Things You'll Need:
- Your car
-
Step 1
First get in your car a drive. Is there something wrong with the steering? Not driving straight? Monitor what's happening then look to the next steps and see if you can diagnose and get a better idea of what's going on.
-
Step 2
Does the car drive straight while the steering wheel is turned? You probably have an adjustment problem in your rack and pinion. You rack and pinion in connected to your front wheels by tie rod ends. These tie rod ends are adjustable. They basically adjust you steering wheel and your front tires. They make sure when your steering wheel is straight both front tires and pointed straight. Common reasons for the adjustments to be off is hitting pot holes, rubbing up against curbs, and sometimes just the car be old. You will need to locate a automotive shop with an alignment machine to have this corrected. Most shops have one and its not that expensive of a service.
-
Step 3
Does your car feeling like its pulling to one side? You probably have more of a problem with your tires. Its very possible that one tire's air pressure is lower on one side than the other on the front. Also it could be that the tread on side is much more worn down than the other. Check you tires air pressure and condition. Also I have found from personally experience that simply rotating your tires from front to back can sometimes fix this problem or at least give you a little more time before having to buy new tires.
-
Step 4
Abnormal tire wearDo you have abnormal wear on your tires? This can be a tricky situation and will need to be put on a alignment machine to diagnose. Basically when this happens depending where on the tire the wear is your tie rods could be out of adjustment, your camber could be out of adjustment, your caster could be out of adjustment, etc. You get the picture. Most of the time its the alignment in your tie rods which is what we explained in step one. This is usually the most common thing to get out of adjust and is also the easiest and cheapest to fix.
