YACT: Steering wheel not horizontal when driving straight

[Cooljt1]

my steering wheel on an acura tl is no longer horizontal. in this picture here you can see how the steering wheel is supposed to be while driving in a straight line. My steering wheel while driving straight is tilted towards the right and if i put it horizontally as seen in the first pic it will start turning to the left.

now awhile back i took it into acura to see if anything was wrong and they said it was aligned correctly. i think the steering linkage or something is off because every car i drive when driving straight it lines up horizontally yet my car does not and it used to be horizontal while driving straight.

awhile back i hit a curb while taking a left hand turn and this is when the steering wheel or linkage got messed up. tonight while i was driving some semi curvy corners at about 35 i come out one corner and go into the other one and the steering wheel goes pretty crazy and the car is basically weaving right and left at 35mph.

now, for you car gurus...was this partially because of the steering wheel not being lined up correctly or was it something else? understeer or something?

 

[fyleow]

i'm going to go against the acura dealership and say alignment...unless you hit the curb really really hard i doubt it's anything else

 

[Jeff7181]

The steering wheel not being "horizontal" isn't a big deal. However, that could be caused by bent steering componants. You can have that fixed if you get your car aligned... however... I'd have the entire steering and front suspension checked since you hit a curb. Something may be damaged. The weaving while turning would indicate something is definately wrong... whether it's related to running over a curb isn't important... what's important is you get that checked (for your own safety) ASAP.

Oh... and I'll avoid making any additional comments about running over a curb...

 

[isekii]

whatever it may be get that crap checked

it doesn't seem safe to be driving around in a car that has issues with steering.

 

[Cooljt1]

yeah i did hit the curb pretty hard. anyways when driving and without my hands on the steering wheel it doesnt veery one way or the other its just that while i am going straight the steering wheel is not horizontal so i think something is messed up with the steering and not alignment....or is that considered something part of the alignment? don't know too much about cars so...

 

[SammyBoy]

how many degrees to the right do you have to turn the wheel to make it go straight.

 

[Cooljt1]

Originally posted by: SammyBoy
how many degrees to the right do you have to turn the wheel to make it go straight.

to make the wheel horizontal i have to turn it to the left and if the wheel is horizontal i will start to turn left instead of it just driving straight like a normal car. so i guess i would have to turn the the wheel about about 15 degrees to the left to make it horizontal.

 

[BullyCanadian]

what can happen if he did some damage while hitting a curb? like what can that damage do? and what kind of damage? cause i think our car has damage from a curb hit (or numerous curb hits) and the steering pulls slightly to the left by it self.

 

[IGBT]

Had the same prob.with my truck..turned out to be an alignment issue.

 

[Thegonagle]

Get it checked again. Tell them that you hit a curb and now the steering wheel is off center.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Cooljt1
yeah i did hit the curb pretty hard. anyways when driving and without my hands on the steering wheel it doesnt veery one way or the other its just that while i am going straight the steering wheel is not horizontal so i think something is messed up with the steering and not alignment....or is that considered something part of the alignment? don't know too much about cars so...

It's part of the alignment... people don't realize that the position of the steering wheel doesn't matter... you could have it "upside down" and it wouldn't necessarily be a problem. The term they used in college for it was "center point steering" and it's the FIRST thing you set when you set the alignment. Mostly because it gives the customer peace of mind to see their steering wheel straight and level... but also because if you adjust other stuff first, then set center point steering, the alignment will be off again.

 

[Cooljt1]

yeah...i know having the steering wheel where it is now doesnt really matter just like you said having it upside down wouldnt be a problem but what's funny is when i took it to the dealer a few months ago he said it was fine and having the steering wheel like that was normal for acura's or something. the reason why i don't like it is because i am used to the steering wheel being in the "center point" position so i know how to adjust steering correctly.

 

[Thegonagle]

Well, doesn't the wheel need to centered so that the steering gear/rack and pinion is also centered, so there is equal ability to turn left or right, and so the turn signals cancel properly? I wouldn't call that a "customer peace of mind" issue. I'd call that proper operation of a major automotive system.

 

[Cooljt1]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
Well, doesn't the wheel need to centered so that the steering gear/rack and pinion is also centered, so there is equal ability to turn left or right, and so the turn signals cancel properly? I wouldn't call that a "customer peace of mind" issue. I'd call that proper operation of a major automotive system.

wow, i had never even thought about turn signals and stuff anceling properly.

 

[SilverTorch]

Get an alignment first, don't go to the dealer unless you have a warranty, take the car to Firestone(or any other "Tire" place) if there is one around. Also tell the person who is doing the alignment that you in fact hit a curb really hard.

Did that in my 95 Bonneville, it not only threw the alignment off, it also bent my control arm.

 

[Analog]

Alignment, tell them to center the steering.

 

[EyeMWing]

You mean to say that steering wheels are supposed to be horizontally oriented? None of mine are particularly straight, but the one on the Sierra is almost upside down and I still have full functionality.