Steering Wheel Turned Slightly Left...

02Blue · December 17, 2002

Maybe the steering wheel was turned slightly to the left when going straight down the road before I had the steering clunk fixed last Friday and I just didn't notice it.

Since the clunk was fixed, I have been REALLY tuned in to the way my truck handles. I'm just looking for ANY indication the problem wasn't corrected.

Well, now I'm wondering if the steering wheel might have been slightly (just a couple/few degrees) misaligned when the steering clunk fix was performed.

Do you guys think it could have been? I don't really know the procedures performed. I've never done the fix myself. It's not off far, just enough to notice and annoy. And, how hard would it be to correct if not related to the clunk fix? TIA.

bstewart · December 17, 2002

Call the dealer who fixed the clunk and ask if they did an alignment. If they did and the steering wheel was not straight that would be the problem.

Shaners · December 17, 2002

The steering wheel can only be straightened out with a front end alignment. GM usually won't pay for an alignment if the truck has less than 3000 miles or more than XXXX miles (I don't remember what the top number is).

I had to have my truck re-aligned because the wheel was off center from day 1. The truck drove straight and fine, so I waited until I had the 3000 miles on it, then I cranked the torsion bars, and then took it in to be re-aligned.

97C1500&84Z28 · December 17, 2002

could it also be that most roads are crowned for water runoff so in effect you're making a correction for the truck's tendancy to drift to the right? if you drive on a multilane hi-way in the left lane, the steering wheel will be turned slightly right because of the tendancy to drift left. :thumb:

obyone · December 18, 2002

The fix for the steering clunk adds grease and wouldn't cause your steering wheel to be misaligned. In all probability it was that way before taking it in. A lot of Yukon's had the same problem from the factory being offset left when delivered. The factory warranty covers alignments and balancing up to 10k miles according to my dealer, however, across different boards I've heard as low as 3k and a high of 10k.

Course you could pay a good alignment shop $50 to fix it and have them align the vehicle. Cheaper then sending it to the dealer who will often sub the job out to the same company and add a markup.

MountaineerTom · December 18, 2002

After I had my 285's installed and the front end aligned, I had the same problem. I took it back to the shop and showed them and they realigned it and got it straight, at no extra cost since they messed it up.