steering wheel off center car goes straight?

[TommyG]

Just drove back 140 miles from getting a ride height adj and alignment. The old school way was used rather than the lazer beems shooting at the tires and computer way as in most/all stores today. Old school meaning some tools in a box triangle string etc...I did not pay much attention. I was told it can be more accurate than the new way which from what I was told just gets you in the ballpark +/-. I take the car for a short run and at first glance all seems good. About 30 min into my drive I notice that the steering wheel is not level while going straight. It is slightly to the left as if making a slight sweeping left at a high speed. I try to straighten to get the viper logo to look at me level and the car goes right? After a while I started to question if it was always this way and I just did not notice? Could this have had to do with the alignment? Is it possible that if the wheel is not level while doing each front tire this would happen? If I let the wheel go the car would drift a tad to the right.

CAMBER TOE CASTER
L R
FT .4 .4 0 5.8---5.9
RR .8 .8 -1/8


I have a call into the shop tech and I am sure I will get an explanation in the morn but I thought I would see if anyone has had any exp with this?

Tom

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

You need negative camber in the front to be more than the rear, should be about -1.5 F and -.8 R. Changing the ride height can affect the alignment so the wheel can be off because of that or the wheel was not straight while aligning the car.

The wheel can be centered by making a small adjustment in opposite directions on the tie rods if you know what you are doing it is not that hard or have the shop redo it.

Good luck,

 

[TommyG]

Sorry the specs did not come out right. I am reading this from the bill of sale.

Camber L/Ft .4
R/Ft .4

L/rear .8
R/rear .8

Toe L/ft 0
R/ft 0

L/rear -1/8
R/rear -1/8

Caster L/ft 5.8
R/ft 5.9

 

[TommyG]

Thanks Mark. So the car was dropped .5 inches a bit more than when my motons were put on originally. The rake was set and then the alignment was done afterwords. So it is possible to not have the steering wheel level/straight while doing the alignment and this could cause the problem once finished you can have a off level wheel is what I hear you saying. OK thanks!

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Thanks Mark. So the car was dropped .5 inches a bit more than when my motons were put on originally. The rake was set and then the alignment was done afterwords. So it is possible to not have the steering wheel level/straight while doing the alignment and this could cause the problem once finished you can have a off level wheel is what I hear you saying. OK thanks!

No problem

 

[Viper X]

As Mark said, if the steering wheel is not perfectly straight while the car is being aligned, it will not be perfectly straight when the alignment is completed.

If the car was correctly aligned, it will still go straight but the steering wheel will be off center.

Snap On and others make a special tool to hold the steering wheel straight while the car is being aligned.

Also, your alignment specs are a bit weird. You need some negative camber up front and at the rear or the car won't turn or handle well. -1.0 to -1.5 front, -.5 to -1.0 rear works well for most, add -1.0 more for the track.

Dan

 

[ulllose]

Did it do it on serveral different roads on your way home????

Those ruts in the road will screw with you