The car has an aftermarket hub/quick release combo. After removing the key and turning the steering to lock it it faces straight. However when I drive it's crooked. Was it put on wrong or do I need to align the car?

 

I am going to guess it was put on wrong.

It took me a few attempts to line up the Nardi wheel on my FB just right. The hub kept slipping when I tightened the nut.

Tom

 

a hub should not slip even with the nut loosened, that's just hazardous... the splines are there for a reason.

 

Ok thanks I will realign it.

 

Yes - my bad - it was a long time ago when I fitted it - it wouldn't have slipped - i would have aligned it on the splines at the wrong orientation and then had to re adjust as my wheels weren't perfectly straight.

I am trying to block the whole scenario from my memory as that stock wheel just did not want to come off! lol

Tom

 

Yes they are, for alignment.
What actually holds the wheel is the taper on the shaft and hub.

A Top Tip...
When fitting a new (non OEM) hub/wheel, for the first trial fit remove the turn signal transfer collar and then bolt the assembly down tight. With the column surround trim removed, you can measure the distance between the hub and the TS switch on the column and confirm that there's room for the collar. One of my Momo hubs must have had a slightly different taper or something but had I cranked the wheel tight, it would have crushed the collar and probably not fully seated.

 

that's the main reason why people lose the turn signals during wheel installs.

 

the offset on the FC wheel is a little further out than the Miata/SA, even though the spline and taper are the same. so if you get a miata hub it will crush the turn signal stuff.

fun fact the diameter, splines and taper on the Mazda steering shaft is the same from sometime in the early 70's to now. it turns out that the spline machine is really expensive, and thus splines are a bit like threads, for a given shaft diameter, there is a fine and a coarse.

 

mercedes is the same. they used the same splines for hundreds of models of cars from the early 70s on up to 2000-ish.

i listed a momo hub for mercedes 300D, i wound up with a few hundred applications on the listing.

 

you aren't going to change splines, if its going to cost you a few million $$

 

you'd think someone would come up with a better way of doing it after half a century.

 

I think it would be much cheaper than that- oem wheels are castings, which are much simpler to change.
I approve of parts stability and hope that Mazda left theirs alone because it made sense, not because it was cheaper.

 

I ordered the same brand hub for both my NA Miata and my S4 and I think they were the same. That being said I did loose my turn signals like rotary evolution said.