VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 '54 Steering wheel not centered... ?

I got this wonderful '54 210 PG dream and we are having fun going here and there. The car rides very well on BFG 6.70x15 4-ply bias ply tires at any posted highway speed.
I have done a search on this forum going back to the fall 2004 looking for information about centering a steering wheel that is slightly out of kilter when the car is tracking a straight line and I haven't found any discussion about it.

Is it easy to center the steering wheel or do I get used to her liking it a little to the left?

First it is important to have the steering gear centered. If it is not perfectly centered the steering will have a little free play. The upper end of the steering shaft has a little line stamped into it and this should be at top dead center. Check this first in event a previous "mechanic" centered the wheel by removing and reinstalling the wheel off kilter.
If this is OK you center the wheel by loosening the clamps on the drag link and rotating the center rod in the link. One way will make it shorter aand the other way longer. This will do the trick. Most cars require this adjustment on the tie rods and it can change the toe-in. By doing it on the drag link the toe-in will not be changed.
This operation is perhaps better described in the 1949-53 shop manual, steering gear section, ....steering connecting rod adjust, page 9-3.

Thanks Chevgene, I think I know what forum I need to post to next...

Now what if ya don't have any adjustment on the drag link, like in my '50 Advance Design? isn't the only option to re-index the wheel in order to center it??
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

If all the mechanicals are in good shape any competent front end shop can remedy the problem in a few minutes by adjusting the drag link.

What I did with my 53 was to get a picture in my mind where the steering wheel usually is when going down a nice straight road, after I had a front alignment done. Then back in the shop I set the steering wheel to the same place the car was going down the road, pulled the wheel and rotate it to strait side to side on the splines and tighten it back down, it worked fine for me.

Denny,
For a truck or vehicle that has a solid drag link the steering gear can be centered by "adjusting" the tie rod rod in its ends.
The most important is making the adjustment to get the steering gear centered (by index mark on shaft) ..... If you remove the steering wheel to center it and the gear is not centered you will end up with play in the steering. Then if you try to adjust out the play the gear will bind as it passes through center.
On some steering systems the tie rod ends/tie rod is the only way to center the gear....such as 1939-48 cars and the 1955 and up cars.

Boy Gene you were really throwin’ me for a loop for a while. I guess I shouldn’t have jumped in to a passenger car discussion with a pickup question. I believe the misunderstanding here is in the linkage geometry of the cars where we encounter individual tie rods with an idler.
All that adjusting the tie rod on my 1950, 3504 is going to do is alter the spread of the front wheels and that has absolutely no bearing on the steering wheel position on this vehicle.
The trucks steering linkage, as you know, is pretty basic, pitman arm, non-adjustable drag link, steering knuckle and one adjustable tie rod. Really a pretty basic set up. In this case the only means for centering the wheel is to index it on the shaft when the wheels are tracking straight.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

You are correct-that would not work on a car with a solid wheel to wheel tie rod. Got to do some more thinking

Now my interest has really peaked.

Yes, I know, I’m a nit-picker, but that’s how I clear things up in me old noggin. OK, as mom used to say, “now we’re cookin’ with gas!” I see now, what your saying. That is, with the steering systems that use a relay rod or center link that the adjustment is made there, if that’s not adjustable then you center the wheel by taking turns from one tie rod and add the same number of turns to the opposite tie rod, till the wheel is centered, zat right? This way you are not disturbing the toe in alignment.

Help me out here Gene, I don’t have a vintage Chevy autocar at the house to look at, only that old 3604 truck. If I remember correctly, the type of linkage with a relay rod and idler only came into use because of the independent front suspension and what year would that have been on the Chevy’s?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

GM used the relay rod (drag link) center idler arm system on their first open coil spring cars in 1934 (Olds,Buick, LaSalle and Cadillac). Chevrolet used tis system from 1949-54. Was called center point steering. The 1939-48 Chevrolets with the open coil front suspension had a pitman arm off the steering gear with a short tie rod on the left side and a long tie rod on the right sie. The tie rods were connected directly to the pitman arm. Not the best arrangement.
The "big" GM cars dropped the center idler arm in 1937 and had the center link and right side idle arm, Chevrolet did this in 1955.