Aligning steering wheel

[ky_kid]

I am wanting to straighten out my steering wheel. I have had the alignment checked and everything is straight. The truck does not pull to the left or right when driving, just the wheel sits slightly to the left when going straight.

Could I align the wheel or the column easily? Or could it be something else?

[J Knight]

Because of the horn connection you can't change your wheel position on the shaft.
The way to change it is to adjust your tie rod sleeves.

[ky_kid]

That makes sense. Is this something I can do in the driveway?

[njlimbaugh]

You can't do this in the driveway and be guaranteed of the toe-in being right. Any alignment shop can do this for you; unfortunately it's going to cost something, but if you do it at home it needs to be checked anyhow.

[ky_kid]

Thanks for the tips. I was hoping I could do it myself without needing an alignment because what shops charge is a rip-off in my opinion...

[Pop's C-10]

If tha alignment was checked & it is fine..and you mess with tha tie rod ends, tha alignment will be off..

[ky_kid]

Yeah that's why I was hoping I could make the adjustment in the steering column somehow.

[Keith Seymore]

Wait! For a K truck, you can adjust the fore/aft drag link (between the steering gear and knuckle), without touching the tie rod or affecting toe-in. That will change the steering wheel alignment.

It's an easy driveway fix....

...not so, for a 2wd, which is how the guys are answering so far.

K

[ky_kid]

That is great news! How would I make the adjustment?

Thanks Keith!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by ky_kid

That is great news! How would I make the adjustment?

Thanks Keith!

Loosen the clamps and rotate the adjusting sleeve to lengthen or shorten the drag link as desired.

Like doing the tie rod ends, only there's only one and it goes fore/aft rather than cross car.

K

[ky_kid]

Thanks again I will go check it out now.

[ky_kid]

Are we talking about the long "sleeve" that runs almost the entire length between the front tires? I looks like it has a nut tightening each end with a margin of threads showing on each side.

Am I on the right track? And do I need to put it on jack stands when doing this?

[ky_kid]

Nevermind I found it. Do I need to jack it up to make the adjustment?

[88bagedntaged]

Originally Posted by ky_kid

Nevermind I found it. Do I need to jack it up to make the adjustment?

No I did n't have to jack mine up. I left the key in the unlock so the steering wheel moved and adjusted it till the wheel was strait. However you need to make sure that when you stop the truck that you were going very strait in the process of stopping. I backed all the way down my road and then just coasted to the fron of my drive way keeping an eye on where the wheel was to where I know it was like on the highway. and it is strait now.

[Keith Seymore]

agree.

The other thing you can do is drive straight down the road and mark where the steering wheel is (put a line from the steering column to the base of the wheel).

Then go park and line up your mark. This will tell you the road wheels are straight ahead.

Adjust the steering wheel so that it is straight at that point and you should be good to go.

K