That photo should help. This idea is off the wall, but maybe something fell down in there, a piece of paper or something? That might explain the mis-alignment you seem to observe. In any case it seems that you will have to remove the air bag and see what the trouble is. It should be apparent once you have it off.

Mike

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra