legacycentral bbs

My steering wheel has been off a bit since I bought the car. I took it to get aligned last summer at SpeedWare Motorsports and I assumed they would straight it out when they aligned it but I guess that was asking too much. Instead, when I got the car back it was twice as far off from being straight as it was before! When I took automotive class that was the first thing they told us when learning the alignment rack, never let the car leave with a crooked steering wheel.

The shop was closing when they got done with my car and I wasn't going to drive back up to Redmond to have them fix it so it's been that way ever since. I'm about to rebuild my steering rack and I want this fixed. Problem is, I don't know if a previous owner had the steering wheel off and put it back on crooked or if the rack is that far off on both sides.

How do I know the rack is centered? Basically what is the best way to fix this?

When I replaced my rack, I told the shop that I wasn't sure if my rack was centered, and they said they'd take care of that. However I to had to re-align my steering wheel. This job is really really easy, at leatst on my car, but i'm not %100 sure if it's the same for yours. All I had to do was disconnect my steering coupler that connects the steering column to the steering rack. Just make sure your wheels are pointing straight ahead before you disconnect the coupler. Once the wheels are straight, disconnect the coupler, and adjust your steering wheel so it's pointing straight as well (it helps a lot if you have a friend hold the steering in place while you reconnect the coupler). Also, you may need to loosen the bolts that hold your rack to the car, that way you have a little bit of room to play with while disconnecting and re-connecting the coupler.

***Whatever you do, don't make the mistake of putting the bolts back in the wrong way, I made that mistake because I was in a hurry, and I had to replace the coupler....I called Subaru for a replacement, and they quoted me over $180!!!

Here's what my steering coupler looks like....

Or just center the wheels, remove the steering wheel, and put it back on centered. If you don't have a puller, you can rent them for a refundable deposit (so, free when returned) at AutoZone, maybe some other places. Don't remove the nut all the way before popping it so the wheel doesn't smack you in the face.

Well, if you remove the steering wheel and fix it that way won't the turn signal release switch be off then?

kimokalihi wrote:Well, if you remove the steering wheel and fix it that way won't the turn signal release switch be off then?

I believe so, because the switch part is in the column itself isn't it? Correct me if i'm wrong.

Wow... Go to a better shop for alignments. Your steering wheel should never be off if you paid someone to align your car.

No. The only thing attached to the steering wheel is the horn and cruise control, maybe an air bag. I've done this several times for various reasons and probably only changing wiper blades is easier.

Count the number of exposed threads on your inner tie rods on both sides. If they are somewhat close to each other, it just needs another alignment. If one is much different, then the steering column needs to be re-positioned on the rack. Pulling the steering wheel and re-positioning it will affect the cancellation of the turn signals since the switch is part of the column and not the steering wheel. Also, you will find that tight turns in one direction will be more difficult than in the other if the rack is off-center

I guess i could probably turn it both ways and see how far it goes in eah direction.

Deride wrote:Wow... Go to a better shop for alignments. Your steering wheel should never be off if you paid someone to align your car.

Yeah youd think beig as big of a shop as it is that they would do it right! They build full race cars rom the ground up. Theyll even build you a tube chassis too. This shop had a porsche, lambo, bmw, etc in it and the guy rolled my fenders with a hammer. I paid them over $400 to roll them and do a corner balance alignment and i have a feeling they didnt corner balance it because they never asked me how much i weigh so i doubt they put a weight in the drivers seat.

Basically steer clear of Speedware Motosports. They were really helpful on the phone but did poor quality work, especially for such a big shop.

If you want a good alignment go to Omni Brake & Alignment. I got my KYB struts from them and they did a good alignment on my car when I lived up there.....which was probably 15 years ago.....so assuming they are the same, they did a good job for me.

http://www.omnibrake.com/

I've had customers that have not been happy with Speedware as well but I am a local Subaru alignment specialist. I work for an independent Subaru shop in Kirkland and offer alignments as well. I've aligned over 2000 NASIOC member's cars and a few dozen cars from USMB and Legacy GT.


Steering wheel should be centered before the front toe is fixed. Front toe is the last adjustment that should be made on the car and the steering wheel should be held centered before its adjusted.

Exactly. I got it aligned at a local independant shop only 10 mins from here and the guy did a good job except the wheel is still off a little bit. Not much but it's noticeable. I'm happy I can at least hold the wheel at the same place on each side now. The alignment was all messed up. Don't know if those numbers were normal but every wheel had different camber and toe.