alright, so after my body lift my steering wheel is upside down.

now, before you all go "did you mark the shaft" blah blah blah.

NO. i do not mark the shaft. there was no need to do that, i had my brother inside and put the wheel straight.

the extension WOULD NOT GO ON with the wheel straight. no matter how hard i tried. after reading a few threads on various forums and not finding this issue anywhere i said screw it and put the extension on the one and only way it would go. with the wheel upside down.

has been this way for a while. getting used to it but it bugs me (for obvious reasons)

is there an easy way of making it right side up? or do i have to take the wheel off and put it back on straight?

im guessing the PO of the truck had something weird done in the steering to have this happen.

any ideas?

 

I said it last time this was mentioned in another thread, the extension goes in one way and one way only. There's no way to install it upside-down. Unless a previous owner did something to deem it necessary to flip the steering wheel 180*, there shouldn't be a reason it's upside down now.

I'd first figure out why the steering wheel is upside down and go from there. I can't fathom having 3 turns one way and 4 turns the other..... I still suggest checking to see if you've got an equal amount of turns of the wheel one way to the next. For example, jack the truck up and see if you've got 3 wheel rotations to the right until lock, and 3 rotations to the left until lock. If the number is the same both sides, sure go ahead and pull the wheel and rotate it.

Removal of the steering wheel requires removal of air bag and a steering wheel removal tool. Then it bolts right back up. This shouldn't have to be done....I question something else is wrong.

There has never been one mention of this sorta of issue when installing the bodylift in my 10 years of Ranger Forums. Your truck be crazy. Figure it out before rotating the wheel 180*.

 

the steering wheel has a splined shaft, and iirc, there is one larger than the rest that will prevent it from being put on wrong. plus, the way the wiring lines up for the clock spring and wheel would keep it from being off as well.

 

Well I turned the wheel bit ways from center (wheels straight) same amount of turns both ways. 1 and 3/4 turns.

I didn't jack it up though, didn't have time before work. Was on gravel.

I dunno.

 

So the dealer can fix it, they just need to know which way it has to turn to be the correct spot in regards to the wiring etc. if I take the column cover off will that help me see which way it needs to go?

I don't wanna take it off if it won't help, cause if I remember right it's a pain to get them off. (Replaced the multifunction switch a while back)

 

no need to remove the trim. just turn it lock to lock, the way that has fewer turns will tell which way it has to spin.

 

Read my post before that one......

 

He probably did and expects you to try again with the truck jacked up. That's what the dealer would expect you to do as well.

 

Already did that as well. Exact same result.

I'll just do what I think will work. You guys will just tell me to do things I've already done again.

 

it has to be off one way or the other. the steering wheel just doesn't go 180* out. is there crunching noise when you get to lock? maybe hanging up on the clock spring?

 

ill check again tomorrow i guess.

 

1 and 3/4 turns each way sounds like not much. no clearance issues? i would think you should be getting 2-3 turns in either direction.

 

nope, no clearance issues. wheels turn all the way like they did before.
2-3 turns sounds like a hell of a lot to me.

 

I get about 2 turns in either direction to lock. Could be an issue inside the steering box i had some alignment issues when i took it to a local place they had it almost 180* the wrong way hard to really diagnose without being in front of the truck though

 

Just tried again. Lifted off the ground, 1 3/4 turns right. Back to tires straight, 1 3/4 turns left.

Had the column trim pieces off, spring doesn't look any different no matter how I turn it.

Any other ideas?

Gotta get this figured out ASAP. Tires will be here Thursday. Need an alignment!

 

Unbolted the steering extension and the wheel just spins continuously. So, does it really matter which way it goes to make it straight? Left or right? If they put the wheel straight then adjust till the tires are aligned will that not work?

 

The Clock spring is just that. A spring. Its only going to have X amount of turns in it before one way or the other will be short and long. Like Troy or Shane said, The steering wheel is splined with one tooth larger than the rest so it cannot go on wrong. Something else is afoul here.

 

with the extension off, the wheel just free spins? never stops? if it doesn't, does your horn work? air bag light? if it's just free spinning, your clock spring is broke. now, that doesn't have anything to do with your wheel being off. i would spin it 180* and put it back together.

 

Guess my clock spring is broke then. Horn works fine. No airbag light, all cruise buttons work fine.

Odd.

 

if all those work, the cs isn't broke. the cs is what connects the horn, air bag, and cruise and allows the steering wheel to turn. odd indeed....

 

alright, so I had more spare time today than i did last time. so i took the extension off again so i could spin it freely. 26 turns in total.... lol

i thought there would be 8-10 turns max. no one mentioned there would be 25 turns before the clock spring maxed out lmao. would have saved me some time. but oh well. I found center and now know which way the wheel needs to go to be dead center.

thanks for the time you guys took to try and help me.

 

Is it fixed?

 

it will be on tuesday when it goes in for the alignment. they just needed to know which way to turn it to get it centered. now that I figured that out, they can get it right.