Crooked steering wheel... | FerrariChat

Crooked steering wheel...

Discussion in '456/550/575' started by galileo, Nov 22, 2015.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. galileo

    galileo Formula Junior

    May 20, 2011
    334
    My 98 550 drives straight but steering wheel isn't straight, any ideas? Also not sure if related but when stationary or low speeds when turning wheel I hear a click/clack sound. Thoughts?

    tx
     
  2. ///Mink

    ///Mink Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 5, 2006
    820
    Fair Oaks, CA
    Full Name:
    Tom Mink
    A few things come to mind.

    1. The steering wheel was removed and installed one spline off.
    2. The steering column coupler was removed and installed on the rack one spline off.
    3. An alignment shop failed to center the wheel before performing an alignment.
    4. The car hit a curb or some other obstruction and knocked the alignment out.

    You may want to have it aligned at a qualified shop, they should center it and lock it there before adjusting anything.
     
  3. Armen G.

    Armen G. Karting

    Jun 10, 2014
    169
    Moscow Russia
    Full Name:
    Armen
    In most cases on all cars with this issue the reason is improper wheel alignment procedure ( failure to center steering wheel ideally - as Tom has mentioned above ).
     
  4. zstyle

    zstyle Formula Junior

    Jun 28, 2007
    552
    Tempe
    Full Name:
    Jon
    You should check to see if the engine mounts were ever replaced. If so, this requires the rack to be disconnected from the steering wheels in order to access the driver side mount. You should also check to see if they were updated to the 575 mount which looks like a + sign vs the cone shaped inferior 355/550 design mount.

    The steering wheel splines are quite large so if the wheel looks too far off, you could adjust by pulling the wheel. If the wheel is slightly off, then it is likely the universal joint at the steering rack was misplaced by a spline.

    Typically when I have had to replace engine mounts, I rarely am able to center the steering wheel to the rack the first time. It takes a test drive or two to make sure the steering wheel and rack are correctly aligned. If you want to try yourself, pull the belly pan. Then take 13mm wrenches and pull the bolt and nut holding steering column to rack. Pull back the universal joint and adjust by one spline in direction to correct misalignment of steering wheel. Then reassemble everything. Most people do not have a pit in order to gain access but a lift will work too (although more work).

    Otherwise you will need an alignment.
     

Share This Page