steering wheels bugging me.

[lazzlo amundo]

When i put the key in the ignition the steering wheel comes out, its nice and straight how it should be.When i'm driving the car the steering wheel isn't level it's like clock hands at ten past eaght if you know what i mean,if i take my hands off the wheel the car goes straight so nothing wrong with the tracking.It's really bugging me,i can't see my dashboard.I hope this is a simple fix,any ideas please.Thanks for your help so far.Youv'e all been fantastic.

[Tinonline]

Hi

Given that there’s nothing amiss with your suspension...you’ll need to get it to a tyre place to straighten via the steering arms and check the geometry. 

Some shops have difficulty in getting it right so test it before you drive off...mines a tad off and it’s like looking at a picture, crooked on the wall.🤪

[lazzlo amundo]

15 minutes ago, Tinonline said:

Hi

Given that there’s nothing amiss with your suspension...you’ll need to get it to a tyre place to straighten via the steering arms and check the geometry. 

Some shops have difficulty in getting it right so test it before you drive off...mines a tad off and it’s like looking at a picture, crooked on the wall.🤪

Thanks simon,mines a bit worse than a crooked picture,mines more like when the Titanic was going under.

[Texas]

should be simple enough to straighten up, it sometimes happens when a (not very good) wheel alignment is carried out, they should ensure steering wheel is in the 'neutral' posistion before making any ajustments and then make sure it is still like it afterwards!

 

paul m.

[lazzlo amundo]

7 minutes ago, Texas said:

should be simple enough to straighten up, it sometimes happens when a (not very good) wheel alignment is carried out, they should ensure steering wheel is in the 'neutral' posistion before making any ajustments and then make sure it is still like it afterwards!

 

paul m.

Great stuff,it'not gonna cost me a fortune.cheers paul.

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, lazzlo amundo said:

When i put the key in the ignition the steering wheel comes out, its nice and straight how it should be.When i'm driving the car the steering wheel isn't level it's like clock hands at ten past eaght if you know what i mean,if i take my hands off the wheel the car goes straight so nothing wrong with the tracking.It's really bugging me,i can't see my dashboard.I hope this is a simple fix,any ideas please.Thanks for your help so far.Youv'e all been fantastic.

When you say you can't see your dashboard, is that to do with the position of the steering wheel or because the screen is blank?

[lazzlo amundo]

1 minute ago, The-Acre said:

When you say you can't see your dashboard, is that to do with the position of the steering wheel or because the screen is blank?

Because of the steering wheel being skewiff,what i meant to say is part of my dashboard is hidden by the steering wheel.

[Malc]

7 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

When you say you can't see your dashboard, is that to do with the position

seating position adjustment can make a huge difference too

Malc

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, Malc said:

seating position adjustment can make a huge difference too

Malc

I was wondering if he was referring to the blank screen as it fails on the early LS or just where the wheel sits. If it's the latter it must be way out.😵🕤

[Daveyboy20]

Take the wheel off and put it back on straight! 

[MLW]

Have it tracked on a American 'Hamilton machine'. It will track what is there, and print out a reading as to what is within, or outside spec.

Then they adjust it to factory settings with the steering wheel at 'dead straight normal'. Then the set it up, and print another printout showing it is all within spec.

Takes about 30 mins and costs about £45-50. F1 Autocentres https://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/

have done about 3 different cars for me and been very good. When you leave having had it done, the car tracks the road like a dead straight bullet.

[TigerFish]

With the wheels in the straight ahead position, see how many turns it takes to full lock on each side from centre. If it’s the same for both sides, then the wheel just needs to be popped off and put back straight. If it’s different, then the tracking needs to be adjusted to bring it back to centre.


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[lazzlo amundo]

That's a great tip Rick,Thanks.if my trackig was out wouldn't my car pull to the side.It drives straight down the line,so maybe it just needs the steering wheel taking off and re fitting.

[TigerFish]

That's a great tip Rick,if my trackig was out wouldn't my car pull to the side.It drives straight down the line,so maybe it just needs the steering wheel taking off and re fitting.

 

Yeah, wasn’t implying necessarily that the tracking was out, just that it can be adjusted to the correct angles, even with the steering rack not centred. The turns to full lock in both directions will just tell you whether the rack is definitely centred or not :)

 

If you are lucky, it is, and it’s just the steering wheel needs moving as that’s the cheapest option.

 

 

Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[lazzlo amundo]

Thanks.I will try it tomorrow.

1 hour ago, MLW said:

Have it tracked on a American 'Hamilton machine'. It will track what is there, and print out a reading as to what is within, or outside spec.

Then they adjust it to factory settings with the steering wheel at 'dead straight normal'. Then the set it up, and print another printout showing it is all within spec.

Takes about 30 mins and costs about £45-50. F1 Autocentres https://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/

have done about 3 different cars for me and been very good. When you leave having had it done, the car tracks the road like a dead straight bullet.

Theres an F1 Autocentre near me,do they all have the Hamilton machine.

[stericker]

Cliff. I wonder if you had realised that the steering wheel has a tilt mechanism. 

On the mark 4 it is a small square lever on the left of the steering column. Don't know about your model.

You can press up or down for tilt.

[MLW]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 11:17 PM, lazzlo amundo said:

Thanks.I will try it tomorrow.

Theres an F1 Autocentre near me,do they all have the Hamilton machine.

I think so, give them a ring. Any laser tracker that does a before and after print out will do.

[lazzlo amundo]

3 minutes ago, MLW said:

I think so, give them a ring. Any laser tracker that does a before and after print out will do.

I'll give them a ring,my new altinator should arrive tomorrow,i cant do anything untill i've fitted that.

[MLW]

Oops. I think it may be called a Hunter machine. Kwik-fit do it al t some branches.

https://www.kwik-fit.com/wheel-alignment

[mrdoofa]

When you have the alignment checked they should set the steering wheel straight and then clamp it in position so it won’t move when they carry out adjustments, they should then find your car on the database on the computer attached to the machine which will then guide them with the adjustments, you might even be able to watch the screen yourself as they adjust it from the red to the green if that makes sense!!!

[olliesgrandad]

My local tyre centre Chris Mullins in Gloucester is excellent for laser alignment. 

Protyre also have the same kit. 

[Daveyboy20]

DO NOT GO TO KWIKFIT FOR WHEEL ALIGNMENT WITH YOUR LS400!! Ahem.. sorry for shouting - they are absolutely useless. I'll go into detail as to why when I have the time.

[ambermarine]

I raised this topic about five years ago when I acquired the Mark 4 and tried all of these solutions mentioned but to no avail, I also ruined two front tyres inside 3k miles and was at my wits end until I was informed about a engineer in Glasgow called Kenny Miller,he specialized in building racing cars and high end motor engineering.

He had the car half a day and he fixed the problem and it was a lot more to do with geometry and cam settings than wheel alignment ,unfortunately the guys at Kwik fit and the like are basically just reading the manual on the equipment they are using and do not understand the fundamentals of the science .

Consequently if the readings coming out of the equipment look OK that may not be the solution to the problem on the car which was the case on mine, the equipment at Lexus and a Mitsubishi dealership in Barnstaple failed to pick up a 1 degree error in the nearside front lower arm cam adjustment and 20k miles on the front end alignment is perfect.

 

[Malc]

if anyone is in Canterbury having this done I really cannot fault Treadmark / Protyres for ' getting it right ' every time

Malc