Steering question.

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FlDart360

FlDart360

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Steering question

If your car goes down the road Straight but your steering wheel is off center what should you adjust first? The previous owner did have the steering box and steering column out of the car at one time. The car is a 71 Dodge dart with manual steering.
 
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How far off center? "A" body? At top of column, steering wheel attaches to shaft with a master spline. Is it correctly installed? At bottom of column, the shaft is attached to the box again with a master spline. Is this correctly installed? Pitman arm is attached to the box with a master spline. Is that correctly installed? If all parts are correctly installed, then you need a front end alignment. Probably you will need to shorten the turnbuckles on one side and lengthen them on the other side to point the wheels straight ahead.
 
FlDart360 said:
Steering question

If your car goes down the road Straight but your steering wheel is off center what should you adjust first? The previous owner did have the steering box and steering column out of the car at one time. The car is a 71 Dodge dart with manual steering.
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Steering wheel center point is set with toe in...
 
turn the tie rod adjusters equal amounts to center up the wheel and recheck toe-in .
 
dogbreath said:
turn the tie rod adjusters equal amounts to center up the wheel and recheck toe-in .
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Ok thanks my Plan is to work on this this weekend. I was hoping this might be something I can easily correct. I thought you could just take off the steering wheel and move it a couple of Teeth on the steering shaft but now I realize it has a key way . Can I check toe in with a String?
 
The male master spline is on the male steering shaft. With a small file, just a couple of minutes to make it disappear but... the steering wheel might not come off without a puller tool. You probably have the tools needed to adjust at tie rods.
 
Before i start on this here is some more info to add to the original post. My steering wheel is exactly a 1/4 turn away from center. Before i start playing with the toe-in i was curious if this issue might be fixed by disconnecting at the steering box and moving the coupling ?
IMG_0082.jpg
 
This is a major pet peeve of mine. I can't stand my steering wheel to be crooked while going straight down the road. My buddy has aligned my car twice and both times he locks my steering wheel in the correct position before making ANY adjustments to the alignment. Pulling shafts and filing the master spline off seem to be a way around this, but not the correct way.
 
That isn't a OEM coupling or assembly. looks like there is a square something there that can be repositioned 1/4 turn.
 
BrianT I agree it visually bothers me maybe I'll just add more spokes to my steering wheel to give it a symmetrical look LOL. I just hate to start messing with my toe-in because the car goes down the road fine.
 
:steering:Success I was able to loosen the coupling connecting the steering column to the steering box then loosen the bolts holding the steering Column. Pull the steering column back about two inches to disengage it, then re engage the steering wheel in the correct position and push everything back together. Really was surprisingly easy.
 
Factory units are splined for one posistion that is “true center”.

If installed correctly and tow adjusted with the wheel locked straight you will have no issues.

By moving the coupler with an aftermarket setup like that, have you now compromised lock to lock center? No need to grind the center spline when done correctly.
 
FlDart360 said:
:steering:Success I was able to loosen the coupling connecting the steering column to the steering box then loosen the bolts holding the steering Column. Pull the steering column back about two inches to disengage it, then re engage the steering wheel in the correct position and push everything back together. Really was surprisingly easy.
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Now check to see how many turns you have each way left and right from centered on the steering wheel.
I hope they are at least close to equal.
 
One thing I learned in Florida as an alignment tech was the road crown. In that state most the roads have a high crown to center, no mater how great it looked on the level rack the wheel would be off center sometimes due to it. Test drives always fetted that out and any fine tunes that where required to make the customer smile.
 
I drove it around the subdivision and it seems fine. I'll jack it up today and check to see what i have for left and right turns. It wouldn't be the first time i have created a new problem for myself. Either Way there is something about this car that makes it fun to work on. And thank you to all that help my thru the process.
 
RedFish said:
The male master spline is on the male steering shaft. With a small file, just a couple of minutes to make it disappear but... the steering wheel might not come off without a puller tool. You probably have the tools needed to adjust at tie rods.
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You dont want to do this as it will change how your turn signals cancel.
 
I guess I got lucky and fixed two problems because now my turn signals work correctly,before they required manual manipulation. I can't explain it, but thanks for the input. I do think at some point down the road i will look into a 16:1 Box but for now i'm content.
 
GMachineDartGT said:
You dont want to do this as it will change how your turn signals cancel.
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FlDart360 said:
I guess I got lucky and fixed two problems because now my turn signals work correctly,before they required manual manipulation. I can't explain it, but thanks for the input. I do think at some point down the road i will look into a 16:1 Box but for now i'm content.
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Master spline has no effect on signal switch operation.
The actuator for signal cancel cam is on the back of the steering wheel. When you corrected the wheel position relative to the cancel cam you also corrected that actuators position.
 
I just wanted to clarify that i never removed the steering wheel the only disconnection was the steering column from the steering box.
 
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