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Centering steering wheel

2

2000bluexj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Mass
I had this theory. If i disconnected my draglink at the pitman arm, Then center the steering wheel, adjusted the TRE on the pitman end of the draglink to connect to the pitman arm, all while keeping the tires in the same position, would this effectively center my steering wheel without affecting my toe?
 
you don't need to disconnect the draglink, just point your tires straight as if it were driving down the road(forget what it's actually called, i'm sure you know what i mean), then loosen up the adjustor piece of the draglink, and twist it until your steering wheel is centered, then tighten the draglink back up...
 
Yes but wont that chenge my toe? Thats why i had my theory. That way you are not chenging the length of the draglink between to fixed points. You would just lengthening it to reach the same point keep the realationship the same.
 
Well, if you do what you're saying, I think you will be making the pitman arm off-center... Although, I'm not sure the toe would be adversely affected by just toying with the adjustor? Even if it is...no big deal. Grab a tape measure and a friend and have fun for a little bit
 
If i center the steering wheel that would center the pitman arm. Then just sdjust the TRE and reattach. Just adjusting the adjuster would work if it was a true crossover steering or an inverted T setup, but with the inverted Y i think Adjusting the length of that draglink would cahnge the toe
 
hmm. I don't know... I think something will get affected one way or the other, though. The steering wheel is off because of lift height, I'm assuming...therefore there must be other things out of whack also and needing some sort of adjustment? I'm interested in others' opinions also!
 
The steering wheel is off after lifting because of the drag link being at a different angle. But if you adjust it, and the angle changes, that also affects the toe because of the Y link. The way I'm visualizing it though, it would be a very slight change
 
Last edited:
It shouldn't affect the toe adjustment that much. If you lengthen or shorten the drag link say, 3/8s of an inch, it won't change the operating angle of the drag link much. The only way the tie rod is affected is when the drag link angle changes.

You should be able to center the steering wheel without having a huge change in toe.

Edit: Lift will affect the drag link angle.
 
It has been lifted for about a year and a half. I know lift height changes the draglink. I have had it aligned and my steering is off center because they never fixed that. I think its also off because my trac bar isnt adjusted enough. It is over tot he drivers side by about a half inch. I need to swap my coils from one side to another because one side is lower than the other. After i fix this issue i will go about the steering wheel. Its not off much but it annoys me. I was just wanting to know if there was a way to do with out changing my toe
 
I don't think you would be able to even get the steering wheel straight if you used the splines on the steering box for the adjustment. They would be a far coarser adjustment than adjusting the sleeve on the draglink.

Why go through all the bother of doing it by yanking all these tie rod ends loose? It's literally a 20 minute process doing it with a tape measure. At the very least, that would get you close enough to get it into a shop to have someone else do the alignment.
 
Right, that's what I'm thinking. Good point with the coarseness of the pitman arm too, didn't think of that. But I'd be kind of worried about pulling tie rod ends because it's "easier", when that risks the chance of one of them being bad and having to be replaced. Better IMHO to just leave the ends untouched and toy around with the sleeve to see where that gets ya.
 
It has been aligned. I am NOT removing the pitman arm. Just the draglink at the pitman arm, centering the steering wheel and adjusting the TRE to bolt back into the pitman arm.
 
Right. I knew that, idk why my mind slipped for a second there...:dunno::jester:
 
2000bluexj said:
It has been aligned. I am NOT removing the pitman arm. Just the draglink at the pitman arm, centering the steering wheel and adjusting the TRE to bolt back into the pitman arm.
Click to expand...

Then forego removing the draglink and just use the sleeve. You are making more work for yourself for no good end. The net result of your theory would be the same as if you just loosen the sleeve and adjust the wheel accordingly. If you don't get it right the first time, it's as simple as loosening two bolt and turning the sleeve and trying again. It will not significantly affect your toe and can even be done on the side of the road so you can road test the steering wheel immediately.
 
I agree... I don't think you're going to have any noticeable gain by going to all the extra trouble...
 
2000bluexj said:
It has been lifted for about a year and a half. I know lift height changes the draglink. I have had it aligned and my steering is off center because they never fixed that. I think its also off because my trac bar isnt adjusted enough. It is over tot he drivers side by about a half inch. I need to swap my coils from one side to another because one side is lower than the other. After i fix this issue i will go about the steering wheel. Its not off much but it annoys me. I was just wanting to know if there was a way to do with out changing my toe
Click to expand...

I doubt the coil swap will help, I was in the same situation, with the axle off center to the drivers side, and the jeep leaning too... swapped the coils (only took a half hour! Haha), but it didn't help. I redrilled the track bar mount (still gonna get an adjustable though, I need it fo sho) to relocate the axle, expecting it to help... to no avail. I think it may be the rear leafs, AH!

Anyways, I need to re-center the steering wheel too, I was concerned about extending the drag link, but everyone agrees that is the correct way to do it?
 
Got it done. Worked fine. I just adjusted the sleeve. I guess my theory wasnt a good one after all. Thanks for the replies.
 
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