Do unofficial alloys cause weird steering angles?

[SonicAaron]

Hey,

I got my car lowered and put on unofficial alloys. My steering wheel was at a slight angle after so I got the front wheels aligned, but it was still a bit off so I took it somewhere else and got it aligned again and it's still every so slightly off still.

The guy in the garage says that it's probably my alloys that are to blame and with unofficial ones you rarely get your steering wheels absolutely straight with non standard alloys.

Is this true?

[wai]

I can't see any reason why different wheels would cause issues with steering alignment. The only thing that might change is the offset, but that would not show a difference in alignment.

Lowering will see a change in toe in as the suspension is slightly compressed and this can cause a change in the amount of toe in. This happens with all cars where there is a significant difference in the position of the tie rod pivot and the suspension arm pivot.

Lowering by changing the rolling radius of the tyre alone however will not cause a change in toe in.

[Martin]

Fully agree with Wai

Using the wrong offset will give you bump steer and feedback and it changes your scrub radius

The guy in the garage says that it's probably my alloys that are to blame and with unofficial ones you rarely get your steering wheels absolutely straight with non standard alloys.

Utter nonsense - don't go back there

They are just not setting up the steering wheel correctly prior to adjusting the toe in

[staz88]

The guy in the garage says that it's probably my alloys that are to blame and with unofficial ones you rarely get your steering wheels absolutely straight with non standard alloys.

Was the 'guy in the garage' drunk?

[SonicAaron]

Well see now I'm worried.

When I fitted the alloys I had an accident where my rear left one came off and my car dropped onto the road (the drum brake). I've taken it to a garage for a check over and they said they can't see any damage so I took it for alignment.

The wheel was slightly off.

Then took it to this latest garage and he said they're aligned.

So now I'm convinced the back MUST be damaged; perhaps the rear wheels aren't aligned even though they're not actually alignable. So annoying

[bushman]

Your wheel came off !! Definitely go somewhere else.
Pay proper dollar & get it done right

[brad]

Hey,

I got my car lowered and put on unofficial alloys. My steering wheel was at a slight angle after so I got the front wheels aligned, but it was still a bit off so I took it somewhere else and got it aligned again and it's still every so slightly off still.

The guy in the garage says that it's probably my alloys that are to blame and with unofficial ones you rarely get your steering wheels absolutely straight with non standard alloys.

Is this true?

Biggest load of malarchy I've ever heard.

I'd suggest you get on one of the UK based forums for either VW (ClubPolo?) or Skoda (Briskoda?) or Audi & find out who the good wheel alignment specialists are in your area.

Go to them & explain what happened. If something at the back is bent then your thrust line might be out. This won't cause an off-centre steering wheel though. That is adjusted using the tie-rods at the front. It's not hard.

You don't seem to be getting a lot of support from your wheel supplier, mechanics etc.

[Martin]

Right - there is some history here
(During my 30 years driving I've had two wheel departure events - neither impacted the suspension mounts)

Here in Australia, when we get the wheel alignment done we can ask for a printout
The trouble is you may need somebody decent to interpret it for you

Never the less, the second shop you went to were either feeding you a line or perhaps they are hopeless
You need to find a place that tells the truth and know what they are doing
They need to set the steering when dead centre before doing the front alignment
If there is a problem at the rear (that they can't correct due to fine adjustment maxed out) they should call that out

[nightphotographer]

I've had this happen once when swapping wheels front to back - so always put it down to the tyres. An alignment didn't change it, but swapping to different wheels and tyres fixed it completely.

[wai]

This points to something wrong with the wheels, or hubs where the wheel is not seating correctly. But then this would also cause a horrible wobble as it rotated.

Maybe you need to have the wheel alignment checked after rotating it 90, 190 and 270 degrees.