I've been driving the Maxima (a '98 -- my wife's daily driver) lately and have become increasingly irritated with the steering. The steering wheel seems affected a great deal by road irregularities. This is especially noticable at low speeds going over potholes & such. I'm all for good steering feedback, but this is ridiculous! Also, it also follows the crown in the road more than I'd like. For example, if I'm on a divided highway and the crown in the road is centered between the left and right lanes, the car will pull to the left when I'm in the left lane and to the right when I'm in the right lane. The road has to be perfectly flat and level for the car to track in a straight line.

Are any of these sympoms typical? I attribute the issues to one or both of following conditions:
1) Miserably low torsional rigidity (perhaps a FSTB would help?)
2) Not enough caster angle (not much you can do about that one)

I had the alignment checked -- all OK. If anyone with more Maxima experience than I could offer some suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance!

MR

 

thats the price of a sporty car my friend...i've had two max se's and both followed the road crown. I think that will vary to some degree with tires (both rim size and the actual tire itself)

the maxima chassi is fairly stiff as far as a 4-door family sedan goes, and I think unrelated to what you are disliking about your steering. a strut tower brace may help a little, but mostly only in highly loaded corning.

steering "feel" is a combination of a huge number of variables....there's the caster angle, scrub radius and the degree of power assist designed into the power steering rack...then you still have all the geometry variables with tie links, steering arm length etc. how much road feedback you get is probably most dictated by the set up of the steering rack. caster angle mainly impacts how well the steering will self center...the more angle, the quicker it will self center...but it has other impacts.

 

what kind of tires are on the car? Believe it or not, tires make a HUGE difference in how one's car drives. Have the tires been rotated regularly? How old are they? Etc. etc.

 

As some have already said, your tires are whats causing your problems. The wider and more agressive rubber on the car, the more it's gonna follow the crown.

Quite a few on here, myself included, are running the Dunlop Sport A2's and love them. They don't follow the crown so much and provide a very smooth and quite ride. Oh, they stick like glue too, even on wet roads!

What kind of tires are on your car right now?

 

Tom

 

Erica Hi honey!

 

Hmmm. Given, the tires are not in the greatest shape, but they're due for replacement. I can see tire design/wear affecting the following of the road crown, so I will reserve some crticism until I get new rubber. However, that's the less irritating of the symptoms.

My main gripe, from day-one, has been the low-speed behavior of the steering. As jbreit alluded to, "feel" was probably a poor choice of words, as that term can be very ambiguous. Here's an example: I'm going slowly over some railroad tracks. If I let go of the steering wheel, it swings wildly back & forth (wildly = maybe 10 degrees). At any rate, it's much more than any other car I've driven. It has similar characteristics to bump steer. It feels like a geometry issue, almost like something's being rearranged in a way it wasn't intended to be. Hence, my suspicion of chassis flex.

And contrary to the steering of other 'sporty cars,' I think the steering in the Max is too light (could be the large steering wheel).

 

Thanks, by the way, on the tire suggestion. I've been struggling with that one too!

 

Dunlop Sport A2's are definately the way to go for an all season....i replaced BFG Touring TA's and the ride comfort, noise, grip (wet and dry), handling/response/feel all improved...as well as its tendency to follow pavement imperfections....not to mention they are a "reasonable" price compared to the crap that Goodyear makes (opps, did i say that out loud). there may be better choices for southern climates, but i sure wouldn't know being a cheese head all my life.

 

True the steering in your year is a bit lose. In 99 they did a great job of tightening it up. But again, a worn tire no longer has a flat profile. As you hit bumps, the tires can't hold a straight line and begin to wonder about the road.

Another thing to consider is your suspension. The stock suspension in the max is relatively soft. Getting a set of aftermarket struts on the car will greatly imporve the handling. (more of a sports car feel) Toss on a set of KYB AGX adjustable high performance struts and you'll start to feel more like your driving a BMW. (well almost) Thats going all the way with out lowering it. Add a rear stabalizer bar and front strut brace and sweepers are fun at high speeds. There are many good aftermarket performance struts to choose from. Tokico blue, KYB GR2, and