Took the wife's 2013 XF in for new tire installation and alignment. I noticed on the way to the shop that the steering wheel had to be held with slight left pressure to keep car straight.

After install and aligned car still pulled slightly right not matter what the road surface. Took it back, alignment done, still slight pull. Took it back, alignment done no pull but wheel cocked slightly left. Took it back, alignment redone, STILL slightly left. Work was done by different techs. I watched the guys apparently center the wheel.

The crookedness is not much at all but enough to notice, at least to me. The shop is extremely accommodating but can't seem to center the wheel. I'm gonna get a second set of eyes on it before I head on back (x5) but before I do is there anything that could cause this slight offset besides not centering the wheel properly before the toe is set?

Thanks
Rick

 

It appears that you have two things going on. First, many times when a car is aligned, a little more caster is set on the right side, to compensate for "road crown". This allows for the car to track straight (in the US). However, if the caster is set the same on both sides, the car may "drift right", especially on roads with a strong crown.


Secondly, the steering wheel needs to be set "on center" before the toe is set. If the tech doesn't do this, OR if he/she isn't accurate in setting the toe to the same setting on both sides of the car, your steering wheel can/will be "off center" when you're driving.


If the shop you're using can't do this properly, you need to find another shop............