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Thread: My alignment is fixed but my steering wheel not center

  1. #11
    Senior Member palebeachbum's Avatar
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    You likely have the same problem many of us are experiencing. At least one of your rear wills is misaligned. I had an alignment performed only to discover my steering wheel was off center too. Turned out the problem is my right rear wheel is out of spec. No adjustment to correct it.



  2. #12
    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmo168 View Post
    Thank you all, I took the car back and the people gladly fix it within 40 minutes.

    Now the car steering wheel is straight and center as I drive... This should be part of alignment fix.
    That'll be five bucks.

    lollollol

    Glad they took care of it for you.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


  3. #13
    Senior Member Cani Lupine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmo168 View Post
    I learn from the forum to get a print out but I am no expert on it. I don't want to drive back an hour to wait 4 hours telling me that it is not fixable.
    You're going to need to make a few trips back and forth. Your rear axle is pretty far off, and the likely cause of the steering wheel being crooked is something called "dog tracking," where you need to steer the front to compensate for the thrust angle at the rear not being straight ahead.

    What they'll need to do is loosen and retighten your rear axle to center the toe, and if that doesn't work, demand a replacement axle under the manufacturer's defect warranty. If they're unsure, tell them to look up the multitude of tickets for that issue on Techline.

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 49.2 mpg (US) ... 20.9 km/L ... 4.8 L/100 km ... 59.1 mpg (Imp)


  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by wmo168 View Post
    I learn from the forum to get a print out but I am no expert on it. I don't want to drive back an hour to wait 4 hours telling me that it is not fixable.
    The cross-camber btw left and right should be 0.3-05deg for car to track straight (more negative camber on right for RHD countries, on the left for LHD). Yours has too much 1.1. You should be turning steering wheel right to compensate for it.

    If it were my car I would just put a camber bolt kit or took a round file and slotted top hole in left front strut.

    Was car in the accident? If it is under warranty have them replace front shock.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 46.4 mpg (US) ... 19.7 km/L ... 5.1 L/100 km ... 55.7 mpg (Imp)


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    As wmo168 posted, it was fixed in 40 minutes. Has anyone here other than me actually used an alignment machine in a real dealership? The steering wheel has to be locked straight when you do a final toe adjustment. If the wheel is off a little you simply adjust toe on each side of the front end to recenter the wheel. Yes, cross camber is off. If it's got warranty coverage yet, pursue a repair. If not , and it doesn't PULL one way or the other, save your money.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by flatbroke View Post
    As wmo168 posted, it was fixed in 40 minutes. Has anyone here other than me actually used an alignment machine in a real dealership? The steering wheel has to be locked straight when you do a final toe adjustment. If the wheel is off a little you simply adjust toe on each side of the front end to recenter the wheel. Yes, cross camber is off. If it's got warranty coverage yet, pursue a repair. If not , and it doesn't PULL one way or the other, save your money.
    There are a couple people here who work/worked as a full time mechanics, so the answer is yes.

    I am old school I can adjust alignment with a ruler and level (though it is tedious and may require taking/putting wheel a couple times).

    Our Mirage while still within specs had not enough cross camber, and as a result would pull slightly to the side at highway speeds. Looked ok on machine and at lower speeds. After taking it twice to dealer I gave up and adjusted toe on one wheel to compensate.

    On this car toe adjustment is really sensitive, 1/6 of the turn equals 0.2deg of the toe, YMMV

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 46.4 mpg (US) ... 19.7 km/L ... 5.1 L/100 km ... 55.7 mpg (Imp)


  7. #17
    Senior Member Cani Lupine's Avatar
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    Yep, I'm currently a full-time tech, but I'm leaving the backshop for a sales position at another shop, since my current employer is a sinking ship and closing stores, and constant exposure to oil/grease is giving me skin problems.

    My cross camber is a half degree both front and rear, but in the same direction, so it compensates well for the road crown, and I have my front toe set to -0.02 on each side, and have the chain and turnbuckle setup in the rear to bring the total rear toe-in to under a tenth. Forgot to take a pic of the screen after I finished, because my coworker needed the rack by the time I was done.

    Name:  IMAG0012.jpg
Views: 373
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    That was mine the last time I checked, and everything but the front toe is still the same. I'm amazed my homebrew rear toe adjustment is still holding up perfectly.
    Last edited by Cani Lupine; 05-19-2016 at 08:32 PM.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 49.2 mpg (US) ... 20.9 km/L ... 4.8 L/100 km ... 59.1 mpg (Imp)


  8. The Following User Says Thank You to Cani Lupine For This Useful Post:

    flatbroke (05-20-2016)

  9. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cani Lupine View Post
    Yep, I'm currently a full-time tech, but I'm leaving the backshop for a sales position at another shop, since my current employer is a sinking ship and closing stores, and constant exposure to oil/grease is giving me skin problems.

    My cross camber is a half degree both front and rear, but in the same direction, so it compensates well for the road crown, and I have my front toe set to -0.02 on each side, and have the chain and turnbuckle setup in the rear to bring the total rear toe-in to under a tenth. Forgot to take a pic of the screen after I finished, because my coworker needed the rack by the time I was done.

    Name:  IMAG0012.jpg
Views: 373
Size:  90.7 KB

    That was mine the last time I checked, and everything but the front toe is still the same. I'm amazed my homebrew rear toe adjustment is still holding up perfectly.
    Nice to see someone who can walk the walk and talk the talk. People would be wise to follow your opinions vs some of the pretenders.



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