Steering wheel off centre, something bent?

[nielsc]

From what you’ve described, I suggest that either the quadrant shaft has twisted inside the steering box or the Panhard rod has bent.

Admittedly, both are unlikely, but if the steering rod isn’t bent and neither of the two ball joints each end of it are bent, and the steering column isn’t twisted, then there’s no other logical explanation I can think of...

Oh, and PS... can I have my truck back please... ??

Hm, can’t see or feel anything wrong with the panhard or steering box.
Bent panhard does turn the wheel to the left tough... For now I adjusted the steering link to get the wheel centred again. We’ll see.

 

[Chris]

I hit a stump full on in Russia so hard that it stalled the engine. My wheel was 30 degrees off to the right having hit the left wheel. On the road it drove fine but the wheel was in the same plane as the indicator cancel mechanism so I had to swerve to be able to indicate. We looked underneath and the rear steering bar was pushed up. We slackened the clamp bolts, rotated it 180 degrees and jacked it past straight so it sprung back level. Rotating it back and forth showed we'd got it pretty straight but the steering was still off. I slackened the front clamps and turned the rod until the wheel was straight again and drove all the way home like that. It drives perfectly although that's no guarantee that the geometry is correct. Problem is that my truck won't fit under the canopy at the local tracking place.

 

[nielsc]

In your case the track will be off so I’d definatly get it aligned again

 

[frank rabbets]

Due to the steering box gearing you only need a very small movement/damage to a component on the far side of the box to whizz the steering wheel round which gives you a big degree out on the steering wheel.

 

[clivehorridge]

Due to the steering box gearing you only need a very small movement/damage to a component on the far side of the box to whizz the steering wheel round which gives you a big degree out on the steering wheel.

True enough, this equated to about 20 minutes at the steering wheel, wheel alignment unaffected...

 

[frank rabbets]

Steering box was an inherited design from when the car had a separate body with unpredictable alignment. A rack does away with all the vulnerable tubes and several linkages giving a simpler and more protected system. My early Range Rover had an almost identical design to the 80. I hit a whippet at 40 mph and it bent the front tube from box to wheel link like a banana. In reverse you would not think that swinging a whippet at 40 mph onto the tube would do such damage. Purely physics chaps no upset intended.