Steering Wheel Crooked After Alignment

[whreed]

Went in for my first oil change, asked them about alignment since the truck pulls a little. They said after that my steering wheel was crooked and they can't fix it. What? I thought when alignment was done they would put something on the steering wheel to keep it straight? Anyway the truck drives straight but my wheel is like at 8:30 to 2:30 if looking at a clock instead of 9 to 3. I did talk to a manager there and they said bring it back and we will make it right. Does this sound like a huge issue to straighten or is it just a inexperienced tech? Picture is from middle lane driving straight.

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[Brian_B]

Same thing happened to me on my first alignment - took it back in and they corrected it. So I think they can fix it. Really doesn’t hurt anything but there is a steering wheel turn % value the ABS uses for some things - not sure if it would throw that off or not.

 

[whreed]

Is this because they are using inexpensive techs? I just can't believe they would set alignment and let you leave with a crooked steering wheel.

 

[SuperFord]

take it back and have them re-do it. the tech was either inexperienced or didn't take the vehicle for a post repair test drive. this is completely fixable, but will require another alignment.

 

[whreed]

I am going back tomorrow and dropping it off... Just a huge convenience. I didn't pay for it originally any way because of a few reasons...

 

[jtgensler]

it can be fixed 100%. when I changed my steering rack myself, I got my alignment about 99% perfect, but my wheel was a touch off.
When I had it professionally done (5 miles after I put the rack in), I told him & he checked/adjusted it to sit dead center.
It's honestly not hard, just a PITA to reach the bolt.

 

[TXBronco1313]

Seems like they un-aligned it if anything

 

[whreed]

I am sure a lot of you will understand but damn Ford Dealerships suck. Why are they so bad with service and presenting a good service experience? I went back to the dealership after my first alignment in the first post. The wheel came out crooked the other way! They didn't test drive it and when I left I drove down the street, saw that it wasn't straight then went right back. After he looked at it he brought it back to the slight crookedness of what I had when I originally came in.

Fast forward to today. I went to an independent tire place that I trust and have used on previous cars and got them to do an alignment. I showed them the alignment paperwork from the first alignment Ford did. They were skeptical as to what could be done but after they did their alignment everything is super straight and I am so happy. Below is the Ford alignment image and then second is the independent place which killed it (in a good way).

The reason the current measurements from Ford vs the Before measurements from tire shop after very different is because it went back in 4 days later to have them mess with it multiple times

ref specs - https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/alignment-specs.70116/post-1867993

Ford alignment before and after. Check out those rear toe and thrust numbers....

Tire shop alignment

 

[pillio35]

Mine is doing something similar, steering wheel is off to the left a bit when held straight, but if I let go of the wheel, the vehicle starts turning right. Tire shop has adjusted a couple times and still has the same problem, this alignment was done after tire swap.

Previously there was a 3" spacer lift on the Badlands SAS that I took off for stock SAS. After I took it off, the toe looked a bit off, but it drove straight. I needed new tires anyways so I got an alignment at the same time. After tires and alignment I started getting the pulling right problem. Here is the post-alignment slip. They're good people and trying their best, but I want to see if anyone knows if I could do anything differently. The slip seems pretty similar to the poster above.

 

[pillio35]

it can be fixed 100%. when I changed my steering rack myself, I got my alignment about 99% perfect, but my wheel was a touch off.
When I had it professionally done (5 miles after I put the rack in), I told him & he checked/adjusted it to sit dead center.
It's honestly not hard, just a PITA to reach the bolt.

Was it this purple bolt for the blue splined steering column?

 

[jtgensler]

Yep that's it. It took like a million little cranks to get it right because of how hard it is to fit a tool on it.

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