Back in February while making a left turn I was hit by a guy making an illegal pass. Ruined my left front fender and took off my bumper and left headlight assy. I've had all the body work done but since the accident my steering wheel ***** over to the left almost a quarter turn. I was told it just needed alignment but the body shop sent it out to be aligned and they said it wasn't out.

The truck drives straight but the steering wheel is off. It wasn't like that before and I"m trying to figure out what to fix. On level ground I can let go the wheel and the truck goes straight. One guy told me my drag link was bent but I looked it up on Autozone and the new one looks just like the one that's on the truck. It has a bend in it that's apparently supposed to be there.

The other inner tie rod looks ok and the outers look ok. When the wheels are pointing straight ahead so is the pitman arm but again the steering wheel is still cocked over. It doesn't pull to the left or right , there are no issues with driving the truck but something happened that made the steering wheel not line up right.

I was hit while making a left turn and the impact probably moved me a foot or so back to the right while having the wheel turned. Could it have jumped a gear or something inside the steering box? If so I'd think I would feel some problem in the steering but it steers fine. I really can't figure out what's going on. I'm considering just pulling the steering wheel off and re-aligning it so that it points straight when the wheels are straight. Any ideas?

 

If everything else is good, truck drives straight, no vibration, no abnormal tire wear; the suspension should be good. It sounds as if the alignment shop forgot to lock the steering wheel during the alignment after the suspension fix. Best fix is to pull the steering wheel and center it. The other option is to loosen everything on the front, center the steering wheel, and then align the front end.

 

There was no suspension "fix" that I know of and the steering wheel was like this before it ever went to the body shop or alignment shop. I have doubts that it was ever even sent to the alignment shop frankly.

Immediately after the accident driving home I noticed the steering wheel being cocked over to the left when the truck was going straight. It hasn't changed, whatever happened was caused by being hit not in the shop.