took my truck to work and needed a pitman arm. So took it home put a new one on and the steering wheel was crooked which didn't bother me. but after in cranking the torsion bars I noticedhoow Badly i needed an alignment. So took it back in for an alignment and I cant turn the steering wheel back to center because the tie rods are maxed out. I tried to take the pitman arm back off center the wheel and everything but the key ways just line up the same way. Any chance the after market pitman arm is off or any clues?

 

normally to center the steering wheel, you set the wheel in the "centered" position, then look at the tires. You adjust each tie rod to bring that wheel back into alignment with the steering wheel. If the guy aligned the front end , without looking at the steering wheel, he is a beginner not a pro. Now if BOTH tie rods appear to be too short or too long, then you have a problem. Its possible pitman arm is wrong, but I would not look at that as the most probable item.

 

no he actually didn't even have an opportunity to do an alignment because the driver side tie rod was already in all the way and passangers was out all the way.

 

unfortunately I've only owned the truck since December so I know no history before what I have done. Second I purchased it from the dealership that I work at and all the work gets done either by me or by a tech that I personally know will do it properly while I assist

 

well that's my point... one tie rod all the way in and one all the way out... steering wheel way off... if both tie rods were "about" in the center, the steering wheel would be where its suppose to be.

 

crank the tight rod out 6 revolutions and the long rod in 6 revolutions and you have not changed alignment , right ?????? Now look at the steering wheel and see that it is a lot closer to where it should be...... and you now have adjustment on both rods left.

 

I tried that if I center the tie rods it puts it off even more the drives is in all the way pass is out all the wheel and the steering wheel faces about 45° towards the right

 

well, then I agree... either the pitman arm is wrong, on upside down, or the tie rods have been switched to get the wrong lengths, etc.

 

one thing to check is the steering wheel itself. With the tires pointed straight forward, turn the wheel full to the left and count how many turns it makes, then do the same to the right.......... could be the steering wheel was removed and put back on the splines not aligned ?

 

well, I looked it up and the steering wheel can only be installed in one position, so that probably is not the problem. I would still check to see if "centered" is actually the same number of turns lock to lock... that might give you and idea

 

I had tried that and it seemed good maybe a quarter of a turn off if that.

 

If you turn the wheel lock to lock, then divide that in half, that is the center position. Set the steering wheel there. Now the gear box arm should be pointed straight forward from the truck... and the tie rods should be sized so the tires point forward. That might help narrow down it the arm is indexed wrong or someone has changed the rods "somehow".