Changed steering knuckle...now alignment out of spec

[earthrealm]

Had the shakes n tire play at 3 n 9 oclock.so knew my steering knuckle was bad..went to the mechanic...who removed it and confirmed same....twas replaced..went for an alignment car was aligned..drove home...found out ..steering wasnt centered...went back for alignment at a different place...tech aligns and says..he needs to loosen n adjust the steering wheel itself as he has aligned it perfectly from underneath the car..but steering is still off a bit.

So my question is : is it normal to adjust the stèering wheel during alignment...or do i take it back to the original mechanic to try and correct his initial installation of the steering knuckle?

 

[LTDSC]

sounds to me like they dont know how to adjust a tie rod.

 

[chompster4runner]

sounds to me like they dont know how to adjust a tie rod.

Yup +1

 

[earthrealm]

See what was changed

 

[BlackWorksInc]

That's not a steering knuckle, that's an inner tie rod.

 

[gm350reratliff]

Yeah, what he said ^^^

The trick to adjusting anything with rack and pinion steering is adjusting in very small increments. I wouldn't trust a shop that wanted to R&R the steering wheel to get it straight.

 

[CXS]

Yep, you need to find a shop that knows what they are doing. Hard to trust someone that doesn't know what part they replaced.

 

[earthrealm]

Sorry for the error ...yeah its inner tie rod.
So the final consensus is that the alignment shop dont know what they r doing? .........that they hv no business removing n adjusting the steering wheel in order to align my truck?

The alignment tech said the mechanic was careless n didnt try to keep the steering straight while doing the tie rod job....thus the alignment is so far out.

 

[fdbyrne]

The mechanic wasn't necessarily careless. Anytime you replace a tie rod, you have to get an alignment. Even if you do your very best to mark the old one and set the replacement to the same length, you'll be slightly off. Any alignment tech should know this. It shouldn't be news to the alignment guy that it was out of alignment when you brought it to him. He's the alignment guy, why else would you bring him your vehicle.

The steering wheel not being straight is all on the alignment shop, not the mechanic. Most places won't even remove the steering wheel these days because of the liability that you can incur from disconnecting and reconnecting the air bag.

 

[CXS]

Sorry for the error ...yeah its inner tie rod.
So the final consensus is that the alignment shop dont know what they r doing? .........that they hv no business removing n adjusting the steering wheel in order to align my truck?

The alignment tech said the mechanic was careless n didnt try to keep the steering straight while doing the tie rod job....thus the alignment is so far out.

It's standard procedure to align after this regardless of the care the mechanic may or may not have taken. The "alignment tech" isn't a good one from what you've mentioned, he has no business adjusting the steering wheel.

If I were you I'd get it aligned and bring the numbers back to this guy and demand a refund.

 

[earthrealm]

Ok, thanks for all the input, will look around for an experienced shop...though gonna be difficult in my neck of the woods,..reflecting..this is even the 3rd alignment shop i have gone to solve this problem

attached is a pic of how the steering needs to be before the car can go straight.
if the steering wheel is firmly kep staright,,,the car will go a lil bit to one side, though in both scenarios, the tire appears to still point straight.....i hope am making sense
hope no major issue driving it like this for a while while i scout for a good shop?

note: shopping for a better fitting steering wheel cover.....my present one appears to be a mini version..lol

 

[Code2]

Ive always had good luck with firestone, plus you pay once for their alignment and you can go back in when ever you want to have it realigned for free and as much as you want. Keep in mind that the only thing I have ever used firestone for other wise i either do it myself of bring it to a friend who is a Toyota mechanic

 

[A10MileHusker]

Ive always had good luck with firestone, plus you pay once for their alignment and you can go back in when ever you want to have it realigned for free and as much as you want. Keep in mind that the only thing I have ever used firestone for other wise i either do it myself of bring it to a friend who is a Toyota mechanic

I agree. I bought the lifetime alignment from firestone and they are great. I take it in almost every time I wheel it even and walk out the door no charge.

