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Thread: Alignment OK - Steering Wheel off by 10 Degrees

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
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    Ellicott City, MD
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    59
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    150

    Alignment OK - Steering Wheel off by 10 Degrees

    So, I have had my alignment done and think it is about right. But, they didn't center my wheel. It is about 10 degrees to the right. I got some new front tires recently and it is still the same. So, I was going to take it in for the alignment (using specs here again) and ask for the wheel to be centered.

    But, I was wondering if I could center the wheel myself. Can I just adjust bot sides equally until it is centered?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    NY
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    1,391
    I would go back and ask that they correctly center my wheel. Same thing happened to me. I went to a Ford dealer, paid $90 to get it done and they had a kid do the alignment. It came out about 15 degrees to the right. I went to the service manager and requested it be done right. He gave me a BS line about "Oh, you know old cars, old technology." and even asked to go for a ride to see it for himself. He went for a ride with me and it was obvious. He kept giving me BS about old cars. I still demanded it and he finally agreed. They had a master tech do it and it came out perfect. You paid for it with your hard-earned money, make them earn their money from you by doing right.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    St. John, IN
    Age
    45
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    14,251
    The device that locks the wheel most likely slipped while on the seat

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Ellicott City, MD
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    59
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    I thought about taking it back but that was 6 months ago and my tires were getting old. So, I thought maybe a slight pull was putting it off. New tires the same. Anyway, was thinking if I straightened myself first I might have better luck getting it right if I take it back. I am guessing the consensus is just have them do it right. I was thinking you really would have to test drive it to make sure it was straight - no?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
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    NY
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    1,391
    Quote Originally Posted by Greg View Post
    I am guessing the consensus is just have them do it right. I was thinking you really would have to test drive it to make sure it was straight - no?
    Yes, always test drive after the alignment is done to ensure it was done correctly. If not, it's not just an alignment issue, but if done incorrectly, it can cause premature wear on your tires as well other minor issues.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    NY
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    This may help:

    https://www.mercurymarauder.net/foru...lignment-Specs

    https://www.mercurymarauder.net/foru...lignment-Specs


    Carfixer's Alignment Specs
    Courtesy of Carfixer

    The inside edge wear of the front tires is caused by 2 things: negative camber and negative toe (toe out). Caster is not a tire wearing angle. The outside edge wear can be caused by excessive toe in and aggressive cornering.

    Factory camber spec is -.5 degrees or- .75 degrees
    Factory toe spec is -.15 degrees or- .20 degrees
    (BTW, this info came from their website which is updated periodically and may differ from previously published material, such as cd's and paper manuals)

    That means your alignment could have -1.25 degrees of camber and toe out of -.35 degrees and still be in the "green". This will wipe out the inside edges in <20K miles IMO.

    All of the MM's I've aligned (about 10) had at least -1.0 degrees of camber and always toe out of -.10 degrees or more from the factory. That's why almost all MM's you see have excessive inside edge tire wear.

    For best tire wear, here is what I use on all MM alignments:
    Camber: 0 to -.3 degrees.*
    Toe: Zero degrees.
    Caster: 5-6.5 degrees positive with .3 degree lead on the right side.

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