We have a 98 sterling dump truck,the steering wheel in turned to the left 1/4 of a turn while driving straight. Everything mechanically seem to be correct. Is there a simple way to recenter the wheel? It is just more annoying than anything else. Thank you for any help.
- Thread starter Philip d
- Start date
Welding man
Well-known Member
- Location
- West Virginia
Sounds to me like whoever did the last front end alignment didn't center the steering wheel before they started. Some can be indexed at the u-joint on the steering shaft,some can't. Some can be done with removal of the steering wheel some can't. Let a reputable truck mechanic look at it.
crawlerjohn
Member
You want to first check and see if you have a spring center bolt broke or if the truck is dog tracking. It might indicate something other than just the steering wheel. If you have an adjustable drag link that could be it also. The steering wheel itself hardly ever gets out of adjustment. John
crawlerjohn
Member
Make sure the rear is centered also. I have had drivers chain to the axle to get trucks unstuck and all of a sudden steering problems appear.
Phil9N3667
Well-known Member
If it's a 1/4 turn to the left, either the left side of the axle is forward of the center bolt or the right side is to the rear of the center bolt. It could also be one spring has the front pin to center bolt dimension off. Had a school bus one time that ran dog legged from the factory and one rear spring was shorter than the other to center bolt. Make them look at/fix it!!
jimg.allentown
Well-known Member
In most cases, steering wheel centering is d0one by adjusting the tie rods. Better that this be done on an alignment machine.
In order for the truck to "drive right," the steering gear and wheels need to be synchronized "on center" for the steering to work properly.
In your case, when the wheels are straight, the steering gear is not "on center." This can cause wandering and difficulty in keeping the vehicle tracking straight. The best remedy is a proper wheel alignment.
In order for the truck to "drive right," the steering gear and wheels need to be synchronized "on center" for the steering to work properly.
In your case, when the wheels are straight, the steering gear is not "on center." This can cause wandering and difficulty in keeping the vehicle tracking straight. The best remedy is a proper wheel alignment.
Phil9N3667
Well-known Member
One item you can look at yourself is the pitman arm/steering sector timing marks. Usually, there's a slash mark on the sector (output) shaft and two marks 180 degrees apart on the pitman arm. These should be 100% aligned. The spring shop may have had to remove the arm to get the left side spring in and didn't time it back in place.
I called the shop and talked to a neighbor that works there. He said to remove the bolt at the u-joint above the clutch pedal slide the tube down to separate the shaft than I slid it upwards to separate the tube from the splined shaft above the steering box. I than turned it 1/4 turn put it all back together and now the wheel is properly centered in about 10 minutes easy work. He said its fairly common for the wheel to go off center a bit when both sets of front springs are replaced at the same time. Sometimes a guy gets a break sometimes we don't lol
guido
Well-known Member
Hello jon f mn,
The pitman arm is sometimes clocked with a missing tooth so it goes on one way only. Gear box has to be in the center first, all elso is adjusted to it. The reason is that center of the mating gear box gears have a tighter fit tolerance to keep wheel play to a minimum while going straight. More clearance is needed while turning as more friction will expand components reducing clearance, and the turning force will take up any slack.
There is no reason I can think of, for the steering wheel not beeing able to be adjusted exactly in the center,
Guido.
The pitman arm is sometimes clocked with a missing tooth so it goes on one way only. Gear box has to be in the center first, all elso is adjusted to it. The reason is that center of the mating gear box gears have a tighter fit tolerance to keep wheel play to a minimum while going straight. More clearance is needed while turning as more friction will expand components reducing clearance, and the turning force will take up any slack.
There is no reason I can think of, for the steering wheel not beeing able to be adjusted exactly in the center,
Guido.
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