Steering wheel straight?

[bbqfan5909]

My steering wheel is not straight, any suggestions to fix this problem? Great site, already fixed the hard shifts because of SS!

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

What do you mean, "not straight"? Is it bent? Then bend it back!

 

[StreetbikeDepot]

If its off just a little you can simply adjust the drag link to straighten it up.

 

[hemi348]

I am pretty sure he is referring to the wheel being offset. I know on my jeep jk adjusting is as simple as unscrewing two bolts on the drag link and rotating some deal (I dont know what its called) while your buddy watches the wheel. I have no idea how its set up on the m1009?

 

[ida34]

This would require an alignment. You could mess with it but you are just guessing. I just paid $46 to have my car aligned at Belle Tire. Tell them the wheel is not straight and they can adjust the toe to get it straight. Basically, your toe in might be right so you need to make sure they know that you want the wheel to be straight. You need to pick the right place for the adjustment or you will mess up the toe. If you mess up the toe your steering will feel loose and you will start wearing tires out quick. Let a professional handle it.


Edit: Other vehicles have the steering wheel position adjusted by adjusting the toe on both sides to bring the steering wheel straight. I could not remember the exact set up for the M1009 but after looking at it my statement about is a bit inaccurate. Look at my post below to see what I mean. Basically, adjust the connecting rod to change wheel position. As long as you do not touch the tie rod you should be just fine and will not mess up the toe.

 

[ultim8gamr]

This would require an alignment. You could mess with it but you are just guessing. I just paid $46 to have my car aligned at Belle Tire. Tell them the wheel is not straight and they can adjust the toe to get it straight. Basically, your toe in might be right so you need to make sure they know that you want the wheel to be straight. You need to pick the right place for the adjustment or you will mess up the toe. If you mess up the toe your steering will feel loose and you will start wearing tires out quick. Let a professional handle it.

Carefull taking it to a shop. of course go there for alignment, but as far as centering your steering wheel, that can be done easily on your own as described above. I took my truck to a trusted shop (had their own racing team) for an alignment. I just installed new Tie Rod ends so I told them that I needed the ends of the tierods cut so that they could be closer together to canter the steering wheel. Idiot at the shop just backed the tie rods out, so I had and extra turn to the left and one less to the right. It caused the wheel to rub on the pitmanarm/Tierod end. I couldn't even turn out of the shop. I showed the guy and was told "well don't turn it so sharp that's how it is" spent the next 45 minutes at home fixing what i just paid $60 to have done with my alignment... I had no wandering in the steering and had perfect tread wear with the tires. Adjusting the Tierods will not change anything with toe or camber, just adjusts your steering wheel.

I found it was best to put a jack under the front axle when adjusting the tie rods so the wheels could turn off the ground and position your steering wheel where you want it centered. it will take a few tries but you can get it close. then go for a drive to see if its straight
just my

 

[hobie237]

Mine is currently off since I changed the drag link and didn't have time to adjust it, and I haven't found the time in the last week or so. It's easy to adjust.

I don't know why the hell anybody would pay actual money for an alignment in these (or any other solid-axle applications) trucks. The ONLY adjustment available is toe in/out, which is easily set with a tape measure, and is just like adjusting the drag link. Loosen two bolts, crank the sleeve thing back and fourth to achieve desired settings.

 

[gsomersjr]

I don't know how easy it is to remove the steering wheel but here's how I get the quick-release wheel straight on my race car. It's very simple. On even ground just back up 10-20 feet and the wheel will self center. Just rotate wheel on spline to get it where you want.

 

[ida34]

Adjusting the Tierods will not change anything with toe or camber, just adjusts your steering wheel.

Tie rods are the only way to adjust toe. Camber is adjusted by shimming or adjusting cams and caster is adjusted the same way as camber. I am not trying get into a flame match with you but I used to be a certifed mechanic. Toe is the difference between the distance between the tire in the front and the rear of the tire. If you don't think tie rod adjustment will effect toe then how do you think toe is adjusted on the cucv? Also, I know tie rod adjustments will not change camber or caster. Especially on a cucv. You would need a cutting tool and welder to adjust Camber or Castor on the cucv. Also, I agree that finding a good shop is tough but in the area of alignments a cucv is about the easiest truck to align since it only requires adjustment to the toe. I think you picked your shop poorly. I only call you out since you directly disputed my statement. If we still disagree then we disagree. Since we had this disagreement I went out and got the diagrams to illustrate.

If the order is right, the first picture is of the connecting rod and the second should be the actual tie rod. The steering wheel can be adjusted with the connecting rod. Do not touch the tie rod. The tie rod will only adjust the toe on a cucv. The connecting rod has ends that look are similar to tie rod ends but they are connecting rod ends not tie rod ends. Mess with it if you must but make sure you know what you are doing because if you mess with the wrong thing you will screw up the toe and your tires when the drive around out of alignment. I advise anyone working on these trucks to down load the -20 listed in the resource section. The images came from the -20 and also gives the procedure to adjust the toe. The military uses a gauge but you can do the same thing if you do it carefully with a tapemeasure. You can also use something to mark the front position and the rear position then take the difference with a tape measure. Not nearly as exact as an alignment machine but probably good enough for the cucv.

 

[ida34]

Mine is currently off since I changed the drag link and didn't have time to adjust it, and I haven't found the time in the last week or so. It's easy to adjust.

I don't know why the hell anybody would pay actual money for an alignment in these (or any other solid-axle applications) trucks. The ONLY adjustment available is toe in/out, which is easily set with a tape measure, and is just like adjusting the drag link. Loosen two bolts, crank the sleeve thing back and fourth to achieve desired settings.

For an experience person doing it I say you are right but if someone does not know what they are doing then they should leave it alone for the reason I stated. If he adjusts the wrong rod then he will mess up the toe. At any rate I gave him enough information to do it himself if he so chooses. I have just seen some people that did not know what they are doing mess stuff up really bad by just trying to do what someone told them to do. I helped a guy out one time with a Mustang with a 2.3 engine. He had his buddy helping him as the car would not start but would turn over. No fire. The put on on new distributor and other little items before my wife asked me to look at it. As soon as I asked him to start it I could tell it was not cranking right. I suspected a broken timing belt and took a peak under the cover and that is exactly what it was. I then had to fix it for them. The moral to this story is not everyone has your or my level of mechanical expertise. What is very simple or easy for me and you may not be for the next guy.

 

[hobie237]

Well, yeah, some people aren't qualified to check their own oil levels, and should never, ever touch anything on any vehicle. But as far as mechanical work goes, setting the toe/steering wheel center on a CUCV is right there with changing oil or accessory drive belts.

 

[ultim8gamr]

If the order is right, the first picture is of the connecting rod and the second should be the actual tie rod. The steering wheel can be adjusted with the connecting rod.

My mistake I meant the connecting rod. i thought what you are calling the tie rod is the dradlink. Not quite clear on all the terms but i know what needed to be adjusted and know that it did nothing to throw off the toe or camber

 

[ida34]

One point I failed to bring up is a professional alignment will also show if the rear is out of spec. The rear will only be out of spec if something is work or broken but this could be why the steering wheel does not seem centered. The professional alignment will ensure the front tracks the same as the back does. The thing did not come from the factory with a non centered steering wheel so what caused the wheel to be not centered? You could get the wheel centered only to find the thing is dog tracking. For those that do not know, dog tracking is where the vehicle goes down the road slightly sideways. GM cars from the 70's are notorious for this and I have seen several GM trucks doing the same thing. Point being adjusting the connecting rod would correct the steering wheel but may not correct another underlying problem. Basically check all the components for play along with the spring bushings before doing anything. Fix what is not right first. I have even seen axles where the tubes came loose at the pumpkin and the thing was actually flexing back and fourth. The only way to fix this is to weld the tube. We have not heard any more from the original poster so we may just be discussing the topic for no reason.

I can see how calling stuff by different names can confuse things but this was kind of my point. I don't want him to adjust the wrong thing and mess up. Drag ling usually connects from the pitman arm to the tie rod. Sometimes two tie rods connect to the drag link and the drag link connects the pitman arm and an idler arm. The idler arm connects to the chassis to help locate everything on more complex steering systems. The pitman arm is the one that connects to the steering box.

At any rate, I think we are all on the same sheet of music now. Why don't we start another conversation about shooting the pirates?