Steering wheel not centered

Arrgghhh. Sort of tuned out a little when he said the mechanic of 40 years couldn't fix the crooked wheel. He said his tie rods were equal but didn't say how he came to that conclusion. The only way to really tell is to count the threads and that would be tedious. What he adjusted was never meant to be adjusted for the reason he adjusted it. He will now have an unequal turning radius from one side to the other.

The picture he showed of his steering wheel showed it was off by quite a bit so if his tie rods where truly close to the same length he very likely has something bent. Alignment angles properly acquired would plainly show the problem.

 

Hey bud sorry for the late response, now having 8k miles on it, the dealer was a waste of my time. They couldn’t get it right the second time. I’ve decided to adjust the tie rods myself but haven’t had the time to do it.

In my situation I need to move both wheels to the right because when the steering wheel is perfectly centered, the vehicle goes to the left.

to do this the tie rods have to be adjusted opposite of each other but in exactly the same amount. the left has to be shortened in order to push the wheel right (since tie rod is in front of wheel) and the right has to be lengthened in order to push the wheel out (since tie rod is in front of wheel).

someone please correct me if I got this wrong before I start experimenting .

Because my misalignment is fairly small, my goal is to move both tie rods a quarter of a turn only as an initial step.

 

I have done this on my truck. Your thinking is correct. The only thing I would suggest is start with an 1/8 turn on each tie rod (a little went a long way on my truck). Also pay attention to the ball joints at the ends of the rods when you are making the adjustments because they will turn independently of the threads of the tie rod. So it’s best to pin the ball joint whatever way you are turning first, then you will adjust both sides more accurately.

 

I have been waiting to talk to the dealer (I dread this) about this issues when it goes in for it's first service. I bought it in mid October, but I've only got 2,200 miles on it...I'd like to limit how many times I have to go into a dealership (because it's usually a bad experience) so I'm hoping to have the first service AND have them fix this issue......

 

So, shock of all shocks I had my Taco scheduled for its first oil change (only 3,000 miles on it) as well as have them fix my steering wheel… I was just sure I’d get jerked around and be told “sorry, no can do”. But as my wife and I sat there, expecting my trk to be “done” in an hour or so…we kept sitting and the clock kept going and after about 2 hours, I told my wife that they must be working on the steering wheel. After 2 1/2 hours they gave me the keys and said “all done”.

hard to get used to at first with it being perfect!!!!