Well.. when I first bought my '99 a4 1.8t quattro everytime I turned the steering wheel straight, it veered to the right. If I turned the wheel a bit to the left the car went perfectly straight, no problem.

I got into an accident (not my fault ) and got a free alignment out of it... well the alignment did nothing to correct this problem.

Eventually my tires started to wear unevenly so I got new tires and just sent in my car for an alignment today because I suspected something was off with the toe or camber. I got the results back and the toe was off, but now my car veers to the left when I straighten the steering wheel. So now I must drive with the steering wheel a bit to the right instead.

I was wondering if anyone could take a look at my report I got back from NTB, as I do not know much about these stats, and perhaps give me insight as to why my steering wheel is so off!

Left Front
Actual | Before
-0.8" | -0.8" Camber
3.7° | 3.7° Caster
0.09" | 0.21" Toe
4.6° | 4.6° SAI
3.8° | 3.8° Included Angle
..... | ..... Turning Angle Diff.

Right Front
Actual | Before
-0.6" | -0.6" Camber
2.9° | 2.9° Caster
0.07" | 0.14" Toe
3.4° | 3.4° SAI
2.8° | 2.8° Included Angle
..... | ..... Turning Angle Diff.

Specified Range
-1.3° to -0.4° Camber
..... to ..... Caster
0.04" to 0.13" Toe
..... to ..... SAI
..... to ..... Included Angle
-1.83° to -0.83 Turning Angle Diff.

[hr]

Front
Actual | Before
-0.2° | -0.2° Cross Camber
0.7° | 0.7° Cross Caster
1.1° | 1.2° Cross SAI
0.16" | 0.07" Cross Tie
..... | ..... Cross Turn Diff.

Specificied Range
-0.5° to 0.5° Cross Camber
..... to ..... Cross Caster
..... to ..... Cross SAI
0.08" to 0.25" Cross Tie
..... to ..... Cross Turn Diff.

[hr]

Left Rear
Actual | Before
-0.8° | -0.7° Camber
0.03" | 0.18" Toe

Right Rear
Actual | Before
-0.8° | -0.7° Camber
0.08" | 0.26" Toe

Specified Range
-1.2° to -0.7° Camber
0.03" to 0.11" Toe

[hr]

Rear
Actual | Before
0.0° | -0.1° Cross Camber
0.11" | 0.44" Total Toe
-0.05° | -0.08° Thrust Angle

Specified Range
-0.5° to 0.5° Cross Camber
0.05" to 0.22" Total Toe
-0.17° to 0.17° Thrust Angle

Be sure to let me know if you catch any things you might think are typos.. it took a long time to type this up so I probably made a mistake somewhere..if only my scanner was working [:@]

 

Im wondering if the wheel wasnt held straingt when the alignment was perfomred. The alignment could be dead on, just with the steering wheel slightly to one side. You could also have a bent suspension part. The caster seems a little farther off than it should be. That could also cause the vehicle to pull to one side. A third possiblity is that the tires are causing a pull. You may want to try rotating the tires and see if that makes a difference.

 

I just got new tires, but I'll take it back to see if they can determine their problem.. hopefully it's THEIR problem

 

Usually cars that are wrecked and have to have the steering taken apart have the steering wheel off to one side. Was it wrecked once before you bought it?

Reason is there is a procedure to get the wheel back at perfect straight, but most shops don't follow it and just wing it. I had a truck that had the frame bent in an accident. Replaced the frame and from then on the steering wheel was about 87 degrees off straight. It was hilarious to see other people try to drive with the wheel straight (for those who are not math majors 87 degrees is a quarter of the steering wheel). I don't really know that you can get back to straight. I have never seen it done.

 

Oh I think it is something to do with the teeth of the steering gears.

 

well the wreck that I was in and the one that it was in before I purchased the car was merely a fender bender on the front.

 

does anyone else have any ideas as to why my steering wheel can't be turned straight?

 

You notice you never mentioned it was in a wreck before you bought but I knew it was?

Think on that one. All it takes is a front impact and your steering wheel is permanently off. (My truck hit a mountain at 60 miles an hour head on so it was just a little more extreme.)

 

Is this procedure supposed to be standard in the alignment?

What's funny is my steering wheel now pulls the OPPOSITE direction it did BEFORE the alignment, that is what leads me to believe that it could be fixed.

 

Definatly standard. Thats the most important part of the alignment.