Numb Steering - What's the Deal?
The fact that old strut top crack its rubber while putting pressure on the strut speaks volumes.
I bet it was already compromised but you couldn't see it or feel it by messing with the wheel.
Yep, those wheel bearings do settle and have to be resnugged after a few hundred miles if
they were replaced or regreased.
Good to hear you are happy with it. A little off center may bug you buts not a huge issue.
I bet it was already compromised but you couldn't see it or feel it by messing with the wheel.
Yep, those wheel bearings do settle and have to be resnugged after a few hundred miles if
they were replaced or regreased.
Good to hear you are happy with it. A little off center may bug you buts not a huge issue.
My theory is that it was either the strut tops, or wheel bearings being too loose that was creating the problem. Wheel bearings could possibly explain why the steering would feel good and then subsequently bad after awhile.
The steering is really quite good though. I was kinda bummed out a few weeks back due to how the car was driving, but now I couldn't be happier with it. The steering feels lively and is really quite good. There's no reason to have bad steering on these cars. The other thing I find odd however, is that the self-centering (since I bought the car) was always very poor. Now, the steering wheel will snap back to center after turning, not as fast as power rack and pinion, but it still makes it nicer to drive. No idea what would be making this occur, but I can't complain
The steering is really quite good though. I was kinda bummed out a few weeks back due to how the car was driving, but now I couldn't be happier with it. The steering feels lively and is really quite good. There's no reason to have bad steering on these cars. The other thing I find odd however, is that the self-centering (since I bought the car) was always very poor. Now, the steering wheel will snap back to center after turning, not as fast as power rack and pinion, but it still makes it nicer to drive. No idea what would be making this occur, but I can't complain
Very disappointed right now, the weird numb feeling is back again.
Tires are set to 32 psi, jacked the car up and checked for play in the steering linkage, it felt fine to me. I measured the pre-load on the wheel bearings, they didn't feel noticeably loose. I originally set them to around ~3 ft-lb of preload, they seem to have backed off to about ~1.9 ft-lb, but I'm kind of doubting that's the issue. The thing is, the steering is pretty tight, at a stop there's only about 1/4" of play each direction. There seems to be very little play when driving, but in general it feels loose, numb and feels like everytime I go over a bump, the steering wants to slip the direction of the bump. I'm wondering if it could be an alignment issue. The steering feel is so bad, it's worse than my parent's Audis - which is saying something.
No idea what to do. I could adjust/replace the steering box, but I don't see how it's going to improve anything. Really frustrated, because the steering was good a few weeks ago. A week ago, I went for a drive in the mountains, and everything felt great, now it feels like crap again. I really love this car, but it's not fun to drive like this.
Tires are set to 32 psi, jacked the car up and checked for play in the steering linkage, it felt fine to me. I measured the pre-load on the wheel bearings, they didn't feel noticeably loose. I originally set them to around ~3 ft-lb of preload, they seem to have backed off to about ~1.9 ft-lb, but I'm kind of doubting that's the issue. The thing is, the steering is pretty tight, at a stop there's only about 1/4" of play each direction. There seems to be very little play when driving, but in general it feels loose, numb and feels like everytime I go over a bump, the steering wants to slip the direction of the bump. I'm wondering if it could be an alignment issue. The steering feel is so bad, it's worse than my parent's Audis - which is saying something.
No idea what to do. I could adjust/replace the steering box, but I don't see how it's going to improve anything. Really frustrated, because the steering was good a few weeks ago. A week ago, I went for a drive in the mountains, and everything felt great, now it feels like crap again. I really love this car, but it's not fun to drive like this.
You may just need to look harder. Sometimes those little mountain drives can unhinge something and its
hard to tell what happened. Hard drives in the mountains are almost as much stress on the car as an
actual track day. Weird **** breaks or get lose sometimes.
hard to tell what happened. Hard drives in the mountains are almost as much stress on the car as an
actual track day. Weird **** breaks or get lose sometimes.
Yea, I'm really confused, it feels numb, the way it did before. I think I'm just going to have to start taking things apart. The thing is, it feels like the steering gets crappier as the speed increases. Sitting at a stop, there's no more than 1/4" of play each direction in the wheel - which is fantastic for a steering box. Once I start moving, the steering is super light, it takes almost no effort to move the wheel, and when turning it's like the the front wheels want to slide left and right, even at low speeds <30 mph.
Take it to a well respected independent wheel and tire/alignment shop. Ask them to do a full suspension inspection. I would bet there is either a loose bolt or the alignment finally settled. I have learned to always wait at least 300 miles after doing major suspension work before having an alignment done.
This is kind of what I'm thinking right now. I rotated the tires a few days ago, and it felt better for a little while, but it's starting to feel goofy again. I dunno, maybe I'm expecting too much.
Okay, I've tried a few more things:
- drained steering box oil and replaced with new 75w90 transmission oil.
- checked wheel bearing pre-load with mechanical scale (to confirm accuracy of digital scale), they display the same value. Preload value is still lower than when I originally set it.
The steering is pretty vague. Not a ton of play, but anywhere near center it feels like the wheel is moving left and right, and it feels like the wheels are moving whichever direction they want when making small steering inputs. Feels very sloppy. I wonder if my steering box is just in need of adjustment. There isn't a lot of play at all, but maybe being out of adjustment is creating this "slop" and creating the crappy steering feeling.
Will be getting an alignment, and seeing how it feels then. I don't see how mis-alignment could make that much of a difference in feel. I may end up even replacing the steering box, really didn't want to do this, but it's simply not fun to drive anymore like this.
- drained steering box oil and replaced with new 75w90 transmission oil.
- checked wheel bearing pre-load with mechanical scale (to confirm accuracy of digital scale), they display the same value. Preload value is still lower than when I originally set it.
The steering is pretty vague. Not a ton of play, but anywhere near center it feels like the wheel is moving left and right, and it feels like the wheels are moving whichever direction they want when making small steering inputs. Feels very sloppy. I wonder if my steering box is just in need of adjustment. There isn't a lot of play at all, but maybe being out of adjustment is creating this "slop" and creating the crappy steering feeling.
Will be getting an alignment, and seeing how it feels then. I don't see how mis-alignment could make that much of a difference in feel. I may end up even replacing the steering box, really didn't want to do this, but it's simply not fun to drive anymore like this.