Gentlemen the time has come to tap your wealth of knowledge once again. I have had my car stored for winter (about 7 months now) and the weather has finally allowed for me to take the car cover off, start her up, and enjoy her again. As I was cruising about, I took a left turn at a light with some wheel spin as there is still a vast amount of gravel still on the roads from winter, no biggie. As I was coming out of the turn the steering wheel didn't come completely straight as the body became straight with the road.All in all the steering wheel was out of funk to the tune of 30 degrees to the right, but the car was driving straight as an arrow. Twist. I was understandably confused and curious as to why this happened and went to pull over on a side street in order to inspect things. As I began to pull over I went over a random dip in the road, and the steering wheel itself straightened out, right back to normal. The dip in the road was not harsh it was just like an "up and down" kinda thing if that makes sense, a childs rollercoaster comes to mind. Now it is obvious that this was a problem with the alignment, but I want to how it managed to fall out of alignment randomly and correct itself. A buddy I had in the car with me at the time suggested a loss tie rod.

Can you please confirm or suggest what you think might have happened. I have an appointment at the dealership tomorrow morning which was originally planned for just an oil change but that may change.

TL;DR Car was winter stored, took out for a drive, suspension is messing with me.

 

It might just be one or more of your tires just low on air and not enough to turn on the low tire pressure light, or you have moisture build up in the tires. I would check and see if all four tires have the same psi and I would put nitrogen in the tires for a better and more stable ride.

 

I made sure to pump up the tires before leaving the garage. Mind you, it could be this moisture build up as it was parked on the streets and ice formed around the tires during the winter months. I guess I will have to wait untill tomorrow and find out from the dealership. I will post an update for the record.

 

UPDATE: Just got in from the dealership. The toes were way out of alignment, which as the service adviser mentioned would be from going over pot holes, hitting a curb etc. None of which the car had done in the 7 months that it was parked. Drives straight as an arrow now. Thanks to the guys at Hyatt Infiniti Calgary for another great job.

 

I've had the weird steering wheel thing happen before. I believe it is some strange mishap that occurs with the steering when the car slips while turning. Once the car comes to a near stop, the wheel corrects itself (it was not the little bump that caused the wheel to correct itself, the car corrects itself).

 

Tires can also develop flat spots if you leave them sitting in the same position for too long. Although it typically manifests as vibrations or shimmies, who knows, it could be the culprit here too.