Steering wheel is off-center. Dealer says it's a bent rim

5722 Views 19 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Mister Dave, Jun 27, 2017

iVolt

Discussion Starter · Jun 6, 2017

In the days after I had the dealer add washers and tighten the axle bolts (very high torque) I noticed the steering wheel naturally wanted to rest a few degrees turned to the right at any speed. I took it back to the dealer and they say nothing in the axle bolt repair would cause the steering wheel to be out of alignment. They said the wheel alignment was perfect which I had verified by a chain automotive shop. The front rims look fine with some minor curb scratches and peeling paint that is common for those wheels. The runs smooth and the car doesn't seem to pull either direction so its doesn't seem like anything is dragging the car to one side or the other, just he steering heel is misaligned.

They even switched the front wheels and it still behaves the same which is puzzling. I suggested putting the rear tires in front but they said that wouldn't make a difference either. I also suggested pulling wheels from a used Volt on their lot but they don't have any used volts..

I am I off base thinking the axle bolt repair could have caused the misalignment? Did the electronic steering somehow get messed up? I am going to have my Indy look at the front rims without telling him which rim is suspect to see if sees a bent rim.

Any comments, ideas, or similar experiences appreciated.

2012 Volt Black
CU51xx - 73K miles

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llninja

· #2 · Jun 6, 2017

Years ago, I got my BMW 535i aligned, and it pulled to the left. I took it back and they claimed it was perfect and wouldn't do anything about it. I took it home, checked all 4 corners, and it turns out I had a broken spring where the two spring pieces sat on each other with friction only. Needless to say, I've never returned to Beaumont Alignment (they've lost my business for life) and I went ahead and installed new springs, struts, tie rods and control arms.

I worry that torquing your wheels very tight might warp your rotors. Any of these items could cause the car to veer a particular direction.

In fact on an older Deville, it was rear control links with worn bushings that caused the rear end to waggle.

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llninja

· #13 · Jun 6, 2017

iVolt said:
I had the clicking noise when accelerating or decelerating. They put the washers on and I assume used the same nut. I probably should have researchedmore and did it myself since I do a fair amount of work on cars but that is some high torque. They charged a full hour of labor at $160 to do the job. Others here have been charged about $106.

The axle nuts really should be covered by the powertrain warranty of which I only have a few days left. They don't seem to be a wear item and it is just part of the powertrain basically falling apart. Anyone have any good arguments for convincing them it should be covered by the powertrain warranty?

Is the noise a single thunk/pop noise when accelerating or decelerating? If that is the case, the first thing to try is torquing the axle nuts, not messing with the wheel nuts. I paid $160 to have Paula (service advisor) torque my nuts. It fixed the problem right away. I should have bought a proper wrench and socket to torque my own nuts but hindsight is always 20/20.

But if the noise is a repetitive clicking noise that speeds up and slows down with wheel speed, that's a different issue.

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