newboxster

Hello,

Recently had my 987 Boxster aligned at my (relatively) local Porsche dealer. Very nice folks, very good experience, but unfortunately upon arriving home the steering wheel was significantly canted counterclockwise (cognizant of the slope of the roadway). After pointing this out, they very graciously repeated the alignment, and now the steering wheel is much better...but not perfect. I think the alignment is technically correct (and this represents only a steering wheel mis-centering) but am reluctant to return the car again for a third time.

* Is it feasible to simply adjust the tie rod ends very symmetrically until steering wheel is centered?
* My nearby Chevrolet dealer does a superb alignment (including steering wheel centering) on several of our other vehicles, would alignment of the Boxster prove more complicated?

I did a site search in advance but could not find definitive answers. Thanks for your help!

Jim Michaels

Some cars are simple to align because there are not many adjustments that can be made. Also just getting everything within specs is less time consuming than trying to get all the settings just like the customer wants them.

I think that centering the steering wheel is supposed to be the last step in the alignment process. I usually sit in the driver's seat during my alignment and the tech always asks me to check to make sure the steering wheel is perfectly straight. If it's even off a little, he quickly adjusts something to make it straight. I don't know why they couldn't get yours straight.

Byprodriver

+1 on this After verifying tire pressure is set at factory spec & test driving on a level smooth road, if the steering wheel is not centered I would call the service manager & complain this is inexcuseable, I am confident you paid enough to expect this to be done right the 1st time!

Bill Lehman

The steering wheel should have been centered before the front toe was set. If it was not, the idea of adjusting the toe links exactly the same on each side should fix it. Also note that rear toe can have an effect on steering wheel angle. I once had a rear camber eccentric screw loosen which caused severe rear toe on one side. This resulted in such extreme steering wheel angle that PSM turned itself off.

Macster

First, I would advise you to stay the heck away from any GM dealer with your car. I owned a 2006 GTO and got rid of it when I couldn't find a GM dealer that prohibited its employees from thrashing my car. In several cases I had a logging device in the car so I wasn't imagining this either. The 2nd time the dealer went out of business before I could act upon what happened. The first time I was Mr. Nice Guy and tried to talk to the dealer and got treated terribly for my effort. It didn't happen, then it did but it was done on a chassis dyno and then I was told it was SOP to road test car. BTW, I had the car in for a simply transmission/diff fluid change, with nary a complaint about the car's behavior. And to top it off the dealer put in the wrong transmission fluid.

Stay away from GM with any car. I wouldn't take my push mower to a GM dealer for service.

Anyhow, if the steering wheel is not centered to your satisfaction, take the car back. I had an issue with an alignment with my Turbo and the dealer service department allowed me to take the car on a test drive to check the alignment/feel of the car.

When I had my new Cayman S aligned the car came off the rack with a perfect alignment and the wheel was centered.

Did you get a *before* and *after* printout of the alignement settings? Whenever I fail to get one of these almost always the alignment is not to my satisfaction.

The steering wheel should be centered *before* the alignment starts and its centering checked several times as the process advances.

Be aware that at least with my Boxster the dash/instruments are on a bit of a slant/tilt and this makes the wheel look a bit mis-centered.

Also, you have to be sure the road surfaces of the roads you are driving on don't require some minor steering adjustment/compensation that makes the steering wheel look mis-aligned when it fact it is not.

Sincerely,

Macster.