Alignment: too picky?

[buck91]

So just took my 2011in for an alignment after doing a front end overhaul. The shop I usually use was booked for a couple weeks so I went to a shop I haven’t used before but came highly recommended. Truck drives great now but the steering wheel is cocked just slightly to the right- maybe 5 degrees on flat road. Otherwise it feels very good, tracks well and barely even changes between flat road and heavy crown... always cocked just ever so slightly to the left. I’m not sure anybody else would notice but I certainly do.

am I being too picky or is it reasonable to expect a dead center wheel(on average)? The truck has over 100k miles but the alignment has always been, well, perfect. I did use aftermarket front end parts but they are USA made Moog and everything g seemed to bolt up nicely...

 

[mrsilv04]

Take it back, and tell them that the steering wheel is off center about 5 degrees to the right.

It's not a big deal to correct that.

 

[robertcope]

Definitely not being picky there. It should be straight. Which reminds me, I never straightened the wheel on my Lexus after replacing the rack bushings.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Wonder what happened. The Alignment tech will set the wheel straight ahead and brace it, then after caster/ camber will set the toe-in.
Either the Tech didn't set it straight, or when the suspension settled down, its clocked off to the right a tad. It is Good that it tracks well.

HI-Jack attempt: My VW lease is terrible. All four tires are just about at the wear bars at 11K mile,s and I rotated them at 5K. If I let go of the wheel the car just jets off to the left, climbing right over the crown. They say the caster is out, but it's non adjustable. Tried twice to get it aligned. I'm not buying tires at lease turn in this Fall - with only 15K miles on the clock!
I'd call VW but I'm sure they are useless. Plus It's their car - I'm just driving it.

Back to your truck. Bring it back, they can adjust with a re-toe. It is a pain though.

They may say 5 degrees is within the acceptable window. I might agree.

You can attempt a driveway fix, since every thing is freshly loose . Just adjust the toe to steer the PS front OUT and the DS front IN. Maybe a 1/16 - 1/8th of a turn of the collar. That will make you steer the car back to center to maintain a straight track. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction. Bring it back to the shop.
- Ken

 

[Lubener]

Wonder what happened. The Alignment tech will set the wheel straight ahead and brace it, then after caster/ camber will set the toe-in.
Either the Tech didn't set it straight, or when the suspension settled down, its clocked off to the right a tad. It is Good that it tracks well.

HI-Jack attempt: My VW lease is terrible. All four tires are just about at the wear bars at 11K mile,s and I rotated them at 5K. If I let go of the wheel the car just jets off to the left, climbing right over the crown. They say the caster is out, but it's non adjustable. Tried twice to get it aligned. I'm not buying tires at lease turn in this Fall - with only 15K miles on the clock!
I'd call VW but I'm sure they are useless. Plus It's their car - I'm just driving it.

Back to your truck. Bring it back, they can adjust with a re-toe. It is a pain though.

They may say 5 degrees is within the acceptable window. I might agree.

You can attempt a driveway fix, since every thing is freshly loose . Just adjust the toe to steer the PS front OUT and the DS front IN. Maybe a 1/16 - 1/8th of a turn of the collar. That will cause to to steer the car back to canter to maintain a straight track. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction. Bring it back to the shop.
- Ken

Not a good idea to mess with it in the driveway. Take it back where it can be corrected on the rack.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Not a good idea to mess with it in the driveway. Take it back where it can be corrected on the rack.

Maybe if you are inexperienced. But it's a Truck, and a minor toe correction which you may do by reading your tires over time.
factory spec is barn door wide, but any particular vehicle will only like it the toe in a certain place.
Just because it went on a rack doesn't mean it will come off the rack good. Its just a tool for the fool holding the wrench.

 

[tbm5690]

Not picky at all...the last alignment on the Maxima I had done I brought it back 3 times until they got it right. If you're a detail-oriented person a cocked steering wheel is all you will see when driving down the road.

 

[mightymousetech]

Very easy to straighten the wheel once the toe is set properly. If it is off to the right, adjust the right tie rod out, and then left tie rod in. Do it the exact same amount on both sides. Variances in tires can cause the steering to be off even when locking the steering wheel dead Center when doing the alignment. Often have to make a minor correction to get the wheel perfect after doing an alignment.

 

[Spector]

Interesting, had mine aligned at dealer and noticed the same issue, about 1/2 inch off center. The rep said the read outs were saying the end result was correct but I said next time sit in the car or drive and notice the wheel location. They offered to correct it but not worth the hassle, I can live with it until the next one.

 

[andyd]

Drives me nuts to drive around with the wheel cocked. On the BMWs and the Grand Wags ,alignment was a simple toe. I preserved the measurement by marking it on a board and then set the new tie rods to the old measurement. It worked pretty well, both for gudenuf toe set and keeping the wheel at 12 O'clock

 

[14Accent]

This is exactly why I don't use the steering wheel holder when I do alignments. I sit in the vehicle, running, and center the wheel. Poke my head out to view the monitor and take mental note of the toe readings (assuming caster and camber are in spec). Then I hop out and go under the car, manually moving the driver's wheel to where said initial reading was. I then adjust the passenger toe to spec, while manually moving the drivers wheel to keep it at the initial reading. Once I have the passenger side set, I reverse the process.

It's a bit convoluted, but I'm picky about my alignments and that method gives me consistent outcomes every time.

 

[tcp71]

I replaced the lower control arm on the "new to me" CX-5 due to bad ball joint. Setting the toe afterwards in my garage took about 1.5 hours with a string and multiple attempts and test drives. Got it perfect though. wheel is straight and toe is to spec.
To the OP, it's not hard to adjust the tie rod ends a little bit but know that a little goes a long way. Make the same amount of adjustments at about 1/16- 1/8th of a turn on each side and see how the wheel sits... if you are handy. Otherwise take it back, the wheel straightening should take a good tech 10 minutes.

 

[atikovi]

So just took my 2011in for an alignment after doing a front end overhaul.

If you can overhaul the front end you can adjust the tie rods in less time than it takes to go back to the shop.