New steering gear and steering wheel alignment
 

I just replaced my steering gear and coupling joint, but now my steering wheel is off-center...there is no way the gear, pitman arm, or coupler could be installed with the splines in the wrong position; assuming the gear (a quality one from Red Head) was centered when I bought it, do I need to try to adjust the tie rods to fix? I seem to remember the same kind of issue when I replaced the gear and coupler 30 years ago...ugh!!

If you just swapped the box then a minor adjustment to the drag link shook easily center the wheel again. I wouldn’t touch the tie rods or you will affect the alignment.

Somewhat common. Think about how much play may have been in the old gear + rag joint etc. If the alignment was done with sloppy worn out parts, putting new parts with much less tolerance stack in place can cause the alignment to be off.

The same thing happened to me when I had a new box installed.

Inspect every part of the steering system, make repairs or replace parts like tie rod ends and toe adjusters if needed, then follow up with a new alignment.

Thanks, that makes sense as my old gear and coupler were quite loose - I'll get things close myself and then take it to a shop for fine tuning...I knew the project was going to be a pain, but as usual it turned out to be much more work than I remembered!

Ok, I'm back pulling my hair out - my gear is 100% centered, and my wheels aligned, but I can't connect the steering shaft to the gear and rag joint unless the steering wheel is turned almost 90 degrees to the right. I see no way to independently adjust the steering wheel to the gear - adjusting the tie rods to straighten the steering wheel will just move the gear off center, which means no easy left u-turns because the gear has an extra quarter turn to the right. Can the steering wheel be pulled and its mounting adjusted, with the other parts still functional? I've pulled the wheel many times in the past to replace broken cancelling cams, bad ignition switches, malfunctioning horns, etc., but I can't remember as it's been over 20 years! The old gear and rag joint were worn, but not that much - the car drove straight with a straight steering wheel - there was just a little too much play...help!

Just curious if you did alignment or sent it to shop. If shop did it, it would be centered or take it back. 1/4 turn is out to much if alignment was done by shop.
It possible it was not correct before and installing everyone correctly put it off. BUT, steering wheel can be out on shaft. So take steering wheel off and center
closely and then adjust toe to center wheel if off. But agin if done by she it should be centered.

Just remove the steering wheel and center it after the front end is centered.

A shop should align with the steering wheel centered.

When your wheel is 90 degrees off, check that you have an equal number of turns to the stops, left and right. If it's not, the box was not installed relative to the steering wheel correctly. The pitman arm also can be installed in any of 4 positions also.

George

As 64 Lemans and AG stated.... pull the steering wheel off and adjust as necessary. But, before you pull the steering wheel look to see if the steering wheel is aligned with the little mark on the steering shaft. It's entirely possible that it's not and that may be the problem.

not looking forward to this upgrade but hope you get it sorted...

Well, after trying every conceivable fix without success, I finally figured it out, which was a bonehead mistake - I took the steering wheel off the column (for what reason I have no idea), and didn't mark it's position, so I guessed the wrong direction when I put the steering wheel back on...maybe now I can give some advice! Anyway, it's now straight and tight (thanks Red Head), with just some fine tuning alignment by a shop next.

Is the wheel now aligned with the mark on the steering shaft?