So I had the steering wheel 'centred' by the dealer today as since delivery, the steering wheel has had a slight, (few degrees), cant to the left when going straight down the road. However, the alignment has been perfect since delivery, so I told the dealer that I only wanted the steering wheel centred, not the alignment checked/'corrected' as it was perfect.

Well, the steering wheel is now canted a few degrees to the right, and perhaps 1-2 degrees more than it was canted to the left!! It is now so annoying that I will have to have it adjusted back the way it was if it cannot truly be centred in a true position.

My ?'s:
If the steering wheel can't be positioned in a true straight position, and I have the dealer return the steering wheel to its original position, (i.e. few degrees left cant), should I have them check the alignment as I'm now thinking that it might be the only way to get the damn steering wheel to be 'straight' when driving straight ahead?

Any thoughts on whether the dealer could really up the alignment, since the car really tracks great from the factory, and I'd hate for that factory alignment to be messed with. (I will state that the dealership is great and have just opened a brand new showroom/shop, so I expect that all of the equipment is top-notch).
TIA,
Bish '06 RRS S/C Bonatti Grey/Ebony/Cherry with RSE; PTI; Electronic Rear Diff and Sirius Sat Radio.

Bish,

My RRS is currently in the shop for the same exact steering wheel positioning issue (to the left but tracking straight). They stated that the vehicle needed an alignment (which should be done by now).. I will pick up my RRS tomorrow and will let you know the results...

Antics 22,
I eagerly await your reply.

RRUK: didn't you have to have your S/C aligned initially?

Was your steering wheel off of centre, or was the car not 'tracking' straight?

Didn't you mention that you also had a slight vibration that was cured after the alignment? I ask since I can now feel a slight vibration at 70-80 mph thru' the steering wheel that was not there before yesterday's steering wheel realignment.
Bish '06 RRS S/C Bonatti Grey/Ebony/Cherry with RSE; PTI; Electronic Rear Diff and Sirius Sat Radio.

I had a similar problem on a different brand of car, but it tured out that the steering angle senser had to be reset. On the car i had it entailed disconnecting the battery for an hour, then starting the car and moving the steering wheel from lock to lock a few times. It's prob a different procedure on the RRS, but its something to look into.

Bish,

Yes, after driving mine for the first week I realised I was correcting the car as it was pulling left, if the steering wheel was centred, I would drift to the right.

They said it was the tracking etc, but in the end the car underwent a full 4 wheel alignment and has cured it, steering wheel now centred and car runs well.

Takes them a few hours and if your car has 20" wheels, they may have to take them off to put 19's on, not sure if this was just my dealer's equipment or if all are like that (If so LR need to update their equipment to allow for 20" alloys and above)

If they DO need to take your wheels off (in hindsight) I'd be making a fuss about potential damage to wheels from airgun wrenches and making sure they are VERY carefull. L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

I too have this problem, but mine drifts to the right (that is to say, the wheel seems to sit a few degrees to the left of center so when I center it the car veers slightly to the right. I don't know if this is what folks are calling "drift" or not.). In response to my previous post on the issue, several others thought it might be the cant in the road (some of our brothers across the pond have theirs the other way around). I haven't had things fixed yet and hope it's not a big deal. tlw '06 RRS HSE Chawton White/Alpaca Lux/PTI/Sirius
'04 Ford F250 Super Duty
'01 Jeep Wrangler
'05 John Deere 5320

My car drifted on it's own when I let go of the wheel, that's the difference I think. It was dangerous to drive in that respect, and long term would have meant tyre replacement sooner than normal as they would have been fighting against the steering all the time.

I would recommend getting it sorted. L319 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB

thebishman wrote:

Antics 22,
I eagerly await your reply.

Bish

Can someone exactly explain how I know the difference between an RRS that needs a real alignment, or simply that the steering wheel is off-center?

I had what was claimed to be a real bad alignment issue, when I got my car about 2 months ago. The dealer I bought it from said it needed a full 4-wheel alignment (the car constantly needed assistance staying straight, as it kept going to the right) , they took it for a few days. When I got it back the situation seemed to have reversed itself, but not as great (It shifted to the left now. I had to keep the steering wheel to the right a little bit to compensate)

Two more times I took it to the dealer, both times they said that the vehicle was aligned, but that possibly the steering wheel column might be off by a degree or two.

So they adjusted the steering wheel column...and still had the same issue.

It got to a point where the manager of the dealership drove it with me on the passenger side, and stated that the "tracks" well, but the steering wheel is a little bit off. He was gracious enough to adjust within the the hour, and ride it out for me again.

For some reason, I still feel something is off. I'm not sure if it alignment issues, steering wheel issues, or simply the level of the roads I drive on.

In general the car sometimes struggles to stay straight, if I try to perfectly align the steering wheel (it shifts to the left). I have to compensate for this by shifting the steering wheel to the right a bit.

Can someone explain to me how I can self-diagnose this issue?


Thanks and any help is appreciated,
Amado

I own an S/C and the steering is extremely sensitive, i.e. just a slight movement of the wheel has the car turning; (reminds me of my 993 C2S I used to own that way). Anyway, any imperfection in the camber of the road will have the car track that way, therefore it can be difficult to analyze an alignment problem. However, IF you can identify a straight section of road with decent camber, release the wheel as you are going straight; if the steering wheel is still not centered while the car tracks straight, then you still need an alignment to center the steering wheel. Other members of the board here have had an alignment that cured both the pulling to one side issue, and the off centered steering wheel issue.
Bish '06 RRS S/C Bonatti Grey/Ebony/Cherry with RSE; PTI; Electronic Rear Diff and Sirius Sat Radio.