So I noticed a couple months ago that the steering wheel was a little crooked to the left (about 11 o'clock), so I got an alignment done. Even after the alignment was done, it was still crooked, even though the car drove straight, so I took it back and had them center the steering wheel. However, this did not fix the problem. My service advisor told me that I needed new tires (which I did).

I got new tires, and had an alignment done again. Guess what? The steering is still a little crooked to the left.

Anyone know what is wrong?

 

Yes-- whoever is doing your alignment is lazy.
The steering wheel should be centered by adjusting the tie rod ends during the alignment.

BTW, I hope you visually inspected your old tires to confirm that they needed to be changed.

 

I'll go back and tell them this, and yes, the tires were very worn. They did need to be replaced.

 

my TL is like that too..im getting ready to send it in for an alignment

 

When you pick it up and if the wheel is not centered, take it back immediately and they'll need to put it back on the rack.

 

So I went back to NTB and I was told that the steering wheel is already straight and leveled. However, I can still tell the steering wheel is about 5 degrees to the left when going straight.

Any suggestions?

 

Yes, take them for a ride on a level road and when driving straight with the wheel cocked slightly, then move the steering wheel to the proper level location and the car should drift to one side, and if it does, tell them to fix the steering wheel location!

 

When I first got my TL, I thought I had the same problem. I felt like I was constantly holding the wheel a little to the left. I wondered if it was alignment or whether it was simply due to the crown of the road.

After several experiments driving down the center of two-lane roads, driving down the center line on four-lane highways, etc..... mine is because of the crown of the road. It goes dead straight when I am on truly level pavement or when my left and right tires are on different sides of the crown.

It seems weird because my other cars have never been that sensitive to the crown before. But this one just seems very sensitive to it. Maybe it's the larger, lower profile tires or something.

Not sure this is your issue, but it was mine.

 

This is exactly what I'm starting to think.

Something to keep in mind. Thanks

 

You should know if the road is level/flat or severely crowned just by eyeballing, or at least by taking your hands off the wheel for a moment to see if you're adjusting for a pull. Got to do it on a level road as stated previously.

 

UPDATE:

I went to my old NTB, TWICE and they gave up. They thought i was crazy and told me to take my car to a body shop because apparently they don't check for bent parts?

Then I went to a different NTB and they told me right away after a road test that there was a little bit of play in my front passenger tie rod, which caused me to drifting right. Got that replaced and now the steering has a much better/firm feel, and it is straight.

I guess all NTB's are different...

 

Glad you were able to get it corrected! The moment you just had drives me nuts. I don't whether to be elated that I got the issue resolved to my satisfaction and to have been justified in my concerns or pissed at the company/person that didn't do the/their job correctly in the first place.

I choose to be happen with my new found outcome, but it seriously dampens my trust in the customer/business relationship.

 

Chances are there was nothing wrong with the tie rod end, but they just wanted to be compensated for putting the car up on the rack and adjusting both tie rod ends to get the wheel level and keeping the toe correct. Certainly a tech isn't going to drive the car and determine there is play in the right front tie rod end. If there were a problem with the tie rod end the first shop would have found the problem before doing the alignment.

Regardless of my thoughts, glad it is fixed. Needles to say I'm paranoid when it comes to alignment shops.

 

I know my mom hit a curb going 5 mph a couple years back so I didn't doubt the tech.