Replaced all tie rods - Steering Wheel off Center- What to do?

[heimlich]

All ties rods and ball joints have been replaced and now the steering wheel is not centered.

Is this something an alignment shop can fix or should I be concerned they will return the car off centered?

Is there something I should ask for when having them to do the alignment so that everything is adjusted correctly?

[57BLITZ]

Take a look at fig.85 found on page 45 in your Bentley manual . . . it tells you EXACTLY what you need to do!
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Jesucristo es mi Señor y Salvador!

[ach60]

The Steering wheel plastic is old and fragile, do not remove it.
The steering wheel is off to one side you simply need to make some tie rod adjustments.
Adjusting one tie rod a 1/4 turn shorter, and adjusting the other tie rod a 1/4 turn longer will change the steering wheel angle,
but keep the toe adjustment the same.
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Good Luck
Al

[heimlich]

[catahoula lou]

In case you need to adjust toe-in after centering your steering wheel, this is the technique that I use:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=665755&highlight=

Best,
Thom
_________________
1 great wife
2 Catahoula Leopard Dogs (Mahogany Star and Spartan) - RIP Lucy, Braveheart, & Dusty!
1 1959 mango green Ragtop Bug (the "Mango")
1 1958 pantina red Lowlight Ghia (the "Chili Pepper")

Still looking for:
(1) My Dad's 1955 356 (he raced it amateur-class at Riverside and other courses during 1950s),
(2) My parent's black 1955 hardtop bug (CA license plate FWC 201 or FWG 201), and
(3) My parent's agave green 1957 ragtop bug (CA license plate LFK 734).

[Cusser]

[57BLITZ]

[Tim Donahoe]

Just take the car to an alignment shop that is proficient with vintage cars. You need an alignment. It's a pretty standard procedure.

Pay the money and know that your tires will last much longer. I know that some of the more experienced folks on this forum can do this job, but the custom alignment shop I go to uses state of the art equipment, and when he's done, my front end is perfect.

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[heimlich]

That was my plan but I wanted to make sure they fix the centering issue. if they just align it the tie rods will be off center.

[sjbartnik]

[TX-73]

[sjbartnik]

[Tom Butler]

I just recently replaced my tie rods and center drag link (Super beetle DEATH SHAKE)

I aligned it myself afterward by putting some plastic bags under the front wheels (so they could rotate easier) and then I put jackstands on all four corners and made a box with twine to measure off of.


Toe'd in 1 millish on each front.

havent had any issues with it (drove it on the free way and everything)

So it can be done. Just takes some fiddling.

Im sure its not 100 percent laser lined or anything but it has worked fine for me and I plan to keep an eye on them to see if they wear weird or anything.
_________________
1971 Super Beetle
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=674120

Proud Member Pata De Perro Vw Club

[Tim Donahoe]

A proper, professional alignment will automatically center your steering wheel. That is, unless the steering wheel was removed and somehow put back on willy-nilly, without the wheels straight ahead.

My steering wheel was off by about 60 degrees when I first got my bug. The tires were also worn on one side of each tire. I got it aligned and the steering wheel being centered was a part of the job. They didn't remove and re-install the wheel. They simply aligned the front end.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Cusser]

Installing all that stuff and having alignment and steering wheel centering being OK would be rarer than O.J. finding "the real killer" !!!!
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[eashc]

Heres a helpful tip if you insist on doing it yourself, spring tension curtian rod

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=670939

[Cusser]

[ashman40]

There are three variables here and I've yet to see an alignment shop take all three into consideration.

Centered steering wheel

Proper front end alignment; toe-in. Caster and camber should also be checked but don't impact the steering wheel alignment.

Wheels straight ahead centered in range of motion (L-R)

The alignment shop will likely take into consideration the last two items. The wheels will be straight ahead and in the center of the range of motion, but if the steering wheel isn't centered, oh well.

One shop properly aligned my front end and had my steering wheel centered, but the wheels were centered with about 60% range of motion to one side and only 40% to the other. That was annoying.

The worst was a shop that only did the toe-in adjustment and called it done. That's all they did.
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AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[57BLITZ]

[heimlich]

I took my vehicle to have it aligned. I told them specifically that the turning radius was off on one side. They gave it back to me and told me it was the rear wheel being out of align to blame.

I checked it and it was still off. Come to find out the alignment shop aligns the front tires based on the steering wheel. The center the steering wheel and then they align the tires. The are going to fix it for me by aligning it to the gearbox.

Keep this in mind if you redo your tie rods. Let the mechanic know.