thermidorthelobster Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Hi, The steering wheel on my Ducato is offset to the right, by enough to be slightly irritating. The rest of the steering geometry seems OK - it doesn't vibrate or pull to one side, and the tyres wear evenly. Hence I suspect the wheel may have been removed at some point and not refitted quite right. In the good old days I'd have got a big spanner, pulled the wheel off the splines (being careful not to hit myself in the face with it) and put it back on one spline anticlockwise; I take it this is still the case? Most importantly, how do I disable the airbag so it doesn't go off when I fiddle with it? Thanks, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 The answer, I think, is that you don't! If you have had the tracking re-set, take it back to whoever did it, and ask them to re-centre the steering. Someone has taken all of the adjustment off one side only, instead of from both sides equally. This may have been done during conversion. Failing that, it was possibly set wrong by Fiat on leaving the factory. However, I doubt that is the case, as they are usually spot on. Unless you have previously had tracking adjusted, I doubt if you will be able to persuade anyone this should be a warranty issue, because it is almost invariably claimed to be the consequence of "kerbing" a wheel. However, the offset may indicate that the adjustment is out, even though you cannot detect a pull off, so rather than risk accelerated tyre wear I think a visit to a local Fiat commercial dealership would be the safest option, and see what they say. If the tracking is now right, you have not had it re-set, and the wheel is not correctly centred, they may wear it under warranty if the mileage is low. If not, you'll have to pay, but it shouldn't break the bank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermidorthelobster Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 It's a second-hand van (2008) so I have no way of checking what has been altered. The fact that the steering seems to check out fine in every other respect is what made me think that maybe it was as simple as the wheel having been rotated. The steering wheel on my Land Rover was offset after having some work done on it; in that case I had to adjust the drag link to centre it, but I was hoping this wouldn't be necessary on the van as it's considerably more hassle! I may drop it down to my friendly local tyre place and get them to do it, for the sake of grubbing around in the cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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