I too have had a steering wheel not straight after inner and outer tie rod replacements and they got the steering wheel straight and everything aligned.

Definitely the alignment shop problem. Dont go there again.

 

[Code2]

I agree. I bought the lifetime alignment from firestone and they are great. I take it in almost every time I wheel it even and walk out the door no charge.

I too have had a steering wheel not straight after inner and outer tie rod replacements and they got the steering wheel straight and everything aligned.

Definitely the alignment shop problem. Dont go there again.

Best money spent with all the high speed turns and curbs i hit for work the alignment is always the first to go LOL.

 

[CXS]

To straighten the steering wheel isn't it just adjusting the tie rod ends? I admit it's been a long time since I did this kind of work myself but that's what I'm now recalling. Loosen one side, tighten the other?

 

[Drunner97]

^ Yes.

I was an alignment tech for small stint in my early 20s (helped at the family shop). You center the steering wheel, loosen the tie rods, turn them until the tires are parallel with the frame, then adjust toe equally on each tie rod in small increments until you have the correct spec.

Of course this was before laser alignment setups and we did things differently and much more accurately. That tech is an idiot, you NEVER remove the steering wheel to center it. I'd go back to that shop and talk to the manager/owner.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

^ Yes.

I was an alignment tech for small stint in my early 20s (helped at the family shop). You center the steering wheel, loosen the tie rods, turn them until the tires are parallel with the frame, then adjust toe equally on each tie rod in small increments until you have the correct spec.

Of course this was before laser alignment setups and we did things differently and much more accurately. That tech is an idiot, you NEVER remove the steering wheel to center it. I'd go back to that shop and talk to the manager/owner.

Actually I just did this on a Sienna that had a rack put in it incorrectly a while back. Sometimes you do need to remove the steering wheel to recenter the vehicle.

I this case you set the steering rack to center, adjust the tie rods to equal lengths, after which you then set the steering wheel, shaft, and clock spring to the center positions and perform your alignment from there. The idea is that sometimes if a technician is not paying attention and/or the shaft is twisted when the rack is being replaced or the tie rods are not set to similar lengths as the old rack was it will put the steering wheel too far off-center. Though in this case I would have set the new tie rod as close to the old one as possible to avoid having it that far out of center.

 

[earthrealm]

ok [MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] , this implies that the alignment guy could have been right when he said the mechanic that fixed the tierod was careless

going forward, which would you advise?

1. i take the truck back to the mechanic who installed the tie rod and get him to try and reinstall the tie rod correctly..after which i can then go for alignment.

2. i allow the alignment tech to remove the steering wheel and adjust it for the alignment

 

[BlackWorksInc]

If they are saying that with the wheels straight ahead and the threads being fairly even on the tie rods, the steering wheel use still very crooked; then recentering the steering wheel by removing the shaft is a viable option that the alignment shop is more than capable of doing. It all just depends on how lazy the alignment so is being in regards to "the steering wheel isn't straight. "

 

[Drunner97]

Actually I just did this on a Sienna that had a rack put in it incorrectly a while back. Sometimes you do need to remove the steering wheel to recenter the vehicle.

I this case you set the steering rack to center, adjust the tie rods to equal lengths, after which you then set the steering wheel, shaft, and clock spring to the center positions and perform your alignment from there. The idea is that sometimes if a technician is not paying attention and/or the shaft is twisted when the rack is being replaced or the tie rods are not set to similar lengths as the old rack was it will put the steering wheel too far off-center. Though in this case I would have set the new tie rod as close to the old one as possible to avoid having it that far out of center.

That's after changing the steering rack, not replacing a tie rod end. Those aren't fun either and you have to have the exact turn count from side to side before hooking the steering wheel up in order to be centered. In this case, unless they were messing with the rack, it has to do with the tie rod end alignment. Alignment can absolutely be fine and your steering wheel can be sideways if it wasn't centered to begin with.