I simply ran out of time and enthusiasm to install a few parts into the front end of my car. These included a new Pitman Arm and a new Idler Arm. I had a local shop that does a lot of Japanese cars do the work. These new parts really tightened things up and is the source of my question.

Prior to the new parts, the steering was loose enough that I was correcting the wheel position very frequently. No idea if a straight steering wheel meant I was going straight. Now I can set the wheel and stay solid. But the center of the steering wheel is now at 12:30'ish to go straight.

Is this more likely an alignment issue or the Pitman Arm installed a notch or so off?

Thoughts are appreciated.

 

The pitman arm is more than likely off since it was replaced.

 

The Pittman arm on the steering box has 2 wider grooves offset by 180 degrees to ensure it is installed only in the centered position, so I'll wager it's possible it just needs to be properly aligned. If you center the steering wheel, have a look at both front tires. If theyre both slightly off center pointed off to one side, there's your answer. No easy way to center steering wheel, as it's a direct linkage to the tie rod.

 

The other way to deal with it is to pop the steering wheel off and move it a few degrees, but the pitman arm is probably not centered. Having the pitman arm off a bit will only be noticeable at full lock turns. Now if its off by a lot it can make steering funky. You can center it by adjusting the tie rods equally until its centered. Its tedious but not hard to do.

 

Look at the distance between the inner and outer tie rod end, if the gap on one is wider than the other you probably have your answer. Having a race car I end up taking the front end apart and doing alignments constantly, you can do a better job than you are likely to get from the local alignment shop with some jack stands and string. What I do before I start is to center the steering wheel and lock it down with some tie down straps then start from there.

 

The string method never fails. I had a shop do mine once, never again. Had to fix it using the string method.

 

as we're all kind of alluding,

step 1 is to find the center of the steering box. you spin it all the way one way, and then the other, count the turns (i think 3.5?). then from full lock, go half way, and this is the middle.

if the steering wheel is not straight, you need to pop it off and put it on straight, if it is straight then we go to step 2.

step 2. i would look at the tie rods, they should be pretty much the same length on each side. if they aren't this is a tip off that something isn't right. the US manual doesn't give us a spec here, but the Japanese one would. i've spent a lot of time at the race track, so i would wind the tie rods all the way in, so everything is even, and then about half way out. normal people would just set the toe...

step 3, you should be good to go! the racers would check that everything is torqued down correctly at the tightest end of the spec (at least)

 

Thanks everyone. All the help is appreciated. The car heads back to the shop a week from today. I'll report back on the results.

 

Resolution: Took the car back to the shop this morning. Pitman Arm was, in fact, installed properly. So the issue was alignment and it was way off, including camber. Everything is back to normal and driving much, much better.

At some point this summer, I will finish off the front end with inner and outer tie rods plus new ball joints. But I have the car to a point where it is more than safe and very enjoyable to drive.

Thanks for all the help on this.