Steering Wheel not straight (crooked) after wheel allignment at Firestone. twice

Sure you can adjust the tie rods and get the steering wheel straight. But then chances are the alignment will be off. The key is to find someone to align it that gives a damn. Hopefully I don't offend any techs here but at most chain places I've had experience with I wouldn't trust them to change skateboard wheels. I've done my own alignments in the past with a camber/caster gauge and a tape measure for the toe setting. Works surprisingly well. But takes way too long and ultimately isn't as accurate as a real alignment rack.

 

I have to agree with this ^ ! You are on the right track by first taking it back and by going to a different Firestone. I personally don't like Firestone! I use Goodyear! I have had this happen on my other Tacoma and it bugged the shit out of me so I took it back and had them make it right.

 

It might be faster to just do it yourself. I corrected mine like this:
1. Drive the truck and park it so that you know the wheels are going straight.
2. Reach up from underneath the truck to the steering rack and remove the 12 mm bolt on the splined connection that links the steering shaft to the steering rack. Then wiggle the connector off of the steering rack.
3. Position the steering wheel so that it is straight. You can run the seat belt through it to hold it in place.
4. Wiggle the connector back on to the shaft on the steering rack and put the 12 mm bolt back in.

This took me about 15 min to do.

 

Laziness on the alignment techs part. They need to use a steering wheel lock before performing the task. Centering the wheel first is critical. And unless you lock the wheel....it will move around some while making adjustments.

 

^^^

 

Heres the allignment report from last saturday. can any one please help me understand if any of the numbers are wrong in there. The manager at firestone did say that they couldnt adjust the Caster anymore so thats why both actuals are pretty close to each other.

 

It's pretty clear you have no faith in their work. Why continue to go there?

 

lol. I paid for lifetime wheel allignment.

 

Not exactly my point. But okay then.

 

Is the steering wheel straight on a flat ? Keep in mind that most roads have a crown which will cause you to slightly turn the wheel to go straight.

 

there are a couple of issues. If I hold the steering wheel straight and drive on a flat surface, then the truck tends to drift to the drivers side. I have to hold the steering wheel a little turned towards the passenger side for it to drive straight. This is very noticable on freeway because I am driving faster there.

The other issue is that when I am driving and make a turn on another street, the steering wheel is supposed to come to straight (horizontal) position. but this doesnt happen. it comes back but crooked towards the passenger side as shown in the first image. I was reading some stuff today and it said this might be happening because the Caster was out of spec

 

Is there a caster eccentric installed on the lower control arm?

 

i am not sure what that looks like. do you have a picture?

 

See the first post on this page

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-lca-bushing-replacement-2005-tacoma-4x4.176250/page-15

 

You paid them for a lifetime of return visits. So they can sell you repair services, that you really don't need. That they need, in order to pay their mortgage and employees.

 

Not just Toyota I bought a Ford that was off quite a bit

 

If they can't do the job right the first time, it won't matter if you can go back to them every day for the next 10 years.

Find a local shop with REAL mechanics or go to the dealership.

 

^ If it's not they didn't do a good job. The steering wheel should be fixed in place when the toe is set dead on center then you set the toe.

 

I used to work at Firestone, well quit recently. I bought 4 tires & did my own alignment. Everything was dead on (Camber, Caster, & Toe) but steering wheel was crooked to the left. It annoyed me.
Then it hit me that when I bought the truck brand new, the steering wheel was also crooked to the left. Took it back to the dealer & get it fixed.
Apparently, prior working at Firestone I worked at Lexus. All brand-new Lexus GX460 steering wheel is crooked to the left.
So only way to fix it is have to set the alignment with steering wheel BARELY slight to the right (JUST BARELY). Vehicle drives straight & steering wheel is straight.

Took my truck to my friend shop to see if he can set my alignment & same thing. Steering wheel is still off-centered. His alignment machine was recently serviced & calibrated.

Just tell the technician to set your alignment slight right. It will compensate road crown as well.

 

OK ????