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Aligned, but steering wheel upside down?

N

Nuthinfancy

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Michigan
So I had some work done on my XJ today and when all was done with the alignment the jeep came off the rack with the steering wheel completly turned upside down. They aligned the steering and the gear box, the pitman arm was never removed, what in the world would cause this?

Thanks
 
Trackbar /draglink and a really shitty alignment shop!
 
Yea I had a brand new track bar put on today by the offroad shop and the sent it over to an alignment shop. Im thinkin about takin it back to the alignment shop and telling them to finish the job cause this is bulshit, it really is!
 
How much lift?Who's trackbar?
 
Make sure they put it back on the rack to reset the wheel. They might try to just go drive it and adjust the draglink sleeve to fix it but that will throw the toe out of spec (if it was ever in spec?)
 
First center the axle,then re-nter the steering wheel(piece of cake)!
 
Well they said everything was centered and when they took it off the rack it was upside down and they didnt know why, and I sure as hell dont know why. I have a sheet of specs about toe, caster, camber, etc. that the shop printed out for me, if it even matters.
 
They need to re-do the whole job. Start over in the correct order- track bar, control arm adjustment, toe/center wheel. The last two are done more or less simultaneously since moving the wheel changes toe slightly.
 
just make sure you dont run out of threads on the draglink collar.I had to extend mine!
 
isnt this something the alignment shop should check for before they let your rid leave the shop. get them to fix this free of charge. id be pissed.
 
RCP Phx said:
First center the axle,then re-nter the steering wheel(piece of cake)!
Click to expand...

Their alignment machine may not be able to read if your track is out. Once you center the axle, the steering wheel will probably be pretty close to right. Then it's just minor adjustments with the toe.
 
Toe-in has nothing to do with the drag-link adjustment.
 
RCP Phx said:
Toe-in has nothing to do with the drag-link adjustment.
Click to expand...

It actually does, but it is very small. As you shorten or lengthen the drag link, it slightly changes the angle. If you are using an standard drag link/tie rod configuration, the attachment point between the drag link and tie rod moves up and down a bit, in effect shortening or lengthening the distance between the wheels.

Having said all that, the amount it changes is not normally enough to worry about.

The big thing to worry about is having the same number of turns from center to lock in both directions. It can effect how sharp you can turn in one direction. Secondly, if you do not center the Saginaw unit, the unit will tend to not want to stay running straight, but to wander.
 
WheelsUp said:
Their alignment machine may not be able to read if your track is out. Once you center the axle, the steering wheel will probably be pretty close to right. Then it's just minor adjustments with the toe.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it probably has nothing to do with the axle being center. The 4x4 shop should have known enough to center the jeep with the axle.

The draglink needs adjusted...the alignment shop probably only adjusted the tierod end on the drivers side.
 
JJacobs said:
They need to re-do the whole job. Start over in the correct order- track bar, control arm adjustment, toe/center wheel. The last two are done more or less simultaneously since moving the wheel changes toe slightly.
Click to expand...

X2

If they follow the directions, this won't happen. The rack I've used has a clamp that holds the wheel centered while you adjust the draglink and toe. If you have an alignment tech that doesn't know why your wheel came out upside down, you need to speak to his manager.
 
I guess it was the trackbar, they said it was extended too much, dont know how my offroad shop messed that up, but they were really sorry and it was fixed for free :)

Only took about 2 hours of playing games between the alignment shop and the offroad shop.
 
old_man said:
The big thing to worry about is having the same number of turns from center to lock in both directions. It can effect how sharp you can turn in one direction. Secondly, if you do not center the Saginaw unit, the unit will tend to not want to stay running straight, but to wander.
Click to expand...

Old man I am glad you say this. After swapping in a TBT aluminum tie rod and resetting my tow etc my steering wheel has been off to the left and I have been to lazy to fix it. Since then It drives much like a lawn tractor would at highway speeds. I will re-center the wheel this weekend and see if that helps any. I didn't put anythought into that making a difference at all.
 
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