Steering wheel not centered when going straight.

[Norm Peterson]

there is one road that’s noticeably crowned to the right because I can see the car is leaning to the right looking at the hood while driving. On that road the steering wheel is pretty much dead on straight but i have to hold the wheel to prevent the car from following the crown.

is the factory alignment assuming most roads will be crowned to the right significantly?

Not normally, and not with suspensions that do not offer easy adjustments to caster or camber.

What your car needs in order to get its steering wheel straight when running on a non-crowned road is a minor adjustment to the tierods on both sides. Since the steering wheel position looks like it's steering to the right of what the road wheels are doing, you need to move the road wheels a little to the right (with the steering wheel held fixed) in order to make everything line up.

I think you need to have the right front tire adjusted a tiny bit longer - IOW in the toe-out direction - (not into actual toe out), and have the left front tire adjusted an equal amount shorter - IOW in the toe-in direction.


Norm

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[DougS550]

You are right to consider both factors, it could be either

If the tires are wearing even, I'd assume its in spec and it is the steering wheel itself that is off.

I doubt there would be any COVID risk at all bringing it in for service. It is good practice to periodically lightly wash your wheel and touch points with mild soap and water anyways.

I do any time the car comes out of service as some mechanics put there greasy hands on the wheel ect, it bugs me and you can see the dirt and grime come off into the washing cloth.

I bought plastic steering wheel disposable cover and put one on when taken to dealer.

 

[DougS550]

Have you posted a picture of your steering wheel issue so people can see?

 

[PaddyPrix]

Not normally, and not with suspensions that do not offer easy adjustments to caster or camber.

What your car needs in order to get its steering wheel straight when running on a non-crowned road is a minor adjustment to the tierods on both sides. Since the steering wheel position looks like it's steering to the right of what the road wheels are doing, you need to move the road wheels a little to the right (with the steering wheel held fixed) in order to make everything line up.

I think you need to have the right front tire adjusted a tiny bit longer - IOW in the toe-out direction - (not into actual toe out), and have the left front tire adjusted an equal amount shorter - IOW in the toe-in direction.


Norm

Exactly what I came to say. I frequently hit a turn around 130mph and over time, it knocks some stuff loose. You'll want I think a 22mm wrench for one side, and I believe an 18 for the shift, and you're going to work on the link closest to the steering wheel on one side, and do like half a turn to shorten the rack, then go to the other side of the car, and in similar fashion, extend the rack, so you're slightly shifting the steering rack over to the side. If you put it back down and see you've made it worse, well, you went the wrong direction, so do two half turns to make up for what you lost, and then another to see where that puts you. Eventually you'll get the hang of it, and have it dead on in no time.

skip to about halfway to get a better idea of what we're talking about. Ours look a little nicer and less rusted, but the same idea applies to ours.

Don't do that middle shaft to the part going towards the ball or the brake/caliper side, as that will knock your caster/camber/toe settings.

 

[murick]

I wonder, is there any sensor on the steering which reads the steering position? If yes, it would be interesting to know what does it say right now, as it will be getting offset readings after the adjustment of toes suggested earlier.

 

[Cobra Jet]

This recent thread has good discussion about alignment and S550 EPAS sensors:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/steering-angle-sensor-reset-with-alignment.162762/

This thread I posted a bit ago, but contains everything EPAS related for future refence:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/s550-epas-pscm-tech-accumulation.160616/

 

[doritoking]

Finally had a chance to take some pictures of the tire treads. Tread depths seem to be even between each side of the car. I’m not noticing or feeling any uneven wear patterns on the tread.

I’m now at around 3300 miles on these cup 2’s. Letting go of the steering wheel on the highway the car seems to track straight but the steering wheel is always tilted slightly to the right. At the rate these tires wear, I’m probably just going to wait until these tires are toast and get an alignment when i put on the next set

front driver

Front passenger

rear driver

rear passenger

 

[DougS550]

Finally had a chance to take some pictures of the tire treads. Tread depths seem to be even between each side of the car. I’m not noticing or feeling any uneven wear patterns on the tread.

I’m now at around 3300 miles on these cup 2’s. Letting go of the steering wheel on the highway the car seems to track straight but the steering wheel is always tilted slightly to the right. At the rate these tires wear, I’m probably just going to wait until these tires are toast and get an alignment when i put on the next set

front driver

Front passenger

rear driver

rear passenger

Have your 4 wheel alignment done and tell them to straighten up your steering wheel. I have done this numerous of times on my cars. Not an issue.

 

[Pardsy]

Factory alignments, regardless of manufacturer, are notorious for being off.

 

[DougS550]

Factory alignments, regardless of manufacturer, are notorious for being off.

Yep, I hadine done at Ford after I changed the steering wheel, front radius arm bushing. I get it done once a year regardless. Good luck

 

[doritoking]

Finally got an alignment at the dealer. Sat there for 6 hours (no idea how it took that long), but the steering wheel is now perfectly straight.

It ended up being the front toes were out of spec. LF -0.11 RF 0.17. Corrected to LF 0.07 RF 0.08. All other measurements were in spec and the tech noted the tire wear was even.

EDIT: Oh and it was covered under the 12,000 mile/12 month warranty for alignments.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Finally got an alignment at the dealer. Sat there for 6 hours (no idea how it took that long), but the steering wheel is now perfectly straight.

It ended up being the front toes were out of spec. LF -0.11 RF 0.17. Corrected to LF 0.07 RF 0.08. All other measurements were in spec and the tech noted the tire wear was even.

EDIT: Oh and it was covered under the 12,000 mile/12 month warranty for alignments.

Glad to hear it's fixed and you're satisfied with the results.

 

[GTP]

Exactly what I came to say. I frequently hit a turn around 130mph and over time, it knocks some stuff loose. You'll want I think a 22mm wrench for one side, and I believe an 18 for the shaft, and you're going to work on the link closest to the steering wheel on one side, and do like half a turn to shorten the rack, then go to the other side of the car, and in similar fashion, extend the rack, so you're slightly shifting the steering rack over to the side. If you put it back down and see you've made it worse, well, you went the wrong direction, so do two half turns to make up for what you lost, and then another to see where that puts you. Eventually you'll get the hang of it, and have it dead on in no time.

I just centered my wheel with this method. Car tracks straight but steering wheel was off to the left.
I lengthened the left side arm and shortened the right side. One half turn as suggested turned out to be just right.
Mark your starting position with a paint pen so you don't get confused. And use two open end wrenches, 24 and 15mm.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I just centered my wheel with this method. Car tracks straight but steering wheel was off to the left.
I lengthened the left side arm and shortened the right side. One half turn as suggested turned out to be just right.

I just went through the same little exercise on the WRX, which needed about 1/3 of a turn - two flats worth.

Mark your starting position with a paint pen so you don't get confused.

This part cannot be over-emphasized. Mark both the tierod end and the tierod itself, and not where a wrench could touch them if you're using chalk to avoid ending up with multiple paint marks over time (never mind how I might be aware of that last part).


Norm

 

[GTP]

I just went through the same little exercise on the WRX, which needed about 1/3 of a turn - two flats worth.

This part cannot be over-emphasized. Mark both the tierod end and the tierod itself, and not where a wrench could touch them if you're using chalk to avoid ending up with multiple paint marks over time (never mind how I might be aware of that last part).

Norm

True, but in the case of 1/2 turn, the paint mark ends up in the same spot whether it got there by turning CW or CCW!

I thought of going with just 2 flats instead of 3, but instead I just kept repeating "Left longer, right shorter."

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