Re-clocking steering wheel

[BlueEagle]

My 81 Eagle has always had the steering wheel clocked a little to the right of center.  Not long after I bought it I thought I could just pull it off the steering shaft and reclock it, but discovered that the shaft was "keyed" and the steering wheel could only go on in one position.

Fast forward to just a few years ago: Motor was out and I was also doing suspension work up front. I bought a new rag joint and figured that this would be the ideal time to fix the steering wheel alignment issue at the other end of the column. I discovered that this end is also "keyed".  My steering wheel is still off center when I go straight down the road.

Am I missing something? I looked at every topic header on the 13 pages of this particular forum and didnt see that anyone else had this issue, so maybe it was just mine, and just me...

Suggestions anyone?

[mudkicker715]

When you get a alignment is when the steering wheel should be set to center. It is the tie rod ends that need to be adjusted. A good alignment can still have the wheel off center if it is not done proper.

[BlueEagle]

Thanks for the reply.

Maybe next time I get tires I'll have the thing aligned and have them look at that. I guess I'm mystified as to how you could change any of those relationships if everything from the steering wheel to the pitman arm is keyed so that it can only be in one place.

I have greater experience with my other cars which require only that you remove the steering wheel from the non-keyed splines on the top of the column so you can put it where you want it. Having to disassemble the steering gear or steering column to effect such an adjustment seems to be more work than it should be, which is why I think I must be missing something obvious and simple.

[eaglefreek]

The pitman arm should be set at the center of the steering box's turning radius for optimum steering. So if the alignment is done right, the steering wheel should be centered. The wheel alignment could be correct at the wheels but the relation of the pitman arm to the tie rods may not be and that's what would cause the steering wheel to be off. If the steering wheel could be removed and just moved a couple splines, it would be the wrong way to fix it.

[carnuck]

The spline on the rag joint may be off if someone swapped the box or just out of adjustment if maybe a tie rod was bent.

[BlueEagle]

All good suggestions for things to look at. I understand that on this car you can't sort this issue by moving the wheel on the column. I mentioned that to point out that it is not possible when every connection from the wheel to the steering box is keyed.

I thought I might adjust it at the rag joint too, which I replaced when I had the motor out....no soap.

This is a seasonal car for me, so I think that this summer when I'm not driving it I will replace the tie rod ends, which will give me the excuse to straighten this stuff (pun intended) out. I've been driving it this way for a long time, a few more months won't drive me nuts.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[carnuck]

The spline at the steering box can be installed 1 off. There are 3 that are close enough to get it wrong.