I got an alignment as part of a shock replacement.

Afterwards I noticed I had to hold the steering wheel to the left in order to go straight.

I took it back to the dealer and they said they had to align it out of spec in order to get the steering wheel straightened.

Any idea what they did? Attached are before the adjustment when the steering wheel was crooked and then after the steering wheel was straightened.
the “before” in both pictures is the same. The “current” is the one that changed.

 

Review the attached YouTube. This is standard practice. I am assuming from your description the car isn't pulling...Just a crooked wheel.

 

@TheManWithThe7 ,
The comment "had to align it out of spec in order to get the steering wheel straightened", is a load of crap, I am amazed over the years at the lack of knowledge, or plain laziness by the technicians doing alignments, even when I make it clear that I want the "Center Steering" set after they perform the alignment, so many fail to do this, it's as simple as the video posted by 1eapplebaum shows, the alignment is done first, then each outer tie rod is adjusted equally to center the steering wheel.

Johnny

 

that makes more sense although the alignment report shows the toe was adjusted too back to in spec standards so it was a bit of a head scratcher as to what they are lying about

 

Agreed, the "before" and "current" on both reports, especially the second is confusing, as is the comment as to where you want the steering wheel, where else would you want it, nothing but straight.

Not sure if some guys doing the alignment actually understand what the center steering setting is about, or how it works, one guy had my Audi A8L W12 steering wheel so far off it was ridiculous, he argued that if he changed either side of the toe in toe out, it would ruin the alignment, I had to explain to him and his manager that no, setting the center steering does not ruin the alignment, as you do the alignment by setting the toe-in toe-out of each side individually, with different adjustments to each side to get in specs, then you straighten the steering wheel, then you adjust the toe-in of one side and the toe-out of the other exactly the same amount, this keeps the toe of left and right in the exact spec relevant to each other as they were set to in the alignment, this is best done by performing the alignment, then going for a test drive, therefore taking notice of the position of the steering wheel being centered, then back on the rack to adjust the center steering as stated above, the problem I see is, they try to do all in one shot on the rack, without a test drive, only to have me come back after driving 10 minutes down the road and finding the center steering off.... back on the rack.

Johnny


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