steering wheel alignment

[Bustermagic]

I'm a bit cheesed off with the local dealer who has just tracked my car but can not manage to get the steering wheel setup so that it is centre when the road wheels are pointing forward - they have tried a few times today and said it can't be done easily

I need to turn the steering wheel right to make it centre.

Does anyone know which way I would need to turn both tie rods in order for the road wheels to point forward at the same time as the steering wheel being centre!?

 

[Cupramax]

Sounds like they need to pop the steering wheel off and move it round one or two splines. As for it not being done easily, read they cant be arsed...

 

[DPJ]

I'm a bit cheesed off with the local dealer who has just tracked my car but can not manage to get the steering wheel setup so that it is centre when the road wheels are pointing forward - they have tried a few times today and said it can't be done easily

I need to turn the steering wheel right to make it centre.

Does anyone know which way I would need to turn both tie rods in order for the road wheels to point forward at the same time as the steering wheel being centre!?

This is a special feature of Leons..............

 

[Mat138L]

Mine had the same problem seat sorted it out and only took them 30 minutes to do.

 

[Bustermagic]

Sounds like they need to pop the steering wheel off and move it round one or two splines. As for it not being done easily, read they cant be arsed...

Totally agree - do half a job and no more

As the steering wheel is aligned to the steering pump, moving the wheel around quite a few splines isn't the best solution, surely
I thought I would need to adjust the actual tie rods by the same amount on each side to move the steering wheel and hence the pump at the same time. I just don't know which way to turn the rods on each side of the car.

 

[adiohead]

I got my alignment done yesterday and it ended up worse than before
Was further to the right than usual.

I tried moving the steering wheel one notch to the left and it's better but now a little to the left. (the notch looked out of alignment before I moved it)

From what I've gathered I need to make both wheels go left a little (toe in on the offside, and toe out on the nearside), so then when I drive the wheel will be straight, but I've not touched tie rods before so don't know how easy this is.

If your wheel is the other way then you need to do the opposite.


Anyone know how easy it is to adjust the tie rods? I have spanners and **** but no torque wrenches.

I can get the them one-by-one from jacking up one side and removing the wheel. I'm assuming I just loosen the lock-bolt and then turn the tie rod in the appropriate directing, then tighten the lock-bolt as tight as I can with a hammer and spanner.


Other option is to phone the garage and get them to sort it. They've done such a good job otherwise (had other bits done), but haven't cured my slight off-centre steering.

 

[adiohead]

Just to let you know I had a go at this yesterday.

Was really easy to do but I did a bit too much so gotta have another go today.

I know this picture is of another car but you'll get the idea:

I did mine +2.5mm and -2.5mm, but the steering wheel ended up facing the other way now.

I've come to the conclusion that about 0.5mm-1mm = about 1 degree on the wheel.

I'm gonna take it back 1.5mm and hopefully it'll be central.


Took me a while to figure out how easy it was to undo the lock bolt. Just gotta stick a 24 spanner on it and hit it once or twice to the right with a lump hammer.

 

[LEE69]

Don't let anyone other than these align my car http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/

 

[adiohead]

right, 3rd attempt and it's spot on.

Steering wheel is on the correct notch and the track rods needed 1/4 turn (0.5mm) each side.

A garage in Slough charged me £70 to align my steering wheel and failed. I did it myself for free!

I'm not usually one to slag off companies and they did everything else well, but £70 is insane when they just made it worse. I really should have called and complained but I get a sense of achievement fixing things myself.

 

[andycupra]

one thing to be wary of:
roads are cambered, and so when driving on the left its common for cars to have to steer slightly to the right to counter this.
You need a flat level surface.

Also moving the steering wheel on the splines to adjust isnt the way to do it. Especially if you have ESP and the like as sterring angle is one of the properties it measures and it will now be reading incorrectly.
Although it is possible i understand to 'reset' this on Vag com.

 

[kcolevol]

Got mine done by local garage, no probs. £20??

 

[adiohead]

one thing to be wary of:
roads are cambered, and so when driving on the left its common for cars to have to steer slightly to the right to counter this.
You need a flat level surface.

