last night me and some buddies were doing some night wheeling in the snow. i didn't see a short stump and slammed into it with my passanger front tire at about 25kph. it still drives down the road like it did before and doesn't pull at all to one side or the other but the steering wheel is turned to the left 1/4 of a turn when i am going straight. it doesn't look like anything in the steering is bent. i am not too sure why the wheel is off but i did hit the stump pretty hard. i am driving my truck untill i can figure out what is wrong with the steering on the tracker.

btw: it has manual steering.

It could have twisted the steering box shaft.  I've seen it before.
It also could be that one of the steering links are bent.  I've had them before where they will drive fine and not pull, but the toe in is way off and that makes the steering wheel off.  It will eat the tires quickly, if one of the steering links are bent.

I did the same thing going through some tall grass , I bent the steering link and caused the toe in to be way off .

thanks for the info! i will take a tape measure to check to see if the steering link is bent tomorrow. will also be checking the steering box shaft. my buddy has a spare steering shaft if that is the problem. if not i will either try to unbend the steering link or just get another one from a guy i know with a few parts trackers.

just took some measurements and the alignment is still good. checked the steering shaft and it doesn't look twisted at all. the u-joints in it appear to line up. when i center the steering wheel both front wheels are turned slightly though. checked all the steering components and they seem to all be good. could the steering shaft have skipped over a spline where it attaches to the steering box?

If everything checks out in the frond end take a look at your trailing arms in the rear. My buddy had a '90 Buick Century rust heap that had one of the rear suspension mounts rust off and the whole car dog tracked down the road like this \ for a week until I noticed what was wrong and told him not to drive it anymore until it could be repaired. It did the same thing you describe. He hit a frost heave and the steering wheel turned a quarter turn or so to one side but the car otherwise drove and handled fine. The car always drove like a numb couch so it was hard to tell what was going on from inside until you looked at the rear wheel almost rubbing the back of the fender. I'd guess if the front end checks out either your trailing arm is bent, the bushing is FUBAR, or the frame/axle mounts have bent or torn off.

Good luck!

i'll check those tomorrow thanks!

could the steering shaft have skipped over a spline where it attaches to the steering box?

It is possible.  If it skipped a spline, then it would about had to have done it on the steering stem end of the steering shaft.  But I would guess the bolt would have to be very loose, in order for it to skip a tooth.
The steering box side has a flat on one side of the shaft that a bolt fits across.  So the bolt would have to be gone for it to skip a tooth on that end.

i have checked both ends and they seem tight. i am kind f doubting it is something in the "before the steering box" end of it since the wheel didn't really jerk that hard when i hit the stump. it's strange because everything measures up fine for the allignment and nothing looks bent or is loose. if i let go of the wheel while going down the road it tracks nice and straight and it handles exactly like it did before. could a front lower control arm be bent somehow? it looks pretty solid so i kind of doubt it.

i have checked both ends and they seem tight. i am kind f doubting it is something in the "before the steering box" end of it since the wheel didn't really jerk that hard when i hit the stump. it's strange because everything measures up fine for the allignment and nothing looks bent or is loose. if i let go of the wheel while going down the road it tracks nice and straight and it handles exactly like it did before. could a front lower control arm be bent somehow? it looks pretty solid so i kind of doubt it.

If the toe in isn't off, then I would doubt anything beyond the steering box or the lower arms is bent or damaged.
It would about have to be from the steering box back.....twisted steering box shaft, the steering shaft jumped splines, the steering shaft is twisted (unlikely), the steering wheel jumped splines (unlikely).
I guess if you can't find anything wrong, recenter the steering wheel and move on.

or what has happend is the bottom balljoint has moved , there is some movement in the bolts look close at it and see if it has moved.

well i just put the tracker on the lift and checked over everything today. all the steering components are good, nothing is worn out, there is no play in anything, and everything measured up perfect. the only thing i did not check was inside the steering column since it looks like a bit of a pain to get to. i ended up pulling the steering wheel off and moving it over a few splines until it was straight when the wheels are straight. it was surprisingly easy to get off. i just loosened the nut and gave a few quick bangs on either side of the wheel with my hands and it popped right off. i also tightened the screw ontop of the steering box and got rid of the bit of slop that there was before.

thanks for the info guys!

So did you use any certain procedure for tightening up the steering box, or did you just tighten it, until the slack was gone?  There is a specific procedure for adjusting the steering box.  If the exact procedure isn't followed, then the steering box can bind and you won't be able to turn.
Unless you know the procedure and follow it, I wouldn't have messed with the steering box.

So did you use any certain procedure for tightening up the steering box, or did you just tighten it, until the slack was gone?  There is a specific procedure for adjusting the steering box.  If the exact procedure isn't followed, then the steering box can bind and you won't be able to turn.
Unless you know the procedure and follow it, I wouldn't have messed with the steering box.

i tightened it until the excessive play in the wheel was gone and it turned nice and smooth.
i would love to hear what the proper procedure is though if ya want to post it up.
thanks!

Condensed 89 FSM procedure.....
The starting torque of the worm shaft (the shaft the steering shaft connects to) including the sector shaft (the shaft the pitman arm is attached to) is measured with the steering shaft and steering linkage unhooked from the steering box.
The starting torque of the worm shaft is supposed to be between .4 and .7 ft. lbs., when the pitman arm is centered on the box (if the steering linkage would be hooked up, the wheels would be pointing straight ahead).  If it is not within this range, then you can adjust the bolt on top of the steering box to get it within this range.