Steering wheel is canted

[Richard McAlister]

The steering wheel on my '05 trac is canted to the left about 5 degrees. The truck steers good and goes straight when hands are taken off the wheel. I just rotated my tires and after 10K miles they show nice even wear (Goodyear Wrangler RTs). I don't think it needs an alignment, fact is I'm afraid to take it in because it drives so nicely. But, the canted steering wheel bothers me. Can I adjust the toe adjustments to correct the problem by turning each a different direction in or out? If so, about how much should I try? Truck has about 60k total miles.

:driving:

 

[Johnny O]

You need an alignment. It needs to be put on the rack, the steering wheel centered, then the wheels adjusted accordingly.

 

[swshawaii]

Agree. I attempted to center my 12:30 clocked steering wheel. Sounded easy to shorten one and lengthen the other TRE equal distance. Total toe in spec is 1/32"-1/8" and never got it right. Alignment time. :banghead:

 

[Richard L]

rmcalis,

Some alignments are set so that the steering wheel is straight up when driving on a flat, level surface, however most roads have a slight crown for water drainage, so depending upon how much of a crown, they tend to make vehicles drift to the right and force you to steer a bit to the left to continue going straight. Some alignment shops will try to compensate for the road crown by tweaking the alignment a bit to the left so crown in the road has less effect.



Also, Tire wear and loose/worn steering components can cause a vehicle to pull or drift slightly left or right?



In your case, I think someone did an alignment without centering your steering wheel, which is the first step.



....Rich

 

[Richard McAlister]

Thanks for the replies guys,

The truck drives so good that I think I'll live with the crooked wheel. I'm afraid to mess with it.

:supercool:



rich