Hey guys quick steering wheel question.
Don't know if I'm losing my mind but today driving my wife's Volvo I noticed that the steering wheel is turning out of round. What I mean is, the the top of the wheel sticks up higher from the top of the dash board than the bottom portion of the wheel when it reaches the top if turned 180 degrees. Almost as it turns on a elliptical circle???
Not by much of course but noticeable.
Is that normal for a Volvo or am I losing it?

She had Sears instal 4 new tires and they did a wheel alignment as well, have done it?
It drives ok.

Thank you,
Tony V.

 

I just repaired a loose steering wheel this afternoon on my 2004 XC70. I can't say it was out of round but it was easy to pull the air bag to tighten the nut holding the wheel in place.
Step 1: disconnect the battery so that you if you short out the air bag leads they don't deploy the airbag. I disconnected the battery lead under the hood instead of at the battery.
Step 2: remove the airbag/cruise control/radio control in the center of the steering wheel. There are two screws on the back of the steering wheel hub that must be removed. On the 04, it requires a torx 27 tool to remove the two screws.
Step 3: tighten the center nut of the wheel with an 18 mm socket.
Step 4: reassemble.

 

Hello and thank you for the reply. I don't think that it's lose and I wish that I could explain it better. The wheel itself is perfectly round on the outside, I think... but when rotated 180 degrees where what was on the bottom is on top center now, it's a bit lower that when the car was going straight and the steering wheel was in its normal position. In fact as you turning the wheel, you can see the wheel top or the wheel itself, not following a perfect circle but an elliptical one...
The center of the wheel itsefl where it comes out of the neck hole seems to follow said hole ok and nothing hitting anything.
Never seen anything like this in my life.
I could see if the wheel was bent, like pulled up or something, but again it seems to be round ok.
The best way to explain it, is almost as the center of the wheel and the outside circumference of the wheel are not equally spaced all around???
Should I call some nut house to come and take me away???
TV

 

Its Normal.
More room for your legs when driving straight ahead, or get in and out of your car. The steering wheel i round allright, but it is moved in center

 

Hello there and thank you. I tell you, I looked at this thing from 20 different points of view, I agree, I just never seen it before on a factory wheel and I'm surprised that I never paid attention to it before. I mean it's my wife's can and we got it not long ago but usually I catch on to things quick.
I'm getting old....
Thanks again,
TV

 

Most cars are like that. I've seen maybe 1 car where the steering wheel wasn't eccentric. (that's the term for what you are talking about. It means the axis on which it turns isn't in the center.) Pay attention to your other cars as you turn the wheel. I'll bet you'll notice that they're all like that. The only car I've ever seen whose steering wheel wasn't eccentrically mounted is my wife's Jetta. And as a mechanic, I see a LOT of cars.

 

Hello again. Then I must be really losing it....
For some reason I was looking at my durango wheel yesterday and it seemed round when turned....
Funny thing though, you don't pay attention on things, unless you have to...
Thanks again, TV

 

I've a 98 v70awd also and had never noticed that! Nice attention to detail. You aren't an engineer are you??

 

Bulldog hey? That's one of my log ons in other places.. Looong story on its
origin. Anyhow, I'm not an engineer just suspicious when I get things back
from big stores like Sears....So I tend to become critical on going over things and that's when I noticed it.
I bit ticked off at my myself for not catching it sooner though. Again it's the wife's car but it has been around for 6 months or so and usually I don't miss things like that....
I must be slipping!
TV

 

Attention to detail is good no matter the job at hand! Long story for me on "Bulldog" tag as well. Long ago there was a wrestler "Bulldog Bob Brown" and share the last name. It was a High School thing.

There are some cars I've owned or driven that have more obviously non-circular wheels, so guess I never noticed on my volvo.

 

Hey man.
Sounds good, mine comes from a military club that I belong to and one of my favorite tanks of the yester years. (M41Ax Bulldog).
Enjoy the weekend and remember...
TV

 

Hello, Another thing you may have failed to notice were steering columns which leaned towards the center of the car such that the wheel wasn't perpendicularly in front of you. The 9 o'clock section would be farther away and the 3 o'clock section would be nearer. U joints in the steering columns fixed that. Kira-I'm a dog lover. Can you tell? And yes, remember...

 

Love the M41 also. Thank you to all who've served and all that they've given...

 

Thank you to all that replied with your thoughts. I guess as long as it's safe and all is tight and well, it is what it is.
As to dogs, love them too. Don't think that's fair (to the dog), to have one now due to the crazy hours that I work and the part time job my wife keeps. So til we retire, we have a cat and a canary...
Crazy combo, but seems to work for years now...
God bless to all.
TV

 

Well, I'd suppose they keep each entertained (the cat and canary). Thanks (or tanks) again for your service .

 

That they do, (keep each other entertained), and by they way, compared to others, I've done nothing...
TV