I have a challenger that was involved in an accident and now the steering wheel is not centered when the car is going straight. the car drives straight when you let go of the wheel and while braking. I am trying to figure out if this is caused by a bent front susp part or an adjustment.

probably hard to guess what got bent. I would jack it up with a floor jack under the kmember, center the steering wheel & check it out underneath

Has the car been repaired?

Assuming so if the car drives straight, the steering wheel returns properly to center on its own after cornering, and the tire wear appears normal (after many miles of course) then I think the alignment is probably OK. The wheel should have been held/locked at center when the toe was set.

I do alignments (on our own fleet vehicles) all the time and an off center wheel is merely cosmetic (not an issue here but an airbag shouldn't be effected)

A good alignment guy can correct it by adjusting the tie rod ends. Not a big deal.

Make sure all the numbers are correct (and fix if it's off), then adjust steering wheel by moving the tie rod ends equally on both sides....

It's an easy fix....
Mark the tie rod sleeves and turn each one an equal amount of times making one tie rod assembly shorter and the other longer according to the direction you need to move the wheel.

Just to add to the previous posts about how to center a steering wheel...

If your steering wheel was centered before the accident, now it's not, and nothing was repaired in the front suspension after the accident, something is out of whack. How severe the out-of-whackness is, no one is going to be able to tell you online. It's going to take a properly equipped frame shop.

Can you get the steering wheel back to center with matched and opposite length changes to each tie rod? Sure.

Should you simply do that, without closer inspection by someone qualified? Perhaps not.

Thank you for all the info, nothing has been changed or repaired since the accident and the wheel is about a quarter turn off. I was hoping there was a common weak link like the steering arm. When the steering wheel is centered both front wheels are turned to the right about the same amount. it would seem that what ever is bent would have to be common to both wheels like the steering arm or something in the steering box that could slip.

Guessing and starting over...the car was repaired and you received it back with the wheel a 1/4 turn off?

If that is the case, it may be that when it was reassembled the steering column wasn't totally centered prior to hooking up the steering linkage to the box underneath. If so, easy fix. You start by having the wheels straight. You can pull the pitman arm off the the steering box from underneath(manual or power, doesn't matter) recenter your steering wheel (literally counting the turns left to right to find center) and then put the pitman arm back on. If the steering column isn't centered to the steering box, this is when you will find out. If not right, then you would back off the coupler tying the column to the box in the engine bay and get that relationship right prior to reconnecting the pitman arm. Not hard, just need the right size, two jaw, puller and a big socket for the nut holding the arm to the shaft coming off the underside of the steering box. The coupler isn't hard either, you just need to punch out the roll pin tying it to the column and slide it apart a little bit, once you pry the tin cover and rubber gasket off and slide that up.

I am not a professional, so when I say it isn't hard I really mean it!!

Nothing has been adjusted or replaced since accident so something must be bent or knocked out of adjustment.

1/4 turn off is a lot. Get it looked at.

need to be re/alined & ck for bent parts I do this work every day if the wheel is off center do to a accident something is bent

I agree something must be bent and since both wheels are turned about the same amount when the steering wheel is centered is has to be something common to both I will start with the steering arm and one of the post mentioned a pin in the steering column I will check to make sure it is not sheered.

thank you everyone for information

I am trying to figure out if the steering arm on my 1970 challenger is bent. I have attached a picture. The pic show the steering arm when steering wheel is centered. If I turn the steering wheel until both front wheels are straight ahead then the holes on the steering arm line up parallel to the torsion bar.

testing pic

ok I was finally able to get the picture attached I am trying to figure out it this steering arm is bent

It doesn't look bent to me. And it would take a real serious whack to bend that. What kind of accident and what part of the car was hit?

curb and pole but it didn’t pop tire or bend the rim and the car drives fine except the steering wheel is not centered when the wheel are straight.

it is not off by enough for the steering arm to have been straight so some of the curve must be stock. When the wheels are straight the steering arm holes are parallel to the torsion bar.

You may of twisted the piman shaft.

You more than likely have a bent lower control arm.
The problem is unless you now how to recognize a bent lca you won't see the damage. I may still have a really nice looking bent one to show you a pic. Let me go look.

The lca cast-machined part that the ball joint attaches to bends.

When the steering wheel is centered both front wheels are turned to the right about the same amount. it would seem that what ever is bent would have to be common to both wheels like the steering arm or something in the steering box that could slip.

is there anything besides the steering arm or steering box that is common to both and if bent would cause both wheel to be turned the same amount when the steering wheel is straight.

I will look at the tie rod ends maybe they are both bent..