Centering Steering Wheel??

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Nov 9, 2007 | 05:49 PM

Supercab

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Joined: Feb 2000

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From: Palm Bay, Florida

Centering Steering Wheel??

Just had my front alligned on my '99 F350 CC Dually.
Now the steering wheel is a little off center, I know in the old days (the 70s) that they would pull the steering wheel off and center it.
If I ask them are they apt to do this now??

Nov 9, 2007 | 05:59 PM

dc2842002

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Joined: Jan 2007

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From: York, SC

You can center the steering wheel by adjusting the drag link length. You only want to do this if the steering box is centered when the steering wheel is centered

Nov 9, 2007 | 06:49 PM

c00nhunterjoe

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Joined: May 2007

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From: Belair md

you are backwards, stop the truck so the steering wheel is crooked as it is while driving down the road, then have someone sit in the truck and watch it as you adjust the drag link length, they will yell stop when you have the wheel sitting straight

Nov 9, 2007 | 06:55 PM

SpringerPop

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Joined: Jan 2002

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From: La La Land

The steering wheel is still splined onto its shaft, but there is one "key spline" that is wider than the others, so the wheel goes onto the shaft only one way.

As DC said above, the drag link is adjustable in length. It's simple to do, too.

Find a big ol' parking lot. Loosen the clamping bolt on each end of the adjuster (it's sort of like a turnbuckle). With a pipe wrench or other adjustable pliers, turn the body of the adjuster a little. Note the direction you turned it. Drive fifty feet. Figure out if you turned it the right way. Adjust it again, drive it another fifty feet, again repeat, etc, etc. In about five minutes you'll have it running straight and true. You can really "fine tune" it this way.

Tighten those two bolts again!!

Pop

Last edited by SpringerPop; Nov 9, 2007 at 07:04 PM.

Nov 10, 2007 | 04:35 AM

Supercab

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From: Palm Bay, Florida

Thanks!! I'm going to have THEM do this, as I feel it should have been done during the alignment. This won't effect the allignment will it??

Nov 10, 2007 | 04:45 AM

ron's power stroke

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From: White Mnt's,New Hampshire

no it will not..it turns the steering wheel only..

Nov 10, 2007 | 09:18 AM

cleatus12r

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From: Reed Point, MT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supercab

Thanks!! I'm going to have THEM do this, as I feel it should have been done during the alignment.

Ford trucks are a PITA to achieve a centered steering wheel on the first try due to the inherent amount of slop in the steering system we have. I align a few of these trucks a month and I'll be danged if I don't have to bring the truck back onto the rack to re-center the wheel afterv EVERY test drive.

But then again, the roads around here suck so bad with ruts and all (oh, and the 50 MPH cross winds) that the wheel is never centered anyway. My own truck goes from about 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock depending on which direction I'm driving and which set of ruts I'm in. On the alignment rack, it's dead-nutz.