Steering wheel off center… alignment?

[DctrEvil]

Soon after switching the factory 20” inch wheels for a set of OEM 18” wheels/Michelins, I’ve noticed my steering wheel about 3-4 degrees off center to the left when driving down a perfectly flat and straight road. Didn’t think this change would have been enough to cause this.

I’ always hesitant to let the dealer tinker with a brand new vehicle but I guess I just need to schedule an alignment?

 

[ultane]

Soon after switching the factory 20” inch wheels for a set of OEM 18” wheels/Michelins, I’ve noticed my steering wheel about 3-4 degrees off center to the left when driving down a perfectly flat and straight road. Didn’t think this change would have been enough to cause this.

I’ always hesitant to let the dealer tinker with a brand new vehicle but I guess I just need to schedule an alignment?

I don’t think a front end wheel alignment will alter the miss alignment of your steering wheel. I don’t know why that happened to your rig.. Something is amiss though.

 

[Hiker42]

Did you check the tire pressure on the new set?

 

[DctrEvil]

Great point! I need to make sure my tires match all the way around.

 

[ultane]

I don’t think a front end wheel alignment will alter the miss alignment of your steering wheel. I don’t know why that happened to your rig.. Something is amiss though.

@DctrEvil… On second thought, it might have some effect on it. I would have a competent alignment shop, or the dealer see if they can fix that. (I saw a video short by ‘Flying Wrenches’ on how he fixed a Super Duty that was doing the same thing).

 

[cyclesurfer]

I have a similar issue. Took my LC in for an oil change at 1000 miles and they rotated the tires. Now, the vehicle has a noticeable pull to the right and the steering wheel is off by about 2 - 3 degrees. I'm at the dealership now and they said they don't have the specs to do an alignment because the vehicle is so new. I'm having them reverse the tire rotation to see if this fixes this issue. If it does, then I may need to had back to Discount Tire to have the review them General Grabber A/TX tires I recently installed.

 

[cyclesurfer]

Well, reversing the tire rotation didn’t fix the issue with the vehicle pulling to the right. So, I guess I need to wait for Toyota to release the specs so their dealers can do alignments.

 

[CFC]

My steering wheel also seems to be off will also pull right when I center it .
Will swing by dealership soon and see what they say .

 

[cyclesurfer]

I ended up taking my LC to the local 4 Wheel Parts shop, who was able to do the alignment. It was slightly off. All is good now.

 

[CFC]

Well I just made the appointment for Friday morning at the dealership so will see what they say about it .

 

[WookieBait]

Have this problem... Dealer can't even fix it because they don't have alignment specs.

 

[Bad1975]

I just had my dealer do any alignment, we have a 2025 and had them use the 2024 alignment specs which are exactly the same. They did start by saying they couldn't due to the 2025 numbers not being available on the Hunter machine.

I showed them the documentation on specs from TIS for 2024 and 2025 and they loaded a 2024 into the Hunter alignment machine to do the alignment with no issues.

 

[WookieBait]

I tried asking them that exact question why they couldn't just use 2024 specs and they blew me off saying they couldn't/wouldn't and rather me driving around with a bad alignment for 6-9months when they get the specs

 

[ultane]

I just had my dealer do any alignment, we have a 2025 and had them use the 2024 alignment specs which are exactly the same. They did start by saying they couldn't due to the 2025 numbers not being available on the Hunter machine.

I showed them the documentation on specs from TIS for 2024 and 2025 and they loaded a 2024 into the Hunter alignment machine to do the alignment with no issues.

How is it that we know more about the LC’s than some of the dealers do?

 

[Vega]

I had to get this done after picking up my 2025. They said same thing that the specs weren't available for the 2025. They ended up using 2024 specs and it fixed my alignment just fine.

 

[WookieBait]

Nice, I guess I'll try a independent shop to do the alignment, frustrating the dealer didn't want to fix it.

 

[Vega]

Try another dealer? I got mine done by dealer under warranty.

 

[WookieBait]

Try another dealer? I got mine done by dealer under warranty.

I called around to the dealers around me in the Dallas, TX area and none of them would address it as a warranty concern. Only the dealership I bought it from would cover it for free and they are the ones that had me wait 3 hours to tell me they couldn't do it.

 

[Vega]

I called around to the dealers around me in the Dallas, TX area and none of them would address it as a warranty concern. Only the dealership I bought it from would cover it for free and they are the ones that had me wait 3 hours to tell me they couldn't do it.

That's rough. Fortunately alignments aren't that expensive and they can immediately tell you if things are out of wack. When they checked mine it was very obvious and very quickly fixed.

 

[ultane]

Nice, I guess I'll try an independent shop to do the alignment, frustrating the dealer didn't want to fix it.

Find. Another. Dealer.