Also moving the steering wheel on the splines to adjust isnt the way to do it. Especially if you have ESP and the like as sterring angle is one of the properties it measures and it will now be reading incorrectly.
Although it is possible i understand to 'reset' this on Vag com.

My steering wheel was on the wrong spline to begin with. Now it's on the correct one, it was only one notch out. I believe that this is why three separate garages have failed to sort this in the past (all with laser equipment).

The main adjustment was the 1/4 (& -1/4) turn on the track rods. My car was laser aligned so I just had to do each side equally.

Got mine done by local garage, no probs. £20??

yeah, I usually use Pro Tyre and they charge about £30, but even they've never centred my steering wheel properly.

The garage told me they'd have to remove the entire steering components to correct it. I know I should have taken it back

 

[vwtrellis]

moving your track roads yourself has just changed all your toes again unless you used a gauge to check tracking.. moving the steering wheel is not a good option as your rack will not be centered causing less turn one way to the other.. its not hard to get a steering wheel straight i use a clamp to hold the wheel centered move track rods check gauges roll car backwards and forwards check wheel is straight again re clamp check toes and road test.. nice straight road in sunny reading to test the cars on for straight toes and steering wheel. anything slightly out i bring back and re adjust.. there just plan lazy and cant be arsed to do the job right..

 

[adiohead]

I've changed my toes equally either side.

Now the steering wheel points straight and so do the wheels.


Check this thread:
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?p=735403

this post:

"YOUR steering wheel is EASILY straightened!!!! They are being dicks and don't wanna do it right... Seriously, yoru steering wheel being off center the little mount that yours is, IS A LAME EXCUSE to get rid of your car... If you read this thread we described how to get your steering wheel perfect without removing your steering wheel (plus if you reposition YOUR steering wheel, based on the pic, it will then be off to the left). I'm gonna try to explain to everyone STEP-BY-STEP on how to align your steering wheel, if it's been aligned at a shop within specs, but is just BARELY off center(as your's is)...

1) Drive the car and determine which way the steering wheel is off-center...

2) In your garage, set your steering wheel where it was when you were driving it. REMEMBER your tires were just aligned, SO THEY ARE NOW STRAIGHT AHEAD...

3) Straighten your steering wheel. Here's where you need to pay attention!!! Now that your steering wheel is straight, you now know which way your tires point when your steering wheel is straight.

A easy explination -

If when you are driving,
Your STEERING WHEEL IS OFF TO THE RIGHT, you then straighten your steering wheel, your WHEELS WILL NOW BE POINTING TO THE LEFT... So you know now that you need to adjust the front of your wheels to the right...
Which means on MKV's you will need to adjust the left tie-rod OUT and your right tie-rod IN

If when you are driving,
Your STEERING WHEEL IS OFF TO THE LEFT, you then straighten your steering wheel, your WHEELS WILL NOW BE POINTING TO THE RIGHT... So you know now that you need to adjust the front of your wheels to the left...
Which means on MKV's you will need to adjust the left tie-rod IN and your right tie-rod OUT

(when I say IN/OUT I'm meaning, thread the adjuster IN/OUT the outer tie-rod)

Adjust your tie-rods EVENLY, meaning if you adjust one side a 1/4 turn adjust the other side the same amount...


I should make a video on how to do this because I feel like a lot of you guys will miss interpret how to do this and **** up your steering even worse.

NO YOU DO NOT NEED TO CALIBRATE THE STEERING ANGLE SENSOR!!!

I just aligned my car MYSELF at work and it is PERFECTLY STRAIGHT!!!

I just wish I had a video camera..."

 

[andycupra]

one of the most important things to do when making adjustemnts is to set the steering wheel straight before adjusting and check its still straight at the end / during.

Most places put a clamp or the like on the steering wheel, but take very little care in making sure its dead straight.

You can adjust all the like, as many times as you like, taking as much care as you like and its all a awaste of time if they dont take care to put the steering wheel straight in the first place.