steering wheel off center

[Germanshepherd]

question. test drove a jeep today, first one with zero rust on the frame, looked brand new underneath. the steering wheel was off center but what I would say was a lot. I experienced this after an alignment with other vehicles and took it back and they fixed it but it was only off a little bit in those instances.

the Jeeps was off by what I would say maybe 4 inches, for example driving straight, the steering wheel looked like it was turned to the left about 4 inches but still going straight.
is this something an alignment would fix on a wrangler? I would not even care if it were 100% straight but the way it was annoyed my OCD. thanks

PS, its bone stock by the way.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

An off-center steering wheel can either mean it just needs a 5 minute adjustment, or it could mean that either the tie rod, track bar, or less likely the drag link is bent. None of those potential issues are serious or expensive to fix. Look at the tie rod first to see if it is bent. That one is easy to tell since it is supposed to be straight. Then look at the drag link which is supposed to be mostly straight too. The track bar is a little trickier to see if it is bent since it is supposed to be bent somewhat but that's the least likely one to have gotten bent while offroading.

Or maybe nothing is bent and the drag link's adjustment sleeve half-way down the drag link just needs to be rotated one way or the other to straighten the wheel.

The bottom line is that it's not a big or expensive deal if the steering wheel isn't quite straight. It's easily and inexpensively adjusted out or fixed with a replacement tie rod or drag link... neither of which is expensive or difficult to replace.

 

[Germanshepherd]

Jerry, thank you very much. This is comforting to know and this info is awesome. I will def check this out. Thx

 

[Chris]

X2 to everything Jerry said, it's dead on!

 

[fljeeper]

X2 to everything Jerry said, it's dead on!

My sons 97 had the same problem when we bought it. It took about five minutes to fix and we got it perfect on the first try. I had him sit in the Jeep with the wheels straight and he told me when the steering wheel was straight as I adjusted the drag link.

 

[Chris]

Yep. The steering wheel in my TJ was off center. Took me maybe 5 minutes at most adjusting the drag link and it was back to center. Just gotta play around with the adjustment enough until you get it where you want it.

 

[Germanshepherd]

thank you all for the replies. This is such a helpful site. I belong to another forum and stopped posting as I got tired of the snarky comments, especially towards newbies.
you guys are all always very helpful and courteous and much appreciated.
Pretty sure I am going to buy this Jeep. I am just thrilled to find one with no frame rust at all, not even surface rust. no body rust either. the only issue is, and I can live with this for now, is a slight grind going into third gear but when I test drove it, if I double clutched going into third, it went into gear smoothly but even when I did shift normally, the grind was not too bad.
The seller owns and auto repair shop and said it was the synchros and he could replace tranny with a used one for around 8k. he just deals with jeeps and has a lot of sources for used trannys. most come from jeeps that rusted out or deemed a total loss but have good trannys.


I will already be budgeting to get it fixed someday assuming I buy it but with double shifting and at times, can even skip third, I can live it it for now. my mustang has a similar issue with 2nd gear and been driving it for 10 years by double clutching it no issues. I forgot to even ask him about the steering wheel.

its just a plain all stock black TJ so nothing spectacular but really drove nice, solid clutch, engine, everything worked, no lights on etc. brand new softop and exhaust/catalytic converter and rust free all around.

 

[richtw]

There's a couple of videos that show this....here's one:
details at:http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/steering-wheel-off-center-1236093/

I've had my Jeep for a year...has same issue but I don't notice it any more. Eventually I'll get underneath and fix it

 

[Germanshepherd]

Thx. TE="richtw, post: 19698, member: 869"]There's a couple of videos that show this....here's one:
details at:http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/steering-wheel-off-center-1236093/

I've had my Jeep for a year...has same issue but I don't notice it any more. Eventually I'll get underneath and fix it[/QUOTE]
Thx. Came across these vids last night. Seems simple enough.

 

[Germanshepherd]

An off-center steering wheel can either mean it just needs a 5 minute adjustment, or it could mean that either the tie rod, track bar, or less likely the drag link is bent. None of those potential issues are serious or expensive to fix. Look at the tie rod first to see if it is bent. That one is easy to tell since it is supposed to be straight. Then look at the drag link which is supposed to be mostly straight too. The track bar is a little trickier to see if it is bent since it is supposed to be bent somewhat but that's the least likely one to have gotten bent while offroading.

Or maybe nothing is bent and the drag link's adjustment sleeve half-way down the drag link just needs to be rotated one way or the other to straighten the wheel.

The bottom line is that it's not a big or expensive deal if the steering wheel isn't quite straight. It's easily and inexpensively adjusted out or fixed with a replacement tie rod or drag link... neither of which is expensive or difficult to replace.
View attachment 4924

Hello, well I found out my lower passenger side control arm bracket is bent. the shop said that needs fixed before they can straighten the steering wheel and then do an alignment. they can straighten the steering wheel but without fixing the bracket, tires will wear very fast. they referred me to a body shop to take a look at it and body shop said they can try to straighten it out or better yet, just weld in a new one for the same price other than cost of the part. labor will only be 100 bucks.
I want to order the part for them but want to be sure I get the right one. its a stock jeep as far as I know. I generally like to use amazon for everything and found some on their site and seems they all would fit for the most part. attached is photo of bent part

would this product fit? the descriptions for all of them say its used to relocate the control arm but I am not relocating anything, just replacing a bent one so just want to be sure this is what I need. thanks

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ID8EU0C/?tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[Stockli]

I had this happen again n my XJ eventually the bracket failed. I put the bracket in your post on and it fixed everything. Just make sure you get the right ones for your axles.

 

[Germanshepherd]

I had this happen again n my XJ eventually the bracket failed. I put the bracket in your post on and it fixed everything. Just make sure you get the right ones for your axles.

hi, dumb question but how do I know what axle I have. also, most of the brackets do not ask for an axle size, just says fits all 1997-2006 wranglers.

since the brackets I am looking at are from Rubicon express, wonder if its more geared for rubicons. trying to find bracket for under 6o bucks

 

[Stockli]

hi, dumb question but how do I know what axle I have. also, most of the brackets do not ask for an axle size, just says fits all 1997-2006 wranglers.

since the brackets I am looking at are from Rubicon express, wonder if its more geared for rubicons. trying to find bracket for under 6o bucks

Should be a Dana 30. I recall them asking me what axle was on the jeep. I think some jeeps had Dana 44 on them.

And no rubicon express is just a brand

 

[Germanshepherd]

Should be a Dana 30. I recall them asking me what axle was on the jeep. I think some jeeps had Dana 44 on them.

And no rubicon express is just a brand

went out and looked at it and on lower right corner it has a 12 stamped on it where one chart shows that is the model number but never heard of a dana 12.

just found a pix of a dana 30 and 44 and looks like the 30 on my jeep. so these brackets I found on amazon will work? thanks

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Yep your front axle is definitely a Dana 30.

 

[Germanshepherd]

Yep your front axle is definitely a Dana 30.

thanks Jerry, wonder what that 12 means stamped on the lower right where the model number is to be... but thx for also confirming its a DANA 30.