2207 Ranger XLT steering wheel won't stay centered

[Jay Hanig]

I fell asleep for a moment or two last week and ran my 2007
Ranger through a shallow ditch and into somebody's yard. There was no
apparent damage to the body and the truck continues to track straight if
you let go of the steering wheel.

The problem is that the steering wheel is no longer centered when you're
going straight. More oddly, the position seems to change every time I
drive it.

I took it to the local Ford dealer and his tech said it was out of
alignment so I let them reset it. When I left there, the wheel was off
center again. Sometimes it's off to the right; sometimes the left...
but it's off a good 45 degrees. As before, the truck seems to track
straight if you let go of the wheel.

So what's going on? How do I get it fixed?



Jay

[Old Crow]

Post by Jay Hanig
I fell asleep for a moment or two last week and ran my 2007
Ranger through a shallow ditch and into somebody's yard. There was no
apparent damage to the body and the truck continues to track straight if
you let go of the steering wheel.
The problem is that the steering wheel is no longer centered when you're
going straight. More oddly, the position seems to change every time I
drive it.
I took it to the local Ford dealer and his tech said it was out of
alignment so I let them reset it. When I left there, the wheel was off
center again. Sometimes it's off to the right; sometimes the left... but
it's off a good 45 degrees. As before, the truck seems to track straight
if you let go of the wheel.
So what's going on? How do I get it fixed?
Jay

Don't know much about those 2207's, :-) but I suppose it could be a bad rag
joint in the steering column. I would think that the alignment guy sould
have checked that. Did you explain the situation to them, or just ask for
an alignment?

[Jay Hanig]

Post by Old Crow
Don't know much about those 2207's, :-) but I suppose it could be a bad
rag joint in the steering column. I would think that the alignment guy
sould have checked that. Did you explain the situation to them, or just
ask for an alignment?

My bad.... can't type worth a toot. Anyway, I told them exactly what
had happened. Their alignment guy said that everything was tight; just
that it was out. I don't know how much.

The alignment didn't fix anything as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't
pull but it never did. But that cocked over steering wheel annoys me
quite a lot.


Jay

[Old Crow]

Post by Old Crow
Don't know much about those 2207's, :-) but I suppose it could be a bad
rag joint in the steering column. I would think that the alignment guy
sould have checked that. Did you explain the situation to them, or just
ask for an alignment?

My bad.... can't type worth a toot. Anyway, I told them exactly what had
happened. Their alignment guy said that everything was tight; just that
it was out. I don't know how much.
The alignment didn't fix anything as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't
pull but it never did. But that cocked over steering wheel annoys me
quite a lot.
Jay

Wouldn't hurt to take a quick look at the rag joint in the morning. Have
somebody rock the steering wheel back and forth while you check it out.

[IYM]

Post by Jay Hanig
I fell asleep for a moment or two last week and ran my 2007
Ranger through a shallow ditch and into somebody's yard. There was no
apparent damage to the body and the truck continues to track straight if
you let go of the steering wheel.
The problem is that the steering wheel is no longer centered when you're
going straight. More oddly, the position seems to change every time I
drive it.
I took it to the local Ford dealer and his tech said it was out of
alignment so I let them reset it. When I left there, the wheel was off
center again. Sometimes it's off to the right; sometimes the left...
but it's off a good 45 degrees. As before, the truck seems to track
straight if you let go of the wheel.
So what's going on? How do I get it fixed?
Jay

The 2207 never used traditional wheels, it used Hydroinversion
Occumhiemer levitation drive....come on man!! You must have hit the
bruhelmer device when you nodded off to be that close to the ground in
the first place to hit a ditch or you would have just floated over it.
As I always said, if Toyota hadn't gone out of business 150 years ago,
their vehicle would never have done what your Ford did....


(jus' playing as I saw you got legitimate responses already and couldn't
resist)...

[Kimbaray]

Your rack is moving. If your rack moves 1/2" it will move your wheel a lot.
This is not something a mechanic will look for. Very unusual.
Inspect the rack mounts for a broken bolt or signs of movement.

Post by Jay Hanig
I fell asleep for a moment or two last week and ran my 2007
Ranger through a shallow ditch and into somebody's yard. There was no
apparent damage to the body and the truck continues to track straight if
you let go of the steering wheel.
The problem is that the steering wheel is no longer centered when you're
going straight. More oddly, the position seems to change every time I
drive it.
I took it to the local Ford dealer and his tech said it was out of
alignment so I let them reset it. When I left there, the wheel was off
center again. Sometimes it's off to the right; sometimes the left... but
it's off a good 45 degrees. As before, the truck seems to track straight
if you let go of the wheel.
So what's going on? How do I get it fixed?
Jay

[Jay Hanig]

Post by Kimbaray
Your rack is moving. If your rack moves 1/2" it will move your wheel a lot.
This is not something a mechanic will look for. Very unusual.
Inspect the rack mounts for a broken bolt or signs of movement.

I called a garage my dad trusted and described what had happened along
with what had thus far been done. Most telling in the mechanic's eyes
was the fact that it seems to move around to a different spot every time
I drive it even though steering seems positive. It seems to change
particularly when I go over a bump.

My new guy thinks like you do. I have an appointment tomorrow morning
for him to check it out. Film at 11....



Jay

[Jay Hanig]

Post by Kimbaray
Your rack is moving. If your rack moves 1/2" it will move your wheel a lot.
This is not something a mechanic will look for. Very unusual.
Inspect the rack mounts for a broken bolt or signs of movement.

My new guy thinks like you do. I have an appointment tomorrow morning
for him to check it out. Film at 11....

Here's the latest: I took it to the garage this morning and the
mechanic verified the rack is moving. A new one is on order and I'm
supposed to bring it back Thursday for installation and a new alignment.
Although he realigned it again today, he didn't charge me anything for
it. Looks like it's going to cost me about $525 for parts, installation
and a new alignment on Thursday.



Jay

[charlie]

Post by Kimbaray
Your rack is moving. If your rack moves 1/2" it will move your wheel a lot.
This is not something a mechanic will look for. Very unusual.
Inspect the rack mounts for a broken bolt or signs of movement.

My new guy thinks like you do. I have an appointment tomorrow morning
for him to check it out. Film at 11....

Here's the latest: I took it to the garage this morning and the mechanic
verified the rack is moving. A new one is on order and I'm supposed to
bring it back Thursday for installation and a new alignment. Although he
realigned it again today, he didn't charge me anything for it. Looks
like it's going to cost me about $525 for parts, installation and a new
alignment on Thursday.
Jay

I had this happen with a Mazda van. Turned out that the rack had to be
glued to the rubber bushings or it would shift around just enough to
notice by moving the steering wheel center.