Alignment Issue regarding Power Steering rack

[fueg0]

first things first...

2000LS with KYB Adjustable shocks
Racing Beat Street Springs

the weekend of my wedding, I had a close encounter with a grapefruit-sized rock.

unfortunately, it seems that the boulders on the high-school construction project are stronger than the oil pan that mazda shipped with my m2. (stupid lowering springs) anyway, the car was taken to a mechanic by my dad, and repaired at a local shop here in denton.

the mechanic chose to drop the steering rack and put a new oil pan in from the bottom side (not my personal choice, but I was in Costa Rica and had no say in the matter).

when I picked up the car, the steering wheel was(still is) cocked about 10º to the right. repeated inquiries to the mechanic regarding the wheel/alignment issue were answered with "we didn't change any alignment settings" or "we didn't have anything to do with the alignment bolts", and he left the answer at that.

the question at the root of this long-winded story is would there be any need to fiddle with/change/move any of the alignment settings, or would the steering rack itself need to be adjusted?

I've tried my luck at the search feature of the 'big board', but my abilities with that particular search engine have been somewhat fruitless. I don't know what to do about this... is this an alignment issue or something where the mechanic took the steering rack apart and didn't get the settings right (un-equal steering arm length on the m2) when they put everything back together?

I haven't 'curbed' the car, or hit anything with my car, and I'm quite alarmed. I have a pretty agressive alignment, and I expect quite a bit of tire wear due to the alignment, but the steering wheel being cocked to the right bothers me ALOT. I recently put RedLine in the tranny/diff, and with the steering wheel pointing straight ahead (not cocked to the right) the passenger wheel is pointed inward. that's what makes me think that the steering rack might not be adjusted properly.

any help would be greatly appreciated, and TIA...
--jeff

[POS Racing]

Sure sounds like the rack wasn't put back in the exact same place it was in when it came out. Other than the steering wheel being skewed, does the car feel different?

[fwMiata]

ya, i would reccommend getting at least the front end realigned.

[Thorage327]

i can help you with that alignment issue (i set up spec miatas for a living)

you give me the specs, and we'll make it happen.

to replace the oil pan, you either raise the motor slightly out of the sub frame, or you drop the sub frame (the easier way). i'm 90% sure your mechanic dropped the sub frame and it never goes back up in the car just right. we always have to re-align the car when we do anything like this.

you can hit me up @ [email protected]

[fueg0]

no, the car doesn't feel different.

I did put a new set of front tires on today, and it helped with the steering wheel. it's only about 5º skewed to the right.

thanks for being more hospitable than the miata.net forum...

--jeff