would index the wheel the way it should be and then do a tie rod dance to get the wheels straight when the wheel is straight.

 

[ras50gt]

You might have issues with clockspring indexing if you do it your way (let alone that I thought the hub was indexed so the wheel only went on one way).

I would index the wheel the way it should be and then do a tie rod dance to get the wheels straight when the wheel is straight.

I think that issue might have to due with the clockspring indexing. The hub is indexed so that the wheel can only go on one way, just even when I line up the arrow on the hub to the Y/wiring harness- the steering wheel still ends up tilting to the left when going straight.

I guess theres something else going on. I can try what you said and just allign the arrow on the hub to the Y- but what is a tie rod dance??? How is that done? And how long would that take? Thanks

 

[HISSIN50]

You get the steering wheel straight, and assuming your front wheels themselves are aligned, you turn each side's tie rods equally until the wheels point straight ahead. As long as the turns on each side are equal in quantity, the relative wheel alignment stays true.

Like in your case (if I read ya right), the steering wheel lists to the left. So when it's straight, the tires point to the right. You'd shuffle the tie rods so instead of pointing to the right, the wheels are straight. Again, each side will need the same number of tie rod turns to be taken or the alignment between the front wheels will be off.

 

[RB92GT]

Alignment

From experience, you may want to get an alignment by a trusted shop. I have made adjustments myself (adjustable C/C plates, lowered with H&R Supersport springs, tokico shocks) and ate up a pair of tires in about 500miles.... oops. Learned my lesson.

Now only make very slight adjustments AFTER professionally aligned. Ate my tires so fast I didn't even have timet to notice or expect such a dramatic loss of rubber in such a short amount of time.

Of course, after getting an alignment, noticed the idiot who did the alignment put 4 dents in the top of my fender... and the damn guy who did it even drives a 92 GT just like mine... I would like to poke at him with very sharp objects... urghhh

 

[93 LX]

in a air bag car the wheel only can go on two ways. 0 degrees and 180 out. If you have a splined steering shaft then you should be able to make up for the offset.

 

[ras50gt]

in a air bag car the wheel only can go on two ways. 0 degrees and 180 out. If you have a splined steering shaft then you should be able to make up for the offset.

It does have an air bag, what do you mean by 0 and 180 degrees? And its a stock steering shaft... what do you mean by make up for the offset? Thanks for the help

 

[93 LX]

What i mean is that the shaft has 2 flat spots so the wheel can only go right side up or upside down. Older steering shafts had a spline and the wheel could go on anyway just as long as the splines matched.