Steering Wheel Alignment

[DaveN]

My 07 Gti is great but one thing is driving me a bit mad, has anyone experianced the following;

When on a straight road you need to steer slightly to the right in order to remain straight.
Now it has not been crashed or anything and the dealer says the alignment is correct.
Does anyone know how to adjust the steering "Zero" position in order that the steering wheel is perfectly straight.

The dealer is enquiring with VW as to the issue so I thought I would as you guys.

Dave N

[paulm007]

Dave

That sounds complete b*****ks to me mate!  Mine is a 07 ED30 and its fine

[Simonet]

so if you let go of the wheel, the car turns left?? or if you go in a straight line the steering wheel is slightly rotated to the right (clock wise)

If you have to turn right to keep straight, then that's either the tracking or camber of the road. Perhaps try different sections of road. Remember the large tyres (wide) do tend to follow all undulations in the road!

[DaveN]

Yeh, I had thought it was the camber, the roads here in Ireland are sh1t.
The car doesn't pull its more subtle then that its only a slight turn to the right is required.
I think am getting very picky with the GTI, yesterday I had the Drivers seat and rear seat latch's replaced, under warranty, due to rattles and squeaks. I just want my machine to be prefect is that too much to ask?

Dave N

[adw555]

I have the same problem on my car (from N Ireland) ...the alignment is correct etc...seems slightly worse on other roads and seems to get worse as the tyre wear increases...I just put it down to the road camber and Bridgstones.... 

[RedRobin]

I had the same problem - Steering wheel wasn't 'dead horizontal' when car was driving 'dead straight' (if that makes sense!). My VW dealer fixed it in minutes while I waited. No problem since (thousands of miles). He was aware of such things happening and not exclusive to the Mk5 GTI.

[adw555]

Oh...interesting. Don't suppose you know what they adjusted. I did ask my dealer but they thought it was ok when it was in for a serive. I'm pretty sure all they did was take it up the road for a thrash  but it's def not dead center.

[wantmygti]

Isn't it a case of removing the wheel and replacing it one notch round on the splines it sits on? Might be easier said that done with the air bag.

[DaveN]

Just been to an independant wheel/suspension specialist and suprise, suprise his equipment has shown the steering is misaligned, probably from a pot hole.

I'm €80 lighter but its correct now and time and effort put in to make sure it is bang on, approx 2 hrs spent sorting it out.

This makes me suspicious of the local dealer service, they obviously didn't check it at all and just fobbed me off with a "its looks fine to me".

The moral of the story is dont hit potholes or take what a dealer service dept says with a pinch of salt.

Dave N

[Cass]

Sorry but I would have insisted that the dealer sorted this problem on a 07 car when you reported the fault to them. It's is their obligation, period. Notwithstanding that you've now paid £80 to the suspension specialist, I would still write to both the dealer and VW to highlight this issue and poor service. Might be that the dealers equipment has an incorrect set-up or the operator was not qualified to use it You just might get your money back if you are lucky

Cass