sterring wheel centering

-
JoeKidd said:
How do I get my steering wheel centerewd on 1968 dart GTS
Click to expand...
Wow... going to need a LOT more information.
What was taken apart? What has been replaced, and with what? How did you reassemble it? How far off is it? Manual steering or power? If power, do you mean it wants to pull to one side or the other when running, or is it just off center when driving straight?
 
If the tie rods are the same length (roughly), just pull the wheel and move it a couple splines in whichever direction you need to go. If the tie rods are not the same length, you need to fix that first.
 
Not that easy- if it's a stock steering wheel, you've got the master spline to deal with, and if you just move it then your turn signal cancellation gets messed up; as well as your turning radius difference from left and right.
Like I said, need more information about how it was assembled, and with what parts.
 
Lets say it all jacked up wouldn't the pitman arm need centered than go from there? At some point yes the steering wheel itself may need pulled and repositioned but this is worst case.
 
Dartswinger70 said:
Lets say it all jacked up wouldn't the pitman arm need centered than go from there? At some point yes the steering wheel itself may need pulled and repositioned but this is worst case.
Click to expand...
Yes, the steering gear should be in the middle of it's travel lock to lock.
 
toolmanmike said:
Yes, the steering gear should be in the middle of it's travel lock to lock.
Click to expand...
yeah I think Ive been through it:) Had the whole front end off the car (K frame and bars) plus re installed a rebuilt steering box...youd be surprised how much you can do at home really...you can get it driveable to an alignment shop anyway ...and Id bet some would say you can get it perfect without a shop.
 
There's master splines on the factory-type parts to keep things in the proper orientation, and markings on the coupler and steering column, as well as the MS on the column/wheel. If these were not adhered to and/or not assembled properly, or other parts thrown into the mix (aftermarket steering box, U-joint replacing the coupler, aftermarket quick ratio pitman arm, etc.) then all bets are off.
We need to know what the setup is.
 
Dartswinger70 said:
Lets say it all jacked up wouldn't the pitman arm need centered than go from there? At some point yes the steering wheel itself may need pulled and repositioned but this is worst case.
Click to expand...
If you need to do that, something serious is wrong. The steering wheel is meant to only go on one way. That's why it has a master spline. Centering the wheel is supposed to be done by adjusting the tie rods as part of an alignment.
 
In other words, do the normal alignment, set the toe last, and then if the wheel is not quite centered, "walk" the tie rods equal turns to move the wheel, and re-check the wheel center. You may have to test drive it around the block a couple of times to see where it "really" sits going down the road.

If you have some sort of custom steering wheel and no master spline, you may have to count the turns lock to lock and find center of the box. A box "in good shape," you can feel a change in center with the tires jacked up because the friction in the box "feels" different at and near center This is not always evident
 
Oh man, just finally dealt with this issue 2 days ago. My car has all stock steering components and steering wheel. It had the typical steering wheel off center after a front alignment. Mine was off 180 degrees. Right hand turn signal would not cancel. Lock to lock had approx 1 full turn difference from the wheels centered position.

We removed the whole steering column. We disconnected the coupler at the steering box that we had centered, then made sure the the steering wheel was centered and pushed everything back into place.

Gotta love 50 plus year old cars, somebody before us had done things wrong. Murphy's law applied here too because the coupler came apart during removal.:wtf: So that had to be rebuilt first before putting it back together.. Not a fun job but doable. I think it will be :popcorn: time for this thread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top