zukosc

Hello, I'm a proud new member here on the forums. I've read all the extensive steering wheel swap forums involving putting a newer OEM woodgrain wheel onto the 1st gen SCs.

I've installed my new '03 ES330 wood grain steering wheel onto my '95 SC. It works great, but it is not lining up straight. I've taken it off and put it back on 20+ times now trying to get it right on the center position/notch. I've marked the spot on the steering bolt where the car's wheels are straight, but I've found that the steering wheel will only slide in slightly to the right or left of this mark, not right on it. When i bolt the steering wheel down and drive, it will substantially skew right or left (both equidistant from the center, i will add) , accordingly. If i try to take it back off and push it down on that center mark, it will not budge - like there isn't a slit for this position. This is very strange considering nobody else has mentioned having this issue, yet this is something that has been done many times before. My original steering wheel lined up perfectly. But no matter how much I try, the wheel will not accept that center position, and results in it being very annoyingly off-center while driving, and makes parking tricky.

Does anyone know a possible fix for this, or what would cause this to happen?
Thanks!

LeX2K

Had this problem trying to put a JDM Celica wheel onto a Camry it wouldn't sit in the same place as the original was cocked either right or left. Thought about tweaking the tie rods but ultimately decided against it. Far as I could tell the JDM wheel was not damaged so I guess the spines/casting were simply not in the same alignment as the stock wheel.

Not sure if you have the same problem just tossing out there what I ran into.

- V -

iTrader: (1)

had this issue when i put the SC430 wheel into mine. Took the car to get aligned, they solved the issue for me

Bimmerbill

Just take in to an alignment shop and tell them you want the center point of your steering set. Had that problem with my SC when I purchased it, was off with stock wheel.

zukosc

sounds good guys. I will do that. Wanted to see if I could maybe skip a potential alignment bill, but it’s worth it for my sanity. Maybe it’ll be less lol. Thank you everyone

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

I suppose it's possible Toyota used different column and steering wheel orientations on some vehicles, but it seems unlikely that they would go to the trouble to change them up while still matching them to each other for each specific vehicle, despite using the same splines on everything.

More likely, IMO, is that the old 4-spoke example wheels were never perfectly centered, but it wasn't as noticeable as a 3-spoke wheel makes it.

Bimmerbill

I do not know about anyone else but my four spoke is perfectly straight. Mine is a '93 and will more than likely have my center point redone when ( and if ) I find time to install my factory 3 spoke.

- V -

iTrader: (1)

If you plan on keeping your car for a long time or doing anything to the suspension, it might be worth getting the lifetime alignment from firestone. I bought it 3 years ago for $200 and have done 7 alignments since then because of suspension work for completely free. It also follows you across all their locations so you can use the lifetime alignment at any location in the country. The only thing you need to be aware of is that they can't do an alignment for crazy low vehicles because their sensors latch on to the tires so they need a decent fender gap to work.

Bimmerbill

V, that is what you call an investment, that is less than $30.00 each already for you.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I went through this on my SC. They can adjust it during an alignment.