Alignment issue

I had my Fleetwood aligned. It was still chopping up the outside edge of my new vogues and the wheel wasnt exactly straight. Went back, had it re aligned, right in spec perfectly. Wheel still not straight... even more off center now... when wheel is cocked it goes straight down the road. What else can I look at??? Any way I can straighten the wheel via steering column?

GasTT wrote:

I had my Fleetwood aligned. It was still chopping up the outside edge of my new vogues and the wheel wasnt exactly straight. Went back, had it re aligned, right in spec perfectly. Wheel still not straight... even more off center now... when wheel is cocked it goes straight down the road. What else can I look at??? Any way I can straighten the wheel via steering column?

Steering box? Almost sounds like my car when I had the tires installed. Back when I had it aligned, guy at the alignment place told me the steering box had a lot of play so it wasn't 100%

Before they start the alignment, the wheel should be pinned straight up 1st.
THEN they can check & see if either of the tie rods is unevenly adjusted
How long did you drive it before the alignment?
If it was to long you'll have to swap sides with the tires to get straight back.
It sounds messed up, but the tires set pretty quick.
Before you pull anything apart swap tires side to side & see if it straightens out.
You can undo the steering shaft & jump a spline but that would indicate that:
1) something is wrong with the geometry
2) someone did that before

Before I had it re aligned I rotated the tires front to back.

They didn't hold the wheel straight, Ive had it done many times and the steering wheel straight, and they adjusted the tires to that.

I am with Steve Tim. Swap the two front tires. Better yet swap the two fronts side to side, THEN swap fronts with rear on each side. This will get both tires rotating in a direction to correct them, and get them off the front all together. The rears should be flat across the tread. If the alignment is correct, this should fix your issue.

GasTT wrote:

Before I had it re aligned I rotated the tires front to back.

Go to a different shop.
From your description, someones doing something wrong

Swapping tires side to side only cures a pulling issue. If the car drives straight but the wheel is crooked, then the wheel wasn't centered properly. You can get your alignment printout to be dead on the nuts on the screen with a wheel not centered. Sure the steering box probably has some play but if the wheel is properly centered then it should be straight. Go back and complain. You could even ask them if you can center the wheel yourself, then have them adjust the toe to spec..

GasTT wrote:

Before I had it re aligned I rotated the tires front to back.

Sorry, I was writing when you posted that.

The steering wheel may be keyed. Assuming everything else is OK with the alignment (and tires) all you need to do is turn the tie rod adjustment sleeves the same amount on each side. You want to move the wheels toward the direction that the steering wheel is off. The outer tie rods have right hand threads. Mark 'em before you start and be keep track of which way you turn them. That's what I'd do after I got my money back.

Find an older guy that has been doing alignments for 20-30 years.

My Caddy is the same way after I rebuilt the front end. It drives straight as an arrow but the wheel is off by almost a quarter turn. The wheels are keyed so you would have to adjust it at the tie rod end adjusters.

Tomz9C1 wrote:

Find an older guy that has been doing alignments for 20-30 years.

That's who's doing it. The guy is older than dirt and does alignments all day. He isn't thrilled with my car due to the rear wheel skirts. I'm going to bring it back again and he is going to resolve it for me.

GasTT wrote:

Tomz9C1 wrote:

Find an older guy that has been doing alignments for 20-30 years.

..... The guy is older than dirt and does alignments all day.......

HEY!!!!Watch your mouth you young whipper snapper

20-30 years in a business DOES NOT EQUAL older then dirt

20-30 years in a business > dirt

Tomz9C1 wrote:

Find an older guy that has been doing alignments for 20-30 years.

Older guy strategy,,,
Thats not a sure bet either.
I'm pretty sure that I've been doing SOME things wrong for at least that long!

The most important thing to get done correctly first:
Make sure the the steering gear box is "centered" within itself.
There are several things that could have "gone out" causing this issue.
See that the alignment mark in the steering input shaft is oriented correctly,
- this is the basis for all other adjustments.
A good alignment guy should have stopped to see where the problem was as soon as he had finished setting the adjustments "to the book", had the results given him a steering wheel that was not centered, straight up.
Then he'd be looking for bent frame horns, incorrect or improperly set tie rod ends, worn upper &/or lower control arm bushings etc., etc.,

BTW, on my own B-bodies I always set the caster to as far positive as the adjustments will allow,
for the improved cornering benefits it brings, & that would be: 6-9 degrees - (UBJ leaned back).

If they guy had done it right the first time, he would've taken it in a 2minute road toast and noticed the wheel was off center, and then realigned it. Skirts aren't a big deal I dont know why he'd be mad about those, you just have to put the target on sideways pretty much.