Steering wheel off center

I've noticed lately that my steering wheel is off center. I took a photo to show what I'm talking about. It isn't much, but is still noticeable.

I suspect this is a result of the road construction that has been going on the last 6 months on my street. It has been really bad and there has been no way for me to get around it. Some days I can't drive more than 4 miles per hour because the pot holes are so bad. Fortunately, they are building a brand new concrete street but it is not finished yet and I can't drive on that part yet.

Anyway. I just wanted to point out that when I am driving down a straight stretch of road, I can take my hands off of the wheel and the car does not pull to one side, it just keeps driving straight. However, the wheel is tilted like this even when driving in a straight line.

Any thoughts?

Mine is the same way but not as extreme, no pulling and no alignment issues. It was like this from day 1.

Mine is like this. It can be fixed - you just need your Nissan tech to have the right attention to detail. I've got to go back to get my glove box light installed - I plan to have my wheel offset fixed too.

essaunders said:

- you just need your Nissan tech to have the right attention to detail.

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There is where the problem starts.

Make sure you have it done under warranty before 1 year - apparently alignment issues are only covered under warranty for that long.

drees said:

Make sure you have it done under warranty before 1 year - apparently alignment issues are only covered under warranty for that long.

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thanks. good point.

On other cars I've owned, it's not too difficult to adjust out by yourself, as long as you can rise the front of the car. But I'd let someone else do it if under warranty.

a good alignment shop will easily fix this, but mention it to the mechanic so he is aware of it. You probably hit a pothole pretty hard at some point or perhaps one of the bolts was not torqued properly at the factory and loosened up as you drove the car..

Its a good idea to re-torque all the suspension bits to spec after the car has broken-in for a few months, this also prevents/solves odd bushing squeaking noises when you hit a bump. I can imagine you will hear the smallest noise in a quiet car like the Leaf.

Mine pointed to 11 o'clock to go straight. Yes, get it fixed before your 1st year is up...I almost learned this the hard way.

Mine was off a few degrees when I got it. Just barely noticeable but I'm sensitive to such things. I loosened up both tie rod adjusters, moved them about 1/8 turn in complimentary directions, and problem solved.

I had a flat tire last night and was forced to get a tow at 4am to a tire shop that did not have the exact same tire as the stock ones. So I bought a different tire (same brand, same measurements of course), and now I've noticed that my steering wheel is off center. I've only got 1100 miles on the car, so maybe I just never noticed this before last night. Could it be the different tire? It's a Bridgestone Turanza on my front-left tire.

Turanza likely has higher rolling resistance so it could be the problem. If so, it may be less noticeable on the rear.

I didn't notice it for a year until I read this thread and I had to checked mine as well. It turned out to be just barely off center, maybe couple degrees. Nissan service corrected it free of charge during my last visit, no problem! Always been happy with their service.