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Possible to center steering wheel at home/shop?

Dibbons

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If one finds the steering wheel is not "perfectly" centered (and is a little **** about it) can he/she get the wheel centered at home without disturbing the alignment (let's assume the alignment is correct? If so, how is it done? Thank you.
 
Yes usually you can pull the wheel and jump it a tooth or two on the column shaft.
 
i'm doing this now. the steering wheel has an indexed spline and you'd have to mess something up there to change the wheel location. some steering shaft couplers don't have an indexed spline and it can be moved around. the last idea is to move the wheels by rotating the tie rod sleeves. this is what i'm having to do and can be carefully done. i've marked the sleeve and tie rod for a reference point and then rotate the sleeves a little (equal on both sleeves, measuring the movement) in the desired location. it's a little trail and error but does work.
 
What tool is best to rotate the sleeves? Are they really tight?
You have to loosen the clamps on both ends of the sleeve. Spray with penetrating oil. There is a claw type tool to hook in the slot but if they aren't rusted you can get by with a pair of channel locks.

If you turn the right tie rod one way, do the same amount of turns on the left side. Do one or two turns at a time. Do both sides equally. Study carefully what you are doing.

Hold the steering wheel straight and look at which way your wheels are pointing. Now which way does the steering linkage have to go to correct this.

You're shortening one side and lengthening the other...
 
Ideally, if everything is done right the steering wheel will be straight and all the tie rod ends will have the same amount of threads showing.
 
File the extra large spline out of the wheel with a thin file and you put the wheel in any position you want, that's what I did many years ago.
 
Yep I just did it the way lewtot & kid mentioned, I made sure the car was going straight up the driveway(the steering wheel was turned slightly left) so I adjusted the wheels slightly left, a turn at a time on the tierods and test drove each time until I got it where I wanted...takes some time but you can dial it in just fine
 
It use to be a pet peeve of mine, working in garages, we would have to farm out front end alignments for the customers. I would pick up the car, start back and find the steering wheel off center. I'd turn around and take it right back and make the guy fix it while I waited. No way was I going to give the car back to the customer that way. It's a good way to know what kind of a front end guy you are dealing with! :steering:
 
Just had my Road Runner aligned at a local chain brake shop. I know the manager (he is a street rod Chevy kind of guy, but loves all classic cars) and he brought in a mechanic form another store that personally owns a 69 Charger and a 70 Dart (with 440).

Toe was 0.32 and adjusted to 0.06. Left camber was -2.0 and adjusted to -1.1, and right camber was -1.8 and adjusted to -1.2. Ride height was 26 inches when he was finished. We both took test drives and the wheel is straight and the car drives great. I felt guilty that they only charged me $70 (I had a coupon), so I tipped the mechanic $15 for a great job.
 
My question for Billccm would be what year model car is he working on and what are the factory specs (just wondering)?

Just paid $250 pesos for my alignment ($14.70 USD) and gave the tech (gray-haired former Dodge Dealer mechanic) $150 pesos tip ($8.80 USD). Had to return once already when the wheel was "centered" to the right. Mechanic said he did not test drive it, but someone else had.

The alignment specs per FSM for my 1972 Satellite Sebring Plus are:

for power steering:
camber + 1/2 degrees left (+1/4 to +3/4)
camber + 1/4 degrees right (0 to +1/2)
caster + 3/4 degrees both sides (+1/4 to +1 1/4)
toe in 1/8" (3/32" to 5/32")

for manual steering adjust caster differently:
caster - 1/2 degree (0 to -1)

My finished alignment specs 06/23/17:
camber left + 0.25 (I guess this means + 1/4 degree?)
camber right + 0.22
caster left + 0.29
caster right + 0.35
toe 1/8"
 
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My car is a 1968 Road Runner with power steering. Not sure of factory specs, but the print out had a note saying the alignment met specs for the vehicle (with numbers in RED for fail and numbers in GREEN for pass).

Interesting your numbers are positive camber and my numbers were negative camber.

Sure can't beat your price for alignment! My car was on the alignment rack a little over two hours (mechanic also greased all fittings).
 
I actually paid $95.00 USD (parts and labor) for this:
alignment, pack front wheel bearings (two new seals), replace one tie rod end (new tie rod end), balance spare tire.
 
Here is a blog from Allpar for camber on old Mopars:

Camber’s a whole different ball game. The factory never recommended negative camber at all. (It’s negative when the top of the wheel tilts in.) They had a good reason for this: they were trying to minimize tire wear. With bias ply tires, camber is critical. Tilt the top in a bit, and the inner edge of the skin will wear out—fast. With steel belted radials, this is much less of a factor. Of course, there’s lots of other factors at work here: how stiff are the sidewalls? How much air pressure do you run? How low is the aspect ratio (profile)? All of these factors can affect the “best” (if there is such a thing) camber number for you. If you have superlow- profile tires (like 40 series), you might want a tad less camber. Ditto for high air pressures and/or stiff sidewalls. You always (always) want at least a some negative camber. Even with granny driving, there will be that emergency, kid chasing a ball, etc., requiring an evasive maneuver. Having more cornering G force at your disposal—via the more complete tread/pavement contact afforded by the “preload” that negative camber generates— is always a good thing.
 
That article is confusing, tilt the wheel in (negative camber) and the tire will wear out fast. And it says Mopar recommended positive camber to reduce tire wear? Then it recommends negative camber (for handling?). I am running radials, of course, 215R70-14 on 14 X 5 factory wheels.
 
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