# '02 Altima steering wheel off-center after subframe drop



## WSSmolick (Jan 8, 2013)

After dropping and re-installing the subframe for an engine replacement on my '02 Altima, the steering wheel is now off -center. How do I correct this? Apparently, the steering shaft became uncoupled somewhere in the steering column. The steering shaft was reconnected to the steering rack in front of the firewall in the same position. At straight-ahead, the steering wheel is now at the 4 o'clock position rather than at the 12 o'clock position.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Either the steering shaft was not re-assembled in the correct position of the subframe is mounted slightly off-center. When dropping subframes, it is usually a good idea to use chalk or a wax pencil to make marks on the body to help line-up the subframe to its previous, exact location. With the steering wheel being that much off-center, I would think it is more likely an issue with the steering column re-assembly than the subframe. Hopefully you tied off the steering wheel before you separated the column. If the steering wheel turned and not put back to its original position, it could put the spiral cable out of sync. In this case, if a full turn is made, it could put tension on the wires of the spiral cable and even cause them to break, which will result in air bag codes, a non-functional horn and/or other issues.


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## WSSmolick (Jan 8, 2013)

Thank you for the reply. We did have the steering wheel tied, but I'm sure the wheels were in different positions from when we dropped the subframe to reassembly, therefore we would have rotated the lower steering shaft until it lined up with the steering rack. Apparently, the lower steering shaft became uncoupled in the steering column and we didn't realize it until we saw the steering wheel off-center when driving straight. My next question is- how do you replace the lower steering shaft? Do you just undo the clamp at the steering rack splined shaft and slide it out? Because it seems that's what I need to do- slide the shaft out, get the steering whaeel back in it's correct position, reconnect the steering shaft to the steering rack.


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