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Steering Wheel off center issue?

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Old Apr 6, 2004 | 02:10 AM
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Default Steering Wheel off center issue?

Does anybody have a problem with their steering wheel? Mine seems to be little off to the left. I took it to the dealer and they did an alignment and it seems to have improved a little. Now it just seems a couple of degrees off center when your going straight. I can't figure it out. Then again I don't really have a truly flat or straight road around here to try it out. I better find one.
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 02:30 AM
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Haven't had that problem...sorry to hear that...best of luck...
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 02:41 AM
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Thanks, I did a search and found a lot of topics on this, should of tried that first. Thought I did yesterday but I think I was little to specific. It seems to be a common issue with XBs. Oh well it really isn't that bad. I just wanted to make sure it was fixed before I added springs or wheels.
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 02:41 AM
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Default Me Two

Mine is a bit of to the left also, but when I added them 20'z it didn't make it any :D better!
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 03:30 AM
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Mine too!


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Old Apr 6, 2004 | 07:00 AM
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Mine pulls to the right. I'm going to have them realign it w/ my first oil change which is coming up.
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 08:21 AM
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i think its a normal issue...most people have the same problem...
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 08:22 AM
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mines a lil to the left as well..
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 08:34 AM
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to the left as well <<<=== :?
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 07:28 PM
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Same here, and i thought it was only me. I noticed when i was driving it home for the first time. When i took it back to the dealer for the cracked paint on the strut bar, the wife said just leave well enough alone, so i did. Maybe the Japaneese lean a little to the left?
Old Apr 6, 2004 | 08:23 PM
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I guess I'm the oddball here, mine was cocked to the right. Had the service guys straighten it out for me pronto though.
Old Apr 7, 2004 | 05:00 AM
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good here
Old Apr 13, 2004 | 08:45 AM
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wow... this forum is great! I've been wondering about that... mine is to the left too... go figure. ;)
Old Apr 13, 2004 | 11:14 AM
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This was discussed earlier. I'll bet that you guys will find that the right rear tire is not straight causing the XB to go to the right and then one has to compensate by turning the steering wheel to the left to have the vehicle go straight down the road. If this is your deal then the right rear wheel needs to be aligned or the tire will experience rear strange wear. It sounds like no big deal except there isn't any rear wheel adjustment on that vehicle.
Old Apr 13, 2004 | 10:00 PM
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Right rear tire is not straight? Bull I better go check my car. That's dumb if it's like that on cars. Sounds like a need for recall to me.
Old Apr 15, 2004 | 06:16 AM
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my car pulls to the right. i had the problem when i first got the car and after many attempts it was finally fixed. now at 6xxx miles the car is pulling to the right again. BLEH the dealer is going to blame me because i curbed the rims but this was happening before i curbed the rims. oh well...
Old Apr 17, 2004 | 03:45 PM
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Default Steering wheel not straight

To be clear, do you mean that the steering wheel inside is not centered on your body when sitting in the car, or that the wheel must be turned slightly to have the vehicle drive straight on the road?

Most all roads have a slight crown to them, usually from the left side of the road to the right to allow for rain to runoff faster than if they were perfectly flat. Right to left is done in metropolitan areas where drains are placed near the center wall. In either case, a slight steering correction will be normal to compensate for the slope. Lower profile tires may make it better or worse. There really is no set rule to it, and one manufacturer of tire may be different than the other.

The alignment issue may be there also. Its very hard to tell this early in my personal experience with these cars. I do know that there is a mechanical system in the rear end to correct some common problems with beam type rear axles, but its more to correct rear axle deflection under hard cornering than anything to do with alignment.

If its the wheel centered on the driver, there are I believe 4 bolts that secure the steering column to the dash. The holes are larger than the bolts that pass through to allow some adjustment left to right and forward and back. Not a lot, we're talking maybe 3/8ths of an inch or so, but it may be something that your dealer would do if you mentioned it to them at your free oil change times.

Anyway, I'll be keeping an eye out to see what our experience is here as cars become delivered. Remember though that your dealer for these cars particularly are going to be more likely to try to correct any nusiance problems that you have with your car. At least we are at my dealership.

Mike
Old Apr 17, 2004 | 04:59 PM
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Well it appears that the steering wheel is off center when the car is going straight. It is slightly to the left. I do not have to compensate for the car pulling to one side. It just appears that the steering wheel is misaligned. At least that's what I am seeing.
Old Apr 17, 2004 | 05:07 PM
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your dealer should be able to do what's called a slip adjust alignment that just corrects the steering wheel position relative to the wheels. Its not really even necessary to put it on the alignment rack to do it, its basicly screwing the tie rod end out on one side and in on the other.

I know exactly what you mean on that, its annoying. So call your dealer and tell them the deal, should be pretty quick.

Mike
Old Apr 17, 2004 | 05:19 PM
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Mine does it but it works for me. With my elbow on the armrest, my hand is at the perfect spot at the cross piece of the wheel. If it were straight, It would put the cross piece a little too high. Maybe they designed it that way!?!



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