Steering Wheel Not Auto-Centering: Help! - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

teh smithers · 11-11-2013, 11:07 AM

I fiddled with a few things on my S14, and prior to my fiddlings, the steering system auto-centered as it should. Now, when I steer into a corner, the wheel doesn't re-center AT ALL. Literally, I can make it through a corner without touching the wheel. Granted, this is highly entertaining, but also highly annoying. I'd like to fix it.

My steering wheel is a S15 OEM item. It's been on the car since I bought it, and never behaved this way, until now.

My list of fiddles:
- New clock spring installed to fix my horn. My turn signals don't cancel anymore, so I know I installed it incorrectly. (At least the horn works again.)
- New front coilovers installed (Fortune Auto 500's). I've read of people installing new struts, and afterwards experiencing a problem similar to mine. I've installed coilovers before, though, and didn't encounter this steering problem.
- Mild fiddling with toe angle and caster angle. Nothing drastic.

My ideas on what's causing my issue:
- Clock spring installed incorrectly?
- Coilovers installed incorrectly? (Doubtful)
- Caster or toe way out of alignment? (Which I also doubt, because I've never encountered this problem before, no matter how atrocious my alignment was.)

Helpful folks are highly encouraged to reply. Thank you

jr_ss · 11-11-2013, 12:20 PM

Typically coils have a good amount of friction between the springs and their seats. Something you may want to try or add is a roller thrust bearing. This should alleviate some of the "binding" and the wheel and coilovers should be able to rotate more freely, "auto-centering" as you called it.

Now that may not fix all the problem, there could be other issues, especially not having a clock spring installed correctly.

*brndck* · 11-11-2013, 01:00 PM

Wait, you changed your toe and caster? Randomly? Without measuring???

Go get an alignment.

OMFGeofffff · 11-11-2013, 01:29 PM

+1 on getting an alignment. Go look up what caster does and you'll understand.

zerodameaon · 11-11-2013, 02:17 PM

+2 on alignment, then come back to us and tell us how it went. If it did not correct it at least that is one thing out of the way that will affect everything else we come up with.

teh smithers · 11-11-2013, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brndck

Wait, you changed your toe and caster? Randomly? Without measuring???

Go get an alignment.

The toe was done using levels in the garage, so it's a very, very rough guess. Thankfully, the car has only seen about 5 miles since.

The caster was hardly touched. While under the car, i noticed that my tension rod's locking nut was finger loose. So I tightened it up, and matched it to the other side.

I won't be able to get an alignment until the weekend, but once I do, I'll post up the results. I'm assuming I should shoot for stock caster values?

11-11-2013, 11:07 AM	#1
teh smithers Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Mute City Age: 32 Posts: 387 Trader Rating: (11) Feedback Score: 11 reviews	Steering Wheel Not Auto-Centering: Help! I fiddled with a few things on my S14, and prior to my fiddlings, the steering system auto-centered as it should. Now, when I steer into a corner, the wheel doesn't re-center AT ALL. Literally, I can make it through a corner without touching the wheel. Granted, this is highly entertaining, but also highly annoying. I'd like to fix it. My steering wheel is a S15 OEM item. It's been on the car since I bought it, and never behaved this way, until now. My list of fiddles: - New clock spring installed to fix my horn. My turn signals don't cancel anymore, so I know I installed it incorrectly. (At least the horn works again.) - New front coilovers installed (Fortune Auto 500's). I've read of people installing new struts, and afterwards experiencing a problem similar to mine. I've installed coilovers before, though, and didn't encounter this steering problem. - Mild fiddling with toe angle and caster angle. Nothing drastic. My ideas on what's causing my issue: - Clock spring installed incorrectly? - Coilovers installed incorrectly? (Doubtful) - Caster or toe way out of alignment? (Which I also doubt, because I've never encountered this problem before, no matter how atrocious my alignment was.) Helpful folks are highly encouraged to reply. Thank you

11-11-2013, 12:20 PM	#2
jr_ss Post Whore! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Pa Posts: 6,415 Trader Rating: (35) Feedback Score: 35 reviews	Typically coils have a good amount of friction between the springs and their seats. Something you may want to try or add is a roller thrust bearing. This should alleviate some of the "binding" and the wheel and coilovers should be able to rotate more freely, "auto-centering" as you called it. Now that may not fix all the problem, there could be other issues, especially not having a clock spring installed correctly. __________________ My SR20VET Does your VTC gear rattle in your S14/15 SR? PM me.

11-11-2013, 01:29 PM	#4
OMFGeofffff Zilvia Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Minneapolis MN Age: 35 Posts: 159 Trader Rating: (3) Feedback Score: 3 reviews	+1 on getting an alignment. Go look up what caster does and you'll understand.