hey so I just got assigned my own truck the other week and I'm a little curious about an issue I seem to be having with it. (Cascadia) it is out of alignment a little bit, with the wheels straight the top of the steering wheel is at probably a 30 degree angle. whats concerning me is that it feels like loose, its hard to put my finger on it but the steering just doesn't feel quite right when changing lanes and when I hit bumps it makes the truck sort of change the steering direction slightly, kind of like wind would but less intense. so does anyone know if those issues could be just cause its out of alignment, or are those symptoms of some other problem?
The only way to know is to get it in the shop asap to get it checked out. ASAP being very important. You don't want to suddenly lose all steering. Is it a new truck, or older?
about half way between 2012 has like 375k on it I think. but alright thanks, I wasn't sure if it was just in my head or something more serious. ill let dispatch know I need to get it to a shop soon as possible.
Have someone move the wheel back and forth while you watch the movement. Any part that does not move at the same time as the part it is connected to needs to be serviced! Mikeeee
2013 Cascadia. 394000, Steering wheel points at ten oclock. Slight pull but alignment was checked with new steers about six weeks ago. Might just be the age and mileage.
A steering wheel that far off doesn't happen only with age and mileage, more likely a very sloppy mechanic that did an alignment and didn't check the position of the steering wheel. At any rate, if the steering feels sloppy there are probably some very worn parts. I have a 2013 Volvo. The steering is still crisp and solid, with little to no play. There was an issue a while back with a slight pull to the right and some vibration. The vibration was worse when I was bobtail. I brought it in to several terminals, but it was ignored until the steer tires showed some abnormal wear. A new set of steers and an alignment fixed it, and it is still doing fine. But it never felt sloppy like the OP describes. One other thing could be blown out shocks, or even just one. Is there any oil leaking from them? Or a broken or loose spring.
Out here in the country that sounds a lot like the toe in is way off. Some smart guy through a chain over the steering cross bar to get pulled out. Regardless of how it happened, wear, abuse, or damage if the steer tires do not point the same direction the truck will go in the direction of the tire with the most traction. If you look at the tire tread they probabily have sharp edges on the outside.
The steering sector has an adjustment to tighten up the steering when it wears and gets loose. To get the steering wheel straight, if their is no damage to the steering componets, the steering usually gets taken off and repositioned.
Yep! From my racing days: Toed out and the vehicle will "hunt". Like a hound sniffing left and right while moving in a straight line. Toed in and it will turn somewhat normal in with small amounts of steering movement, but dive and bite the turn at more aggressive amounts of turning. Mikeeee
