Steering Wheel cock-eyed.

[Marcivi]

OKay, I know this was just posted a couple ago but I want fresh answers.....

I just got my car back from the dealer after having an alignment done. The steering wheel is cocked to the right just a little. Like many other people, this bugs me. Do I need to take the car back and have them realign or is everything fine and I should just deal with it.

I just got the car lowered on Sunday with Tien springs. I'm not exactly sure if these were for the Si but the guy I got them from said his little book said they'd work. I have no complaints about the springs. Looks like a little more then the 1.3" rear that was claimed though. Also, I know that it's been said that anything more then an inch needs a camber kit. How hard is this to do? Visible off-set isn't that much, but noticeable.

-Jack

[soniccar]

sometimes, when you adjust the toe for the front and rear, the centerline thrust angle is off. Picture that you have a shopping cart that has the toe perfectly set in the front and rear yet it still tracks off. Maybe it is racked a bit sideways, or bent somewhere so it still moves sideways. So you adjust the toe so that you are aligning the theoretical center of the front and the center of the rear to track along the same center line so the car goes straight. So, the toe may be right in the front (the distance between the outer edges of the wheels) but the left wheel may be adjusted out more and the right wheel adjusted in more so that the total toe is correct and the center is on the center of the car. Therefore, adjusting the tie rods out on one side, and in on the other puts the steering rack off center. A new car sometimes has this trouble due to tolerances and the junky tires with different outer diameters (notice a brand new car "pull" after 2000-4000 miles?) not alignment. Keep and eye on the outer treadblocks. If they seem to raise up and start to roar, the alignment was wrong. Also, rotating the tires on a car with a bad alignment or mismatched tires will cause the car to seem to pull when it didn't before. Just switch the front tire right and left. Also check your tire pressures when the entire car has been in the shade for at least an hour.

Unless you modify your suspension in a way to affect the alignment, as long as your car passes the 15 second road test, don't get a new alignment when you get new tires put on. You did very well going to the dealer who seems to be the only one to get the alignment right.