[MATTY-1LE]

I dont know if its just me but my steering wheel is slightly cocked to the right, I have no accidents and as far as i know nothing ive done to change the steering wheel. To the naked eye most people wouldnt notice, but i notice when i compare the lines of the steering wheel with the steering wheel housing. I simply lean forward and can see to compare the two. Its off by hardly anything and probably being ocd, Its also a tad softer to turn to the right than left. Hoping i dont have some suspension issues.

[Move_Over]

Did you get an alignment and tell them to fix the steering wheel?

[Mountain]

Originally Posted by MATTY-1LE

I dont know if its just me but my steering wheel is slightly cocked to the right, I have no accidents and as far as i know nothing ive done to change the steering wheel. To the naked eye most people wouldnt notice, but i notice when i compare the lines of the steering wheel with the steering wheel housing. I simply lean forward and can see to compare the two. Its off by hardly anything and probably being ocd, Its also a tad softer to turn to the right than left. Hoping i dont have some suspension issues.

Take a picture on how far it’s off.

[FH212]

An alignment is probably needed

[Boost Creep]

Originally Posted by MATTY-1LE

I dont know if its just me but my steering wheel is slightly cocked to the right, I have no accidents and as far as i know nothing ive done to change the steering wheel. To the naked eye most people wouldnt notice, but i notice when i compare the lines of the steering wheel with the steering wheel housing. I simply lean forward and can see to compare the two. Its off by hardly anything and probably being ocd, Its also a tad softer to turn to the right than left. Hoping i dont have some suspension issues.

Alignment.

Mine is now off toward 1 o'clock after meeting one of PA's finest potholes. My car now has a slight case of toe in. Before the pothole my wheel was straight but had real bad tramlining(a sign of toe out), now it's ever so slightly off center and the tramlining is greatly reduced(a sign of toe in).

A car with toe out will tend to wander, a car with toe in will tend to maintain direction, all within reason of course, greater variances will have magnified effects.

[MATTY-1LE]

Originally Posted by Boost Creep

Alignment.

Mine is now off toward 1 o'clock after meeting one of PA's finest potholes. My car now has a slight case of toe in. Before the pothole my wheel was straight but had real bad tramlining(a sign of toe out), now it's ever so slightly off center and the tramlining is greatly reduced(a sign of toe in).

A car with toe out will tend to wander, a car with toe in will tend to maintain direction, all within reason of course, greater variances will have magnified effects.

Would this also affect the softer right side versus left? I.e., its softer and easier to turn right than left. I think you are right generally speaking though and it looks like im gonna get it looked at

[mjk3888]

Originally Posted by MATTY-1LE

Would this also affect the softer right side versus left? I.e., its softer and easier to turn right than left. I think you are right generally speaking though and it looks like im gonna get it looked at

I drove my car the first 5k miles before getting an alignment. After finally getting it checked and adding some more camber in to get to the track spec, the car felt COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. It had some pretty bad toe numbers causing it to feel a lot tighter and almost under strain. Fixing it made the car feel a lot more free really improved turn in and exit. Steering effort was reduced The car was still great before but after it was sorted I realized how a well aligned car can feel light on its toes without losing any poise or confidence in the grip.

[Boost Creep]

Originally Posted by MATTY-1LE

Would this also affect the softer right side versus left? I.e., its softer and easier to turn right than left. I think you are right generally speaking though and it looks like im gonna get it looked at

That would probably be more of a caster or even camber issue for the most part.

Like posted by mjk3888, get the car aligned and that should take care of how the car feels.

I got to get my car up on the rack at work, but don't want to do it when people are there, I can't imagine the scratches, hand prints, and who knows what else.

I work in hell.

[eimarshall]

Yeah. Unfortunately, it's most likely an alignment. Total Toe is probably 0 but each side is off a 1/16 in the same direction. Might have a little more camber on one side than the other as well. That could explain the directional differences. Even a light bump on a curb or poorly ramped driveway could shift it if something isn't properly torqued.

I had mine aligned by the dealer at the start of the year and had them set it to the track spec in the performance supplement. They set it perfectly but made the comment that it pulled left a little. I figured they where just tram lining on the road in front of the dealership. I pick it up and it definitely tram lined more than before, but I also realized after i got home they set toe to +1/16 on one side and -1/16 on the other. which meant 0 total toe (per spec) but the wheel is about 5-10 degrees to the right when driving straight. Easy mistake I guess. I still haven't had it fixed after 3 auto-X's because it drives like a dream and I don't want to chance them messing it up!! LOL!!

[MATTY-1LE]

Originally Posted by mjk3888

I drove my car the first 5k miles before getting an alignment. After finally getting it checked and adding some more camber in to get to the track spec, the car felt COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. It had some pretty bad toe numbers causing it to feel a lot tighter and almost under strain. Fixing it made the car feel a lot more free really improved turn in and exit. Steering effort was reduced The car was still great before but after it was sorted I realized how a well aligned car can feel light on its toes without losing any poise or confidence in the grip.

Originally Posted by Boost Creep

That would probably be more of a caster or even camber issue for the most part.

Like posted by mjk3888, get the car aligned and that should take care of how the car feels.

I got to get my car up on the rack at work, but don't want to do it when people are there, I can't imagine the scratches, hand prints, and who knows what else.

I work in hell.

Do you gentle sirs recommend taking it to a speed shop to get it aligned or the dealer? I do not track my car, but if it takes a track alignment to make the steering true and comfortable then so be it

[Move_Over]

Originally Posted by MATTY-1LE

Do you gentle sirs recommend taking it to a speed shop to get it aligned or the dealer? I do not track my car, but if it takes a track alignment to make the steering true and comfortable then so be it

Plenty of good shops in houston that can do an alignment, i would find one that specializes in race car alignments as they seem to be the most accurate. Nothing but bad alignments at the dealer according to reviews around here.

I don't believe you'll need a track alignment for the steering to be comfortable. Cars have crappy alignments from the factory, so you're probably a culprit of that.

[mjk3888]

Originally Posted by MATTY-1LE

Do you gentle sirs recommend taking it to a speed shop to get it aligned or the dealer? I do not track my car, but if it takes a track alignment to make the steering true and comfortable then so be it

No if you aren't tracking then just take it to any alignment place. However its worth noting that you are supposed to replace the rear toe and camber bolts when adjusting the rear alignment. The front hardware is all reusable though. The big difference I felt was primarily due to toe being way out of whack not the new camber settings. I have since kept a close eye on the alignment with a lifetime alignment package from Firestone. primarily I just have them reset the toe to 0.0 before track days.

[Move_Over]

Originally Posted by mjk3888

No if you aren't tracking then just take it to any alignment place. However its worth noting that you are supposed to replace the rear toe and camber bolts when adjusting the rear alignment. The front hardware is all reusable though. The big difference I felt was primarily due to toe being way out of whack not the new camber settings. I have since kept a close eye on the alignment with a lifetime alignment package from Firestone. primarily I just have them reset the toe to 0.0 before track days.

How are you sourcing the rear suspension bolts? I've tried a few times and chevy says they are discontinued and don't need to replace them (two different dealers). Ive just reused my stock stuff however i would love to replace them before my next alignment next season.

[Boost Creep]

Originally Posted by MATTY-1LE

Do you gentle sirs recommend taking it to a speed shop to get it aligned or the dealer? I do not track my car, but if it takes a track alignment to make the steering true and comfortable then so be it

Dealers are hit or miss.
If you have a good dealer then by all means go there, they would/should know these cars, and should have any hardware you might need, like TTY bolts and such.

Speed shops around here are mostly performance/engine shops and don't deal with alignments that much and usually sublet an alignment. However a chassis/road race type shop should have that equipment.

If you get tires mounted at a tire shop, that would probably be your easiest way to go, they mounted your tires and aligned the car, if you have uneven wear on your new tires, it's all on them.