Steering Wheel Alignment COST?

C4Kid

I have a 2000 1.4 VW Golf, I got it about 2 months ago. My steering wheel is angled about 25 degress to the right when travelling straight and when the wheel is level the car turns left ever so slightly.

At the time it didn't bother me but recently I decided to look into it. I'm guessing it's the alignment, when I got the car it was obvious the right hand side had hit something at some stage in its life, the wheel arch trim was practically gone and the wing stuck out slightly. I got a minor discount for that, but it was worth it as I replaced the trim for €10 (scrapyard) and the wing was fixed when the new trim was screwed into place.

I'm just wondering how much You might be talking to have the steering re-aligned or would it be worth doing it? If it's a safety issue then obviously thats a different story.

One last thing, when driving around 90-100 KMH theres a slight vibration in the wheel, I've had the wheels balanced a month ago to make sure but they were fine, I'm just wondering would the misalignment of the steering be causing this?

Thanks in advance.

Anan1

An alignment will normally cost €60-80 in Dublin. I'd be worried that this accident damage may make the car expensive or impossible to track correctly, but you'll only find that out when you have the alignment done.

Shane732

Yea I'd be concerned that the suspension might be fooked from the wheel taking a big impact or maybe the steering rack....

Mr.David

often the crappy tyre places do your alignment and make all the adjustment on one side only as they are lazy.

Result is that the wheel alignment is fine but the steering wheel is off centre. intensely irritating!

mathepac

First take you car to a decent mechanic and have the road-wheels, tyres, drive shafts, steering and suspension components checked for damage or wear and have any necessary repairs / replacements made.

Then and only then have the steering / suspension geometry adjusted to manufacturer's specs.

stealthyspeeder

C4Kid wrote: »

One last thing, when driving around 90-100 KMH theres a slight vibration in the wheel, I've had the wheels balanced a month ago to make sure but they were fine, I'm just wondering would the misalignment of the steering be causing this?

Thanks in advance.

this could due to a track rod end about to go. very dangerous is this goes in a hard fast corner (precisely when it will go btw due to increased strain)

Which wheel is causing the prob?

Jack the car up and grab hold of the wheel causing problems at speed and try and push the right side into the car and pull the left side out away simultaneously and vise versa. If there is give and a slight wobble, more than likely you will need to replace the track rob end as soon as possible.

C4Kid

Cheers for all the info Guys, much appreciated.;) Ok I realised I should have expanded on the info I provided. The car had passed it's NCT the week previous to me purchasing it so I guess thats why I was not too concerned, being My first car the excitement of it all took priority. It had just received new bushes also which I forgot to mention.

When having the wheels balanced they had a glance more so than a look so I'd say it would definitly be worth a proper look at everything.

Jack the car up and grab hold of the wheel causing problems at speed and try and push the right side into the car and pull the left side out away simultaneously and vise versa. If there is give and a slight wobble, more than likely you will need to replace the track rob end as soon as possible.

I remeber asking the mechanic in the tyre shop as he shook it from side to side, "Should there be that much play in it" to which he said, "Sure there's play in all of em!", but it did look like too much to me but he's a mechanic I'm not!

The car rides like a dream and for the most part I'd usually only be driving in the suburbs anyway but the trip to college is 20 mins on the dual carriageway.

The Right-Front wheel is the one that hit something at some stage but I never found out what happened it.

dr.fuzzenstein

Get the suspension checked by a good mechanic before trying 4 wheel alignment (Do not get suckered into places that only do 2 wheel tracking, they're cowboys and worthless).
If there's damage to any suspension bits (bent wishbone, etc...), tracking won't do any good.
Once the suspension is given the all clear go to a tire place that does 4 wheel allignment, these places also should make sure the wheel is centre.
Stay away from larger tyre chains, since they people there might not have the training and experience, they're only concerned with getting you in the door and out as fast as possible.
I'm sure some boardsies will be able to recommend a few decent places for your area.

Nissan doctor

Your car only has factory adjustment for the front wheel toe, But that doesn't mean there isn't an issue with your rear axle.

The rear axle being out of alignment is the main cause of a steering wheel being off center as the alignment of the front wheels is directly related to the alignment of the rears(thrust angle)

You need to have it checked on a decent 4wheel aligner and by someone who knows how to check the thrust angle, Castor etc, as said however, you need to have all suspension components checked first though.

We'd be charging €70 for the above and would always check the suspension condition beforehand.

corktina

Mr.David wrote: »

often the crappy tyre places do your alignment and make all the adjustment on one side only as they are lazy.

Result is that the wheel alignment is fine but the steering wheel is off centre. intensely irritating!

yes, i agree.If the wheel isnt pulling to the side but is just not straight , its a very simple and quick fix.

C4Kid

I'm definitly going to bring it in on monday to be safe incase something does go wrong unlikely but with the state of the roads, don't want to take any chances! At least then I'll stop worrying about it !;)

Darksaga87

Ned to get this done on my 99 Almera. Car hopped a kerb during the freeze and its very slightly tilted to the left.

AFAIK, the wishbone seems ok, Im guessing this because other people i know that had issues with wishbone broken is that the wheel shakes violently, mine doesnt.

Any idea on a price for this?

C4Kid

Mine cost €30 to do the tracking which has solved the problem , expect €40 at max. My car had a similar incident with a previous owner and there was nothing else wrong with it.

shamwari

Mr.David wrote: »

often the crappy tyre places do your alignment and make all the adjustment on one side only as they are lazy.

Result is that the wheel alignment is fine but the steering wheel is off centre. intensely irritating!

Not only is it irritating but potentially dangerous. Many cars that have the steering wheel off centre will either cancel the indicator prematurely, or not cancel it at all. You might find out the hard way going around a roundabout!

I will only get the wheels aligned where the steering wheel is locked straight ahead before they commence the alignment process.

Nissan doctor

shamwari wrote: »

Not only is it irritating but potentially dangerous. Many cars that have the steering wheel off centre will either cancel the indicator prematurely, or not cancel it at all. You might find out the hard way going around a roundabout!

I will only get the wheels aligned where the steering wheel is locked straight ahead before they commence the alignment process.

The practice of only adjusting one side has no relevance to today's cars (a few pre airbag cars only had adjustment on one front wheel)

On modern cars the only way to fully determine the alignment is to fully measure the front and rear wheels, regardless of wether the rear wheels have adjustment or not, this doesn't mean they are not out of alignment.