I had an alignment done, but I'm concerned with a couple of things.

Car tracks straight, but steering wheel is tilted slightly to the right ( was this way before the alignment too).

Steering feels hard. It takes more effort to move the wheel.

Wheel does automatically recenter after turns. Did a test. Made a right took hands off wheel, it turned towards center, but stopped a little before getting there.

I wanted to run this by you before I go down to discuss this with them. Anyone see any common cause with these?

Any of your thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks. John

 

Usually, toe is the only part of an alignment that the typical alignment shop can do on these cars. They cannot (or will not) adjust camber or caster. Did your shop tell you this beforehand?

 

Before any alignment work is done, the steering should be set to the central position. In case the steering wheel has been removed and incorrectly replaced, centralisation should be assured using the alignment markers between the bottom of the steering column and the pinion housing on the rack. A four wheel alignment can then be carried out.

If when the column markers are aligned, the steering wheel is offset, it should be removed and replaced correctly. Before doing this the battery should be disconnected and left for a few minutes to allow the airbag system to de-power.

It sounds as though the column was not in the central position during alignment and now you're having to fight the power steering that is getting an incorrect sense of what it's trying to do!

 

+1
Toe is the only adjustment allowed on the front. You can adjust rear camber, but it would involve removing the axle shafts to replace the shim/spacer, but this is almost always unnecessary and rarely done.


Before you go back to discuss - just curious if you have the print out showing before and after measurements, if you do could you post it? Sometimes these guys try to take things into their own hands and attempt to apply " tricks" when it just makes things worse

 

Sure I'll post the results soon.

John

 

Front Left:

Camber: (now) 0.0 degrees (before) -0.2 degrees
Caster: Not adjusted or measured
Toe: (now) 0.06 degrees (before) 0.46 degrees

Front Right:
Camber: (now) -0.8 degrees (before) -0.7 degrees
Caster: Not adjusted or measured
Toe: (now) 0.05 degrees (before) -0.30 degrees

Front
Cross Camber (now) 0.8 degrees (before) 0.5 degrees
Cross Caster Not adjusted or measured
Total Toe (now) 0.11 degrees (before) 016 degrees

Rear Left

Camber Now -1.8 degrees Before -1.6 degrees
Toe Now 0.11 degrees Before 0.16 degrees

Rear Right

Camber Now -1.5 degrees Before -1.4 degrees
Toe Now 0.07 degrees Before 0.05 degrees

Rear

Total Toe Now 0.15 degrees Before -0.10 degrees
Thrust Angle (Now) 0.00 (Before) -0.10 degrees

Thanks for Looking

John

 

Those numbers look good. If they didn't put 200lbs in the drivers seat when they aligned it, the "as driven" negative camber will increase on the left side to better match the negative camber on the right.

 

Ungn,

You are kind - I wish I was still 200lbs ! ha ha [yes we are just begging for a joke about me causing the problem right?]

Anyway To All:

Does any of this point to why steering feels "heavy" or why it doesn't properly recenter into a straight line after a turn?

Do the washers on the front's upper A arm mount impact Caster or Camber? I forget, but they certainly didn't touch any of them during this alignment set up.

I should have asked this earlier: I recently changed the bearing on the rear left wheel. I forgot to mark the hub's pivot bolt's orientation, that's one of the reasons I went for this alignment. Now that I think about it, the cocked steering wheel occurred right after reassembly of this wheel. Does this adjustment on the rear wheel have the ability to offset steering wheel orientation?

Thanks guys,

John

 

While any individual wheel alignment can affect the other wheels, it's very unlikely that one rear wheel would affect the steering wheel position noticeably.

The shims (washers) on the upper wishbone mounts are used to adjust castor. If camber is a problem an eccentric pivot bolt is available to fit in the rear lower wishbone pivot so it can be adjusted by a small amount, but if all the suspension parts are in spec it shouldn't be necessary.

In my opinion if your alignment shop was happy to release the car with the steering wheel misaligned, then you need a new alignment shop!!

It looks to me as though what they've done is drive into the set-up bay and left the steering wheel a bit off centre. Then they've done the alignment by adjusting the track rod ends as is usual, but without first centralising the steering column. The power steering and the DSC systems, with sensors on the column, both need the steering column and the front wheels to agree on what is straight ahead as a datum, but in your car that cannot be achieved.

Find a new shop that has good reviews and they'll likely fix the steering wheel position as a matter of course, especially if you point it out to them

 

Caster makes the steering "heavier" off center and aids in re-centering. I said "screw it" to the factory shim recommendation and put the shims in the max caster location, because I love caster for high speed driving.


On my open road race car I'm waving at the speed camera's on a semi truck rutted asphalt road @ at 168 mph, because of excess amounts of caster.


My steering is still very light.


Johnken, this might have to do with the power assist/rack than the alignment.

 

+1
But the steering wheel, steering column and front wheels must all be all be properly aligned before any other alignment is attempted or you're wasting time and money!

 

I'd agree with those measurements, considering its an XK.


Yes the washers on the upper control arm can change the alignment.


As Astromorg mentioned, there are eccentric bolts that can be purchased.


I'm just curious - do you directional tires? If not, what happens when you swap the front tires side to side? Tires can cause a " pull " affect while driving...


As for your assist - there is an assist module - looks like a big relay. These have been known to go out, causing no assist.

 

REAOLVED problems cleared after resetting toe (straight steering wheel) and reseating fuse #12 (Variable Assist Power Steering)

 

Eccentric bolts to compensate for negative camber are a joke. They pull in he lower control arm by maybe a 1/32". Hardly enough to compensate for anything.

I've been experimenting with increasing tire pressures to give me sharper steering and more responsive handling characteristics. I was running 30/33 and it felt somewhat mushy and vague. I'm running the same Continentals we all use, and my front end guru, who does a lot of race prep down here, suggested the lack sidewall stiffness was adding to the looseness I was feeling in the wheel. After I upped the pressure to 43/43 everything was tighter; although the impact harshness did suffer. I may come down a little, but not back to the lower thirties. gordo