Steering column splines

[Maersk]

How fine are the splines on the column/wheel interface?
The wheel is slightly offset to the right and driving me mad. Probably about 5 degrees. I can't imagine there are 72 splines...........36 perhaps. So is there a magic number of track rod turns to achieve the 'straight ahead' or am I going to have to start from first principals and work out rack ratio etc., etc.

Thanks in advance.

If the wheel won't do it, the rack will have to nudge over (well both track rods) the more technically savvy will understand what I mean.

[Ian_UK1]

With this sort of issue, I'd definitely go for a proper alignment - have a chat to Chris at Center Gravity. Here's a few reasons why I think it would be worth the visit and expense:

1) To discover why the rack isn't centred to start with - is there any wear/damage
2) If you adjust both track rod ends equally, yes it will move the rack across but it might now be off centre which will mean your track rods are different lengths. This will cause epic bump steer and ferocious tyre wear!
3) The steering angle sensor (assuming your car has one - I've no idea what model you drive) will report to the electronics that the car is in a turn when it's going in a straight line. Causes issues with stability management and PASM response.
4) The toe-in on these cars is very fine (2-3/60ths of a degree) and you won't even get it close by counting numbers of turns on the track rod ends.

I'm sure there are dozens more good reasons. The best one of all though, is you'll get your car back from Chris properly fixed and probably handling better than it ever did. The grin will last for as long as you keep the car!

[Maersk]

Thanks Ian.