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Steering wheel not centered


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I bought my 09 journey 7 seater 3.5L awd last year, it sat for 10 months.  It needed all new suspension front and rear, brakes and some bushings.  I replaced everything it needed, drives perfectly straight but my steering wheel is off centered.  I didn’t mess with the tie rods but I did pull on the hub at one point in time during the work.  Is there any easy way to re-center the  steering wheel.  Because it’s off center it has

thrown my esp and bas light.  

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4 hours ago, 2late4u said:

you will have to have an alignment done to get it straight. also  it being off center wouldn't cause a warning light unless the front end is so far off or has other problems

From what I’ve read on other dodges that code will show if it sense your steering  wheel isn’t aligned for extended period of time.  I’ve tried to recalibrate it by turning the journey on cranking  wheel to left all the way then back to right then to center.  I’m curious if there is another mechanical way To Center the wheel outside of an alignment.  It drives perfectly straight just has a crooked wheel now.  I’m going to inspect further in the  steering column this week.

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Given all of the work that you have done, why not get it aligned? It may drive straight but it could be out enough in multiple components that one offsets the other. With the possible increased tire wear and small reduction in gas mileage, plus the satisfaction of a job well done, are you really saving more than a couple of dollars? Finish the job and then enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Edited by Summer Solstice
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An alignment will get done, money doesn’t grow on trees for me.  Get divorced and drug through the courts, lose your house; your truck and be forced to buy a broken vehicle, declare bankruptcy and you will understand.  If I can fix something myself or make less work for the alignment why wouldn’t I?  To adjust the alignment have to adjust the tie rod ends which

are seized on... therefore needing to be replaced therefore costing even more.  

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There may be some DIY videos on youtube showing how to recenter a steering wheel. I've done it before, but back in the day before airbags and all that electronic crap started running through the steering wheel. I saw one video for a Nissan where there was a u-joint type connection  on the steering shaft under the dash that the guy was able to loosen to re-center the wheel. Sorry to not be more insightful but the majority of members here pay someone else  to work on their vehicles or have extended warranties. As the platform gets older ( I know, it's already 10 years old, lol) maybe we will get more DIY'rs on here who can start doing write ups on stuff like you are doing to yours. Good luck. 

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3 hours ago, jkeaton said:

There may be some DIY videos on youtube showing how to recenter a steering wheel. I've done it before, but back in the day before airbags and all that electronic crap started running through the steering wheel. I saw one video for a Nissan where there was a u-joint type connection  on the steering shaft under the dash that the guy was able to loosen to re-center the wheel. Sorry to not be more insightful but the majority of members here pay someone else  to work on their vehicles or have extended warranties. As the platform gets older ( I know, it's already 10 years old, lol) maybe we will get more DIY'rs on here who can start doing write ups on stuff like you are doing to yours. Good luck. 

 Thank you,  I’ll do a write up if I have any luck recentering it myself.  I do all my own work lots of reading and experience from other cars

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