Loose Steering

At freeway speeds my steering feels a little too light- the car tends to feel like its wandering & requires constant little steering inputs. Actually it feels a little loose at any speed, until steering loads build up more in tighter corners. When parked, with the road wheels in the straight-ahead position there is noticeable play when turning the wheel (it all feels a little rubbery). However if the wheel is turned at all then things feel alot tighter. I recently replaced the turbo tierods & ball joints & the car was aligned & front wheel bearings adjusted after this. Tire pressures are at 29 front & 36 rear.

Would it be reasonable to assume that the rack gearing is worn in the straight-ahead position? I'm assuming its still the original rack & am contemplating finding a low mileage used one to change out & see if it will improve things.

thanks,

[logician]

Hi,

> At freeway speeds my steering feels a little too light- the car
> tends to feel like its wandering & requires constant little
> steering inputs.
> I recently replaced the turbo tierods & ball joints & the car
> was aligned & front wheel bearings adjusted after this. Tire
> pressures are at 29 front & 36 rear.

What specs did you align to? How much toe-in, how much camber? Alignment can give you that behavior. Is your car lowered?

> Actually it feels a little loose at any speed, until steering loads
> build up more in tighter corners. When parked, with the road
> wheels in the straight-ahead position there is noticeable play
> when turning the wheel (it all feels a little rubbery). However
> if the wheel is turned at all then things feel alot tighter.

Do the front wheels move at all when you jog the wheel? I get around 1" of movement in my steering wheel, with a kind of rubbery centering force. But when I look at the wheels, I can see that they are actually moving a little. Conclusion is that the steering wheel movement is just the sidewalls of the tires flexing.

-Juan

I don't have the alignment sheet on me, but the shop supposedly set the alignment to as close to factory specs as they could get w/ my ride height (25" fr & 24,5 rear). Oh, & tire pressures are 34 in the back, not 36.

[logician]

Hi Andrew,

> I don't have the alignment sheet on me, but the shop
> supposedly set the alignment to as close to factory specs
> as they could get w/ my ride height (25" fr & 24,5 rear). Oh,
> & tire pressures are 34 in the back, not 36.

That ride height is at the low end of what Bruce Anderson recommends. I bet the alignment shop had to add some negative camber to the factory specs get your tires not to rub, especially if you are using 7" rims in front. With that ride height, and some negative camber, I would expect the car to be a little "darty" on the freeway. At least that's been my experience. Overall, I've decided its not so good to go all out on the lowering for a street car.

-Juan