Another day, another steering/alignment issue!

[ptcfast2]

Long story short my Lumina broke down over the weekend and I had to get her towed. The alternator bracket decided to completely sheer itself in half after 14 years (damn you aluminium!) and nuke any chance of going anywhere, but at least could be driven on/off the tow truck as only the accessories tied to the belt would not function.

 

After getting it home I noticed my steering wheel was off center. The short total of 50 feet it was driven without power steering caused the wheel to de-center itself. If the wheel is center it wants to go to the right now. I just had it aligned about 3 months ago and it was perfect up until this point. I imagine I either stressed some part out OR something was loose and the force of turning the car without power steering caused it to shift out of place and muck up the alignment.

 

I plan to look for the standard suite of things and make sure nothing is loose and that everything is torqued correctly. I was wondering if you guys might be able to point me in a possible direction to really look at closely?

 

Note: I have a vibration emanating from the left front wheel at 60-70MPH that would go away when I turn to right. It was happening before this issue, and I'm inclined to think they MIGHT be related?

[RobertISaar]

driving without power steering won't mess up alignment. it transmits the same amount of force from the rack outwards, just more effort required at the steering wheel side. i'd look elsewhere. both the MC and the wife's GP have lost power steering at times, driven for upwards of a mile at a time, no alignment issues.

[ptcfast2]

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but when the power steering was out the column had to transmit more "force" from my end down to the rack in order to turn the wheels right?

 

Maybe the column itself is to blame, but I'm unsure of what components could actually cause that. The intermediate steering shaft and rack itself are brand new - maybe something higher up in the column got messed up?

[19Cutlass94]

Anything in the steering column will not affect the alignment. If the column got messed up, the wheel wouldnt be straight, but the car would still track straight. Something mechanical is wrong.

[rich17]

The steering wheel is mechanically connected to the wheels so to speak. The ps pump is there to use hydraulic forse to make it easier to move

[19Cutlass94]

So mess with the column to get the tire alignment correct.

[topless94style2]

Front end vibrations could be off balance wheel warped rotor broken wheel stud

 

Check tie rod make sure fine. If mechanically sound up my guess is steering wheel or column is off some how?

[Schurkey]

  ptcfast2 said:

Long story short my Lumina broke down over the weekend and I had to get her towed. The alternator bracket decided to completely sheer itself in half after 14 years (damn you aluminium!) and nuke any chance of going anywhere, but at least could be driven on/off the tow truck as only the accessories tied to the belt would not function.

 

After getting it home I noticed my steering wheel was off center. The short total of 50 feet it was driven without power steering caused the wheel to de-center itself.

 

If the wheel is center it wants to go to the right now. I just had it aligned about 3 months ago and it was perfect up until this point. I imagine I either stressed some part out OR something was loose and the force of turning the car without power steering caused it to shift out of place and muck up the alignment.

 

I plan to look for the standard suite of things and make sure nothing is loose and that everything is torqued correctly. I was wondering if you guys might be able to point me in a possible direction to really look at closely?

Has NOTHING to do with power vs. non-power steering unless the rack mounts are defective. Theoretically, it could be a twisted steering shaft from steering wheel to rack...but I wouldn't expect the shaft to be that weak.

 

  ptcfast2 said:

Note: I have a vibration emanating from the left front wheel at 60-70MPH that would go away when I turn to right. It was happening before this issue, and I'm inclined to think they MIGHT be related?

Possible defective wheel bearing. Does the vehicle pull or drift to one side, or is it just a matter of the steering wheel isn't centered any more?

Edited May 30, 2012 by Schurkey

[White93z34]

perhaps tow truck driver bent a control arm/tie rod whilst loading it?

[ptcfast2]

  19Cutlass94 said:

So mess with the column to get the tire alignment correct.

 

Never done that before - what can actually be adjusted on the column?

 

  Schurkey said:

Possible defective wheel bearing. Does the vehicle pull or drift to one side, or is it just a matter of the steering wheel isn't centered any more?

 

Vehicle does not pull or drift. Steering wheel is simply off centered.

 

  White93z34 said:

perhaps tow truck driver bent a control arm/tie rod whilst loading it?

 

I plan on going underneath to look today but I doubt it. The hooks were attached to the subframe to prevent an accidental roll off of the car. The vehicle wasn't hoisted up/down the ramp or anything - it was driven via it's own power on and off the truck.