Steering wheel slightly off center but truck drives straight, so....

2017 TRD

I didn't really notice until now, but I do have an oil change coming up. The steering wheel is just a bit over to the left, but when I coast down the road the truck drives straight so its not pulling to any side or anything.

Is this something I NEED to address? I'm on West Coast heading back in a couple months to home. Wouldn't mind not spending the $$ until I get home but does this sound like a minor thing or should I get a front end alignment before heading back east?

Thanks if you can answer and no sweat if you can't.

JF

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/crooked-steering-wheel.530134/

Post #14

 

Go to Firestone and pay the $160 for the lifetime alignment. Best investment I’ve made repair wise, can get an alignment every 6 months or 5,000 miles as long as you own your truck.

 

If you at all care about quality of work performed on your truck, stay away from Firestone and their alignments.

 

sounds like the steering wheel was pulled then put back on one or two sprockets off. Should be an easy fix.

 

Why do you assume this? They’re going to do an alignment the same as the dealership, they give you a print out of your alignment specs and where I go they will even set it to what you request. Some are not just toe and go. Think of how many people are getting alignments there daily and how many are having major issues after. If you’re getting regular alignments then it should not be an issue. Not going to pay $100+ every year for a performance shop to align my truck when I’m putting highway miles on it and not jumping sand dunes.

 

Adjust your tie rods a couple flats on both sides in the correct direction until the steering wheel is straight

or the rod itself up to a quarter turn at a time before road test inspect

 

This.

Off center steering wheel if you had an alignment already means a lazy tech. Road hazards can also do this. Turn one rod in and the other out same number of turns until your wheel is straight if you are not having any tracking or weird camber issues.

 

So, you had a bad experience at your local Firestone and that = every tech at every Firestone around the country is no good? I’ve bought Firestone lifetime alignments on my last 4 vehicles and have only had to have them realign something once in between normal tire rotations.

 

I think you’ll be fine. Get it fixed if it annoys you but don’t sweat it. In my experience, it doesn’t take much to knock the alignment off. I’ve had my done twice in 15k and think I need another.

 

alignments arent expense, just get it done and be done with it.

 

About as much as 2 tanks of gas.

 

If Firestone deems something outside of their realm of possibilities, they’ll tell you to load a parts cannon and start firing. This is especially true if the truck is not stock.
They’ll try to convince you that parts need to be replaced on an otherwise new truck if they can’t get things in the green/zeroed out.
Take it to a alignment specialist and it’s not a problem.
Basically, anything that requires any problem solving, they’ll tell you replace parts.
This is in between 3 different Firestone’s.
My 2¢, you like ‘em, awesome

 

Good deal on the price and a forever thing but I’m not sure of the quality of work as mentioned above. likely different from shop to shop. It’s tough once in a while to find honest folks.

 

Ah, this is advice.

 

I off road quite a bit and my steering wheel was not tracking straight either after one session. Took it to the dealer. They did a "zero point reset" Basically my alignment was not off, but my steering wheel had been jarred. They set it back to the "zero point"

 

alignment machines can screw up as well.
It’s standard for a tech to perform road test post alignment to verify/quality check and make additional tweaks if needed to meet customer expectation. It is literally the only thing a customer sees besides a dramatic pull which is unlikely. And looks at every day, used to how it looks.

such as the minor tie rod adjustment to center toe one minute of a degree, knowing that everything else is already set (camber, caster)

there are many factors that can alter an alignment machine. Such as if the read head is centered or not. Or other things. The TRD sport wheel is easier to center for example, because the spokes have waves in them to eyeball if it’s even on all sides. Other wheel designs are sometimes goofy.

only once in my life have I met someone out of their mind enough to not drive/quality check. Resulting in a crooked steering wheel of course.

What does Firestone pay their techs?