Spring Seat Surgery

dkretzer · Post by **dkretzer** » 21 Nov 2007, 16:08

I went in today and made a no-nonsense repair by replacing a torn right front spring seat. Shocks are real tight and the mount bearing is reasonably tight. Driving the car after the repair confirms that if you can take it apart yourself you don't always have to replace everything. The front end feels wonderful again.
My question is this: I know the front end should be aligned and will have that done on Friday, but why would my steering wheel now be a little off center (to the left) when I only disturbed the strut and not the tie rod ends? I thought only moving the tie rod ends to adjust toe-in would affect the steering wheel. What don't I know about this?

Post by **Maxbaby** » 21 Nov 2007, 18:58

In a perfect world, you'd be right, but it's possible that some other front end part(s) has worn or is bent. And If one side was sagging down because of the spring mount, the alignment and tracking of the wheels would likely already have been out anyway, and possibly you just didn't notice it?.... When they do the alignment, they should be doing the adjustment on both tie rod ends so that the steering wheel does indeed line up afterward.

dkretzer · Post by **dkretzer** » 21 Nov 2007, 19:10

I've been thinking about this some more. I marked the front of the mount (facing it as I worked on it) for the lower part of the strut but not the other side. So when I put it back on, impossible to be in the exact same location, did I effectively add to the tie rod length if the bottom was kicked out a bit more?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 21 Nov 2007, 22:12

Very possible. Get it aligned. Anytime you do anything with the front end an alignment is in order.

Post by **pfeener** » 22 Nov 2007, 05:47

If you think about it some more; the answer is pretty straight forward. When you did the repair you lost your camber adjustment. That's adjusted by the play in the bolts that hold the top of the spindle to the lower part of the strut. True the tie rod adjustment didn't change, but the position of the spindle did change so the toe adjustment would change as well. If you loosened the strut bolts back up and pulled it all the way out or pushed it all the way back in, you'd see your alignment (and steering wheel) change as well.

dkretzer · Post by **dkretzer** » 22 Nov 2007, 08:39

Thanks. It all makes sense. Alignment tomorrow. I already spoke with the tech and told him that I worked on one strut so the camber will be adjusted.
Happy Thanksgiving!