steering wheel adjustment 1957 Chevy

[Petmils 1957 4DR Belair]

My car steers straight . The problem I have is when going straight down the road the steering wheel is not centered its off to the left at about 20 to the hour..I recall that there was an adjustment to center the wheel without altering the alignment am i correct on this or am i wrong on this idea of mine...
Or do i need to just pull the steering wheel and move it to the center position.... Peter

[acardon]

You shouldn't just move the steering wheel UNLESS it is installed wrong to start with. The steering box should be centered when the wheel is centered. There is supposed to be a mark on the shaft to indicate the center of the box. See view A in assembly manual. http://www.trifive.com/garage/57%20Chevy%20Assembly%20Manual/9-2.gif If it was like mine, someone beat on the shaft till the mark was gone. :mad:

If the shaft and wheel are aligned, then you need to turn both tie rod couplers the exact same amount to align the tires to the steering box.

[Petmils 1957 4DR Belair]

If the mark is not aligned how Do i adjust it Don

[acardon]

If the mark is not aligned how Do i adjust it Don

Put the shaft mark at 12 o'clock, pull the wheel and put it back on with the spokes centered. You can borrow a steering wheel puller from many auto parts stores.

[Petmils 1957 4DR Belair]

Well Don the steering wheel is straight with the mark so i suppose its the tie rods. So I get the steering wheel straight then loosen the tie rods at both ends ? Then what? Do i turn them in out or what? And then do the reverse on the other set? This i suspect will straighten the wheel from the 20 to the hour position as I drive down the road. Is this a trail an error thing ? Sorry for all the question.. Peter

[Jim '57]

Why not just get a wheel allighment, they will correct it for you.
Jim

[Petmils 1957 4DR Belair]

that's true Jim but I like to mess with it first and then after I bugger it up then I will get the Alignment... Peter

[Jim '57]

Good luck Bugger, hope the allignment shop isn't too far from your place.LOL
Jim

[Rick_L]

If you have to turn the wheel to the left of center to get it to go straight, and your toe-in is now correct, you need to shorten the driver side tie rod assembly, and lengthen the passenger side assembly. If you have to turn the wheel to the right, then you need to shorten the passenger side and lengthen the driver side.

I'd start out in half turn increments.

[henrys57wagon]

When I did the rack install on the wagon I did the primary alignment with plumb bobs and a center line from front to back and when I went to have it aligned it was almost right on. Don't be afraid to play with it , if you go the wrong way, you just do it the other way. Just remember to follow Rick's advice and turn each adjuster the opposite way, good day, Henry.

[Petmils 1957 4DR Belair]

Years ago i had a guy do an alignment with just string as henry says above thats the only way he did the cars he dealt with...Peter I'll give this all a whirl and see what happens..
One thing does the car have to be off the ground