I had my alignment done, because my car was pulling to the right. The alignment didn't fix the problem.

I then went back to the place I bought the tires from and had them rotate my tires to make sure it wasn't severe radial pull (since I knew the toe & sub-frame were both in spec).

It was radial pull. Now my car drives perfectly straight, but the steering wheel is off quite a bit.

Does anyone know the proper way to fix this (w/o having to get bent over on paying for another alignment)?

Thanks!

 

Technically, yes, you can simply remove the steering wheel and reposition it.
HOWEVER: if you did this, your steering rack won't be centered and you would get too much steering angle in one direction and not enough in the other.

I know you really don't want to re-do your alignment, but do it right the first time. Otherwise just live with the off-angle steering wheel for a while and hope it doesn't wear out your tires excessively fast.

 

^What he said. Fix the alignment in the TREs, not the steering wheel. See my reply in your other thread.

 

Yeah: It's at the shop right now.

I was thinking about it yesterday and I thought" Why waste time, safety and probably save no money in the long run - cutting corners?

The only true way to straighten the wheel is with the tie rods.

I figured that $60 to have someone else do it right - on a true rack - with a printout and 6 month warranty? Why not? I'm not that cheap, or foolish.

Thanks again for all of our quick, helpful responses! I truly appreciate you guys.

Have a good one.

 

Just a note. When they do the lock to lock swing during the alignment set up, the machine will determine the center of the swing (which is where the rack is centered). IF the steering wheel is off center, it should then be pulled off and place on center and then continue on with the alignment. This all depends on the alignment machine being calibrated accurately of course.
Only reason I say this is, had one once (well, it was a VW not Audi but same set up) that drifted to the right. He'd had it lined up twice at a tire store and it still pulled right. For the heck of it, I tried as mentioned above (center the rack and then the wheel on the steering shaft) and reset the tie rod ends. Car drove perfectly straight. If the rack is off center, it'll want to center itself which can cause a drift.
How does the wheel and rack get out of sync, so to speak? Who knows. Probably the steering shaft gets twisted with age or the wheels been off and not put back on the same splines???? All I know is it happens.

 

It drives fine now, but I can't understand why some alignment guys are incapable of getting both the alignment within spec and also getting the steering wheel straight (my specs are good now, but the steering wheel is still noticeably cocked to the left).

You would think that would be pretty easy for a guy who specializes in alignments and does them everyday - for a living. SMH

I guess I should just be thankful she's driving straight now.

 

I'm surprised that's not creating ABS problems. Your clock spring is telling the ABS to expect the right side of the car to report more speed than the left side.

 

I'll keep an eye out for that.

Thanks.

 

Is the clockspring actually able to detect its absolute position? I replaced mine last year and for the heck of it cracked open the old one - all it is on the inside is a twisted ribbon cable, no visible sensors, etc. Could the ABS sensor potentially be detecting absolute rotation somewhere farther down the steering column?

 

Good question.

Mine is only off by a minute amount. I don't think it's enough to affect anything.

Could I be wrong?