Shift9303

Hey all, got a little bit of an issue with alignments right now and figured I would ask everyone's input. My car has an odd issue where the steering wheel is almost always cocked slightly to the left a couple degrees after a fresh alignment. I've taken my car to several different shops and they all consistently have this issue which makes me believe that it may be more my car than technician error. I've also done a couple of DIY alignments myself using the string method and on the last one the tech said that my fronts were pretty dead on however the rear toe was fairly off. He said that I had toe in on the driver side and toe out on the passenger side. This almost makes it sound like a thrust angle issue as in my mind this alignment would have been causing a "crab walk" effect against the front. However I would imagine that with a fresh alignment on a rig the thrust angle would be corrected for anyway? After today's alignment the tech got it close enough with their rig after a couple tries but I still had to give the tie rods a slight turn myself to get the steering wheel straight. If their rigs say my fronts are dead center but the steering wheel is still turned then that would mean the issue is in the back right? Due to other factors I found while setting ride height I got a feeling that I may have something bent on the passenger side. But before I go pulling and replacing parts I was wondering what to look for first as a most likely culprit. Also would pulling the steering wheel and realigning it on the column be an easier solution?

B serious

Make sure your steering couplers and rack bolts are torqued to spec.

how far off is it?

Car Analogy

Also, ask for before and after printout of alignment.

I'm wondering if maybe there are some frozen bushings, where turning adjustment is actually torquing the rubber bushing. In that scenario its conceivable its aligning static on the rack, but then in real world with things moving around, and bushing torque changes with suspension movement, alignment changes as well.

This woukd also mean bushings are going to tear from the stress.

Its a good practice on any older, special car to remove each alignment bolt and cam washer tube, lube them up inside and out (using antiseize to prevent rust), then put back how they were. Lube bolt shaft, lube tube it goes through inside and out. Prevent corrosion from causing future bushing freeze.

Mark how they were set before you touch anything. Do them one at a time. And only do this very soon before getting an alignment, so when you're setting it how it was its only temporary.

B serious

And are all your subframe bolts torqued to spec?

Save the Manual Wagons!

Frozen front camber bolts are very common but at least one of the shops should have noticed that and told you... They often have to be sawzalled out.

I believe the alignment locknuts are supposed to be replaced every time an alignment is done. If you've had several alignments and they are old, that might be why things are shifting.

Torn/destroyed bushings can screw up the alignment.

Has the car ever been crashed? Was it aligned correctly when you bought it?

Shift9303

The car has had one off into the dirt. It was a relatively slow off where the car spun rear first off the road into a flat patch of grass. That's why I was going after something being bent. I noticed when setting ride height that with the coilovers set equally the passenger rear sits lower and I had to raise the passenger side a lot. Which components should I look at first?

As far as I can tell the eccentric bolts move fairly well. No one has complained about them and when I did my DIY alignment they seemed to move easily. I do feel like there is a lot of play in the front steering rack. I feel like I can never get it centered perfectly even myself. I always overshoot slightly to the left or to the right.

B serious

Also check for broken rack bushings or similar. Very unlikely. But check.

Have someone operate the steering while you look at the steering rack from under the hood.

To answer your question about bent components...if something does bend, its usually the spindle. I don't think you bent a spindle. And a bent part isn't gonna cause the issue you're describing.

Shift9303

Looking at where the steering coupler I think it's a bit more involved than I can do by myself in my garage. I'll have to look at it next time I'm at the shop. I also figured that a bent component might not cause this. I'd figure if something was bent it might affect the numbers I get however it shouldn't affect how the car tracks if the numbers are equalized from side to side. What's weirding me out is that apparently all these alignment rigs are saying my steering is centered and toe is zeroed out however when I drive the car the steering wheel is consistently to the left. If it was maybe one shop then maybe I could say it's the tech but it's multiple shops at this point. I ended up getting under the car and adjusting the tie rods my self last night. Made about 1/6th of a turn to both tie rods and evened the sides out using toe plates to get the steering wheel centered again.

Edit: I think I get it now. The machine thinks the steering wheel is zeroed, and the wheel looks like it's zeroed in the car but maybe the rack isn't actually zeroed? Leading to a slightly off neutral position after alignment.

Slowcrash_101

A wheel bearing going bad can cause this.

Shift9303

Speaking of, how often does the steering alignment go out for you guys after a spin? Had an autoX event today and spun out, now the steering wheel is cocked the other direction. I feel like after every spin my steering alignment walks. Think this might be related?