Brian S

Long story short:

I went on a pretty rough road last summer that messed up my alignment. After getting the alignment fixed, the steering wheel was still off center (hanging to one side). When I was at the Lexus dealer for my 40,000 service, Lexus tech was helpful and centered my steering wheel until I was satisfied (it took several trips back, but he was patient and understanding - I like Lexus techs). He adjusted something in the steering area, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called. I want to say a rack or rod-something-or-other.

I just put my summer tires on. Now the wheel is off center again (in the opposite direction). I guess the accuracy of the 17" tires versus my squishy 16" winter tires make the steering wheel lean more noticable (and it's really noticable now). Do any of you fine folks know what I my tech adjusted? Is this something that I can just jack the car up and remedy with a wrench? My dealer is 5-6 hours away and local alignment guy didn't even know you could center the wheel, so I would like to do this myself.

Thanks,

Brian

LexusRules

rack and pinion maybe? thats where the steering wheel's rod connects to the axle

Brian S

That might be it. But I don't know what to adjust, if possible.

Thanks,

Brian

RealMarty

I assume when you say it's not straight you mean the top of the wheel is slightly turned from the 12 o'clock position.

As I understand it, if the steering wheel is not straight when they do the alignment, or if they don't pay attention to keeping it straight as they do the alignment, you end up like you are. When they do the alignment one of the things they make adjustments to is the tie rod ends and that can effect the position of the wheel.

If your local alignment guy doesn't know about centering the wheel it says something about what he doesn't know about doing a proper alignment. When the Lexus tech made the adjustments he probably did it on the alignment rack.

Why your 17s would cause this more than the 16s is beyond me...unless you drove them for awhile while the car was mis-aligned and they wore unevenly. Then they could be pulling the steering to one side. Do you feel the car pulling or does it go straight when you take your hands off the wheel?

My belief is that in order to get the steering wheel back to center you'll have to have the car re-aligned. DON'T go back to the same dodo that screwed it up in your last alignment.

Brian S

The car appears to be aligned fine. It tracks straight. It's just that the steering wheel is off from 12, more like 11:55. It used to be off center to the right, I had him put it counter clockwise until the wheel was centered. My thought is that, with the squisy tires (more wheel-play), I was not able to detect that the wheel was actually off center (he over adjusted). This appears true considering after putting my summer wheels on, it's off-center in the opposite direction.

I don't think he had to re-align it each time. It was usually 10 minutes from the time he took it, adjusted what needed adjusting, and had it back out for me to evaluate. My problem is that I don't really have any guys that know much about my car around here. I would like to be able to adjust whatever needs adjusting myself.

Brian

PaulGS3

This is a silly question, but how is the air pressure in each tire?

RealMarty

He may not have done a complete alignment in 10 minutes, but he probably did the changes while the car was on the alignment rack to verify that what he adjusted didn't put you out of alignment.

I have seen devices in catalogues like JC Whitney that claim you'll be able to do your own alignment. I went there and found two. They are at this address http://www.jcwhitney.com/product.jhtml?CATID=5179 and http://www.jcwhitney.com/product.jhtml?CATID=5180

Good luck. Please let us know how it works out.

Brian S

I don't want to do the alignment myself. I wouldn't trust the mechanical aligment tools, especially considering how finicky the GS is. I'm almost convinced that I can center the wheel without having to do an alignment. I suppose I could call down to Madison. I was just hoping someone might know for sure so I don't have to badger the guy.

Paul,

They are all currently within a half pound or so of each other. In fact, I actually have a slow leak in my left rear tire. It's an older tire and I will probably just fill it periodically until I get the backs replaced. But I figure a low tire would also cause the car to track off center too.

Thanks,

Brian

QBranchCars

Brian,

The other guys are right, you need an alignment rack. I was once at the track when one of the estentules (sp?) slipped. I had to drive home with the steering wheel at 11:53 position. It tracked straight though. After a complete alignment, I was back in business. For awhile there, I though I bent a rod or something by hitting a burm.

Brian S

So, are you saying that my car is actually out of alignment? Or does it just have to aligned to correct the wheel center problem? If it's not out of alignment, I will be less inclined to immediately fix it, especially considering I don't know a local guy I really trust.

Thanks,

Brian

RealMarty

It sounds to me like your alignment is fine. It's just your steering wheel that is off.

If it shows no signs of uneven tire wear or vibrating at speed the issue is only asthetic. If you can live with a little off center wheel there's no reason to worrry.

bmm89

Most shops i've known about do not include centering the steering wheel in an "alignment" They usually just drive on and even if it's a little of, they go ahead and "align" the wheels but not the steering wheel. Sounds like your alignment is fine, and since it's tracking straight, it's not the pressures or the alignment. But you can adjust it, my gs was off(steering wheel) from the factory say 2-3 degs, so i adjusted the toe on both fronts and now it's exactly 12 oclock steering and straight on flat roads. You just have to unlock the tie-rod adjustments for toe, and then adjust the adjustment nut, then retighten the tie rods. Do this after centering the steering wheel and THEN jacking up the car. Basically equal amounts on both sides in the opposite direction of direction when you manual center the steering wheel while driving. It's nickpicking but i like to have the wheel exactly centered when the car is going straight.

Brian S

Bmm,

Are you saying I could fix the wheel center without alignment equipment (or having to do an alignment)? I'd love to be able to do this myself, barring the need for an alignment. Could you clarify what needs to be done?

Thanks,

Brian

bmm89

Brian, i really can't provide any more info that would really help, guess you have to learn by show and tell. Just go to any shop and watch the guys do the alignment. Usually, the steering wheel is off becuase they do not carefully center the steering wheel before hand, though it's not important as far as performance, just the aesthetics. Basically the way i descibed it was the best i can put it. Also i want to add though you should use a little whiteout to mark the original positions for reference so you can compare how much adjustment it needed. Basically you are adjusting the "Toe" which is toe-in in the case of our gs'. Camber and the factory settings will not change since you are changing the toe on BOTH sides so that the final settings are the same before and after just that the steering has been recentered afterwards. I hope this helps a bit, but visually, it's real easy though tedious. Also, i was able to do it whith the car on the ground, though jacking it up would be easier, but i was able to snake my arm behind the wheels when they were turned all the way to allow me to access the tie rods.

Brian S

I see what you're saying. I guess I'm afraid the alignment might be so sensitive that a even a small mis-adjustment would put it off. Though, if you're using whiteout to mark the bolt positions, then I suppose not? I'm guessing I could run the car up on ramps. I have two jacks, but I'm not so hot on being under the car with those cheap jacks.

Thanks,

Brian