Tracking: am I being unreasonable?
Discussion
For the MOT on my car (1998 Volvo V70) I had a front wheel bearing replaced, together with a couple of track rod ends. Because of this, it was tracked.
When I got the car back, everything was fine but the steering wheel was off centre, the top was at about 11 o'clock when driving straight (it was pretty much straight before the work was done, maybe slightly off but not so much you'd notice). I contacted the garage and they had it back. Then it come back with the top at about 1 o'clock.
I spoke to the owner of the garage who said to bring it back again and he would do it personally. I know he spent a long time on it, with numerous test drives. But the top is now back at 11 o'clock. He said it was very difficult to get the wheel straight.
Now before I talk to them again, am I being unreasonable to expect the wheel to be straight? Does an off-set wheel bother anyone else?
Thanks.
When I got the car back, everything was fine but the steering wheel was off centre, the top was at about 11 o'clock when driving straight (it was pretty much straight before the work was done, maybe slightly off but not so much you'd notice). I contacted the garage and they had it back. Then it come back with the top at about 1 o'clock.
I spoke to the owner of the garage who said to bring it back again and he would do it personally. I know he spent a long time on it, with numerous test drives. But the top is now back at 11 o'clock. He said it was very difficult to get the wheel straight.
Now before I talk to them again, am I being unreasonable to expect the wheel to be straight? Does an off-set wheel bother anyone else?
Thanks.
JumboBeef said:
He said it was very difficult to get the wheel straight.
No, it isn't.Clamp the wheel straight, then adjust both TREs to get the wheels pointing straight forward(ish, toe notwithstanding).
It's just as easy as just adjusting one side, but does involve a tidge more work for the poor lamb.
james_gt3rs said:
It could be that the wheel is off centre when the wheels are pointing straight in that case the steering wheel needs adjusting not the tracking.
Plus if the rear wheels are out of alignment it will also cause crabbing.
As above, if they're happy the tracking is set correctly, there's a chance someone in the past has removed the steering wheel and repositioned for it to be at the 12 o clock when in the straight ahead position.Plus if the rear wheels are out of alignment it will also cause crabbing.
If you trust the bloke and the steering wheel is off b
k, ask him to move the steering wheel.Nanook said:
TooMany2cvs said:
No, it isn't.
Clamp the wheel straight, then adjust both TREs to get the wheels pointing straight forward(ish, toe notwithstanding).
It's just as easy as just adjusting one side, but does involve a tidge more work for the poor lamb.
So you'd adjust the steering components to make the handwheel sit straight?Clamp the wheel straight, then adjust both TREs to get the wheels pointing straight forward(ish, toe notwithstanding).
It's just as easy as just adjusting one side, but does involve a tidge more work for the poor lamb.
Nanook said:
Do the tracking right, then adjust the steering wheel if it's required. The way you're talking about sorting it, you're skewing the steering to get the wheel straight. He'll have more lock in one direction than in the other.
The rack should be centred, rod ends adjusted, and if the hand wheel is off, that should be dealt with on its own.
You're assuming the rack is centred and the wheel's been removed and refitted a spline out. It won't have been. All that's happened is some numpty adjusted the tracking on one side only, and the rack is NOW off centre, with the wheel unchanged in relation to the rack.The rack should be centred, rod ends adjusted, and if the hand wheel is off, that should be dealt with on its own.
Toyoda said:
All this talk of remove the steering wheel is nonsense. The garage are just inept - with 2 guys setting it so the wheel fell at 11 o clock, and 1 guy setting it at 1 o clock. I'd cut my losses and take it elsewhere.
I agree. There is a small chance someone has messed with the wheel in the past but anyone knowing what they are doing would be able to check for that in 30 seconds. Assuming not, adjusting it straight is easy, if possibly time consuming. getting it roughly straight (ie much better than 1 or 11 oclock) shoulld be easy, getting it spot on might need a few test drives and adjustments as things can settle down when you drive it.+1
Start with the wheel in the straight-ahead position and clamp it, then loosen the lock nuts on the track-rod ends and turn the rods themselves one wat or another to bring the tracking into spec. Anyone not doing this is either lazy or not competent to be doing the task.
Just about to replace two TRE and one TR on OH's car and this will be the procedure for lining up the tracking when the job is done.
PS. Most manufacturers will put a mark on the steering wheel and column behind the airbag/boss cover (either stamped on the boss or a paint mark when assembled) showing where it should be fitted for the straight-ahead position and the wrack to be centred. Correcting steering-wheel alignment by loosening it and moving it from this position is a bodge.
Start with the wheel in the straight-ahead position and clamp it, then loosen the lock nuts on the track-rod ends and turn the rods themselves one wat or another to bring the tracking into spec. Anyone not doing this is either lazy or not competent to be doing the task.
Just about to replace two TRE and one TR on OH's car and this will be the procedure for lining up the tracking when the job is done.
PS. Most manufacturers will put a mark on the steering wheel and column behind the airbag/boss cover (either stamped on the boss or a paint mark when assembled) showing where it should be fitted for the straight-ahead position and the wrack to be centred. Correcting steering-wheel alignment by loosening it and moving it from this position is a bodge.
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If the steering wheel is at the wrong angle relative to rack it should obviously be centred before touching the tracking (easy enough to test, just make sure you have the same number of turns from straight to lock on each side), then the steering wheel should be held central and the track rod ends adjusted to give the desired toe with the wheel straight. This will almost certainly not result on the same number of turns on the TREs each side.
While it might not be relevant to the OPs car, the old "whip the steering wheel off and centre it up" to save having to evenly adjust both sides to get the tracking correct won't work on stuff with any kind of ESP-style stability system because the steering angle sensor will be wrong against the steering wheel.
I did the tracking on my car, drove away and discovered I'd not done it evenly and got the wheel a bit out, maybe 10.30 or 11.00, when I got to about 30mph the ESP decided I was understeering (acceleration sensors say I'm going straight forward, steering angle sensor says I'm steering to one side) and tried to correct a problem that wasn't there. I got all the way home driving very slowly to stop it kicking in before I remembered I could just turn off the ESP and fix it the next day.
I did the tracking on my car, drove away and discovered I'd not done it evenly and got the wheel a bit out, maybe 10.30 or 11.00, when I got to about 30mph the ESP decided I was understeering (acceleration sensors say I'm going straight forward, steering angle sensor says I'm steering to one side) and tried to correct a problem that wasn't there. I got all the way home driving very slowly to stop it kicking in before I remembered I could just turn off the ESP and fix it the next day.
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