Has this happened? Steering wheel crooked after U-TURN?

[hemibeep]

After making a left U-turn, My steering wheel is now off center, towards the right. about 30 degrees off.
Car drives straight, and normal.
I did not hit anything, unless the suspension hit the turn lock.
BUT, if the wheel was turned left, why whould it now be off center to the right, opposite of the turn direction.?

STUMPED????

 

[newredrt10]

You need to check the steering wheel shaft. It is possible that the clamps on the shaft have loosen. Check them before driving the car again. To check them have some one watch the steering shafts in the engine bay while you turn the wheel, from lock to lock and back. I found mine lose.

 

[joe117]

"You need to check the steering wheel shaft"

I'd do that right away. Have someone who knows what they are doing look at before you drive it to a shop.

I agree that this could be the shaft slipping in one of the couplings.
And that is bad news if it starts slipping when you are driving.

 

[Vic]

Did the rack shift on the frame?

 

[RAYSIR]

something stripped, all these replies are right on. Been in the alignment business for years and you have a dangerous situation to check out. I wouldn't be driving it !!!

 

[LETHAL GTS]

After making a left U-turn, My steering wheel is now off center, towards the right. about 30 degrees off.
Car drives straight, and normal.
I did not hit anything, unless the suspension hit the turn lock.
BUT, if the wheel was turned left, why whould it now be off center to the right, opposite of the turn direction.?

STUMPED????

What do you bench? 350-400lbs!
You might want to be careful you don't rip the steering wheel right off next time. You do realize the car will only turn soooo sharp reguadless of how far you turn the steering wheel.
Seriously though, sounds like you cranked the wheel to hard to the left and twisted or stripped something (likely the steering shaft).

 

[hemibeep]

Okay, spent some time going over things. Not seeing any issues. The shafts are splined and tight, rack is not moving, wheel seems tight.

some of you mentioned shaft slipped, at what joint was that? upper, lower, at the wheel, anything would be great help.

Lethal, I might weigh 350, but I cannot bench that much....Stumped? ? ?

 

[hemibeep]

Narrowed it down to either steering wheel or rack and pinion. The shaft is not the culprit.
Has anyone had either "jump" out of alignment?

 

[Vic]

The only thing I have ever heard of, is tearing of the frame mounting bosses, or maybe it was the frame mounting bar for the rack. Happened to cars that were tracked with Hoosiers on. There was a TSB on it, invloving welding strengthening gussets on the frame, where the rack attaches.

By 2001, the factory had the welded-gusset-fix incorporated on all new models.

Somehow, I don't think thats your problem, or you would have seen the frame damage by now, right?

I was out looking at mine, and of course, there are visible u-joints under the hood. But it also seems that there may be another u-joint behind the firewall, because it looks like the steering wheel axis is not aligned with the shaft, where it dissapears into a box, just in front of the firewall. The shaft right there looks like it is at one angle, but the steering wheel is at another. One more u-joint in there, in that box just in front of the firewall, would account for the appearant mis-alignment. That presumed u-joint could be slipping.

What about the pinion gear, inside the rack housing, at the end of the shaft? If that rotated on its shaft, you wouldn't see any visible symptoms, except for the steering wheel being off-center. Does the wheel turn, if the steering lock is engaged?

What if you put a vise grip on the shaft somewhere, and try turning the wheel again? By gripping it at different points, you may be able to isolate where the slipping is occuring. Use some wood under the jaws, if you want to protect the shaft finish.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Vic may be right. Is it possible you skipped a tooth on the rack? When going full left, and then a little more, the wheel would have to be right of center when going straight again.

I honestly don't know in the Viper, but the stops are sometimes protrusions on the steering knuckle where it contacts a frame piece. There must be a mechanical stop somewhere, otherwise the rack itself is the stop. Kind of like the shock absorber isn't the mechanical stop to it's travel (or not supposed to be.)

Perhaps you can check the angle of the wheel full left and full right. I think there is a spec for this in the manual. If the angle were different left and right, then something's up with the stops.

 

[99 R/T 10]

Check the rear stabization bar(I think that's what it's called). It has end links just behind the rear end. I had one go bad and did what you described.

 

[C O D Y]

Wasn't the 998 recal to reweld the rack and pinion? They were braking and that is why Dodge recalled them. Just a thought.