steering gets misaligned

[acemanic]

Hi,

I have this weird problem with the car's steering. Whereas many people have the steering rack issue with creaking/noises, i get it occasionally and doesn't really bother me at the moment. HOwever, my car came with the steering wheel turned slightly to the left, perhaps 5 degrees, so that's the angle i have to keep it at to go straight. Otherwise it was fine, as tire wear was pretty even and it was winter, so I waited till I got new tires, new suspension, and once everything got settled in I went to do an alignment, thinking that would solve it. Once the alignment was done, everything is well, got the specs I wanted and it handles beautifully. Fast forward 3 months later to the present, and the steering wheel is back to that 5 degree tilt towards the left! Before getting yet another alignment - which normally shouldn't happen! - I was wondering if anyone knows what the underlying issue is. I've been reading up on the whole steering rack issue, which is possible, but could it be the tie rods/ends? i'd like to get it solved since getting an alignment done will only hide the problem and not solve it.

Cheers,

Acemanic

[Zzyzx]

Time to start looking at wear items. Tie rods, suspension bushings, tophat bearings any thing that impacts the stability of the suspensions geometry.

also, do you have any sort of camber kit installed?

[acemanic]

the suspension was put in a couple weeks before the alignment was done, so only a few months old...tie rod ends were replaced a few more months before that, and were replaced with oem ep3 ends. As for camber kit, i have one crash bolt per side, on the bottom strut hole, although i didn't really need them since my new suspension has plates on top to adjust camber.

I know a lot of people use inverted tie rod ends to solve toe issues with lowered cars, and to gain adjustment for toe. I am thinking if using DC5 ends would help my issue, and if so, how do you install them inverted, as the ends are tapered?

[Zzyzx]

Inverted tie rods are only useful if you need more adjustment range, and only in specific cases. They will have Zero impact on a wandering alignment, which is the problem you are trying to solve.

I would be looking at two possible culprits here, given that you have relatively new tie rod ends. Damaged suspension bushings, particularly the soft compliance bushing, and/Or the camber bolts are not torqued down enough and keep slipping.

[acemanic]

ok gonna take a look at the suspension this weekend! thanks for the help

[talonXracer]

Really double check the pinch bolts(camber bolts) and the front compliance bushing as well. I had a shop do an alignment and the butt munching illegal never tightened the pinch bolts fully and it had the offset steering wheel at times.

[makavelibranded]

I had an issue with my steering wheel being off as well. Slightly left = straight while driving, also during turns the steering went limp and I had to turn more.. Popped the hood to check the coilover and the alen heads made themselves loose on the passenger side alowing the strut to shift as I was driving. Soon as I straightened it out and tightened them it was all good.

I recommend getting under and checking for loose parts, not sure what suspension you have but check that too.