Steering off center with passengers

[ISP_guy]

Howdy folks, just a question:

I recently had my rear axle replaced under warranty and my alignment, so far, checks ok by the dealership (have not had time to get another 3rd party scan yet)

I'm a 6'3" 245lbs male and when I drive the car alone the steering wheel is center and fine. However when I add a passenger my steering wheel noticeably points to the left to drive straight, but the car doesn't seem to pull to the right on its own. If I center the steering wheel while driving the car with a passenger the car will move to the right quite a bit.

I've had one male friend weighing around 220lbs ride with me and I noticed the steering wheel lean. I also typically ride with family members - one adult passenger weighing 220lbs in the front, and child weighing 50lbs in the passenger rear, and the steering wheel leans to the left.

My front and rear alignment appeared to be all within specs. Is this to be expected with such a small car? I have not made any changes or additions - running on factory tires with the factory black steel wheels (no hubcaps).

[MightyMirageMpg]

i hate to say this but its probably your imagination lol

most roads aren't flat, your steering wheel will move its "center" depending which way the car leans due too the road.

check your tire inflation.

[Eggman]

Steering geometry can be a complicated and tricky subject to cover online - especially without being able to see what's happening.

The steering mechanisms anchored to the body of the car must have enough range of motion to deal with the wheels they control and do so through their entire range of motion. As passenger and cargo weight is added that geometry changes accordingly. The angles of the linkages that connect the steering gear with the wheels changes, even going down the road.

My best example would be 4x4 vehicles that are lifted for greater clearance off road. Depending on how much they are lifted, they begin to be affected by what's called 'bump steer' where a bump in the road causes the front wheels to point in a different direction. The smaller the car, the more pronounced the effect.

Hopefully someone here smarter than me can chime in with more. Also, it might help to discuss this with your dealer to get some better insight.

[foama]

Presuming the car leans a bit to the side when you drive it, yes, the steering will be a little off-centre to compensate for the lean. It has to do with steering geometry, and the laws of physics always apply. Eggman said it perfectly in the previous post.
Of course you can have the alignment checked, maybe they find something. Make sure to check your tyre pressure regularly, keeping it at elevated level. Note that too low pressure could increase that effect, because tyres will always react to their load. Mine has 3.0 bar in all 4 tyres. Try that first, don't cost anything.

The steering wheel is usually not exactly turned center on any car, but that is of little importance, just cosmetical. The alignment is important, but it is checked with a empty car. You could have it checked and corrected while you are sitting in it, and the result would be a noticeable bit different.
Don't get this wrong, but these cars were designed in Japan and built in Thailand for seating five Asian adults.

[Cani Lupine]

This is normal. Different loads will cause the car to lean to one side or the other, changing the alignment angles. On a car as light as these, it's much more apparent.

[Cleartec]

Had same problem... dealer checked allignment and did it too. They said this is normal and should be expected for such a small car. As someone else also mentioned earlier, it depends on the road also... Don't freak out, it is normal...

[cyclopathic]

Do you have the alignment printout to post?

Usually alignment is done so that if you were to drive on absolutely flat surface car would pull to left. This is done to compensate for road crown

[ISP_guy]

Excellent incite, thank you folks for your knowledge. As foama said my thoughts were the fact that us Americans are typically larger than the Asians the car was designed for, so there would be some extra lean and compensation involved with such a small vehicle. I'm not going to worry about it any further. I will definitely check my tire pressure next time I fill up but everything else seems to be "as intended" in those respects I guess!

I don't have my latest printout handy but it did check all ok by both the dealership and a 3rd party alignment shop

[flatbroke]

This is normal. Different loads will cause the car to lean to one side or the other, changing the alignment angles. On a car as light as these, it's much more apparent.

I had a couple of ****ty BBW"s in the car Saturday night. After impressing the 2 of them with my "mileage" I was able to focus on the steering. Danged if it wasn't off a bit! You sir, nailed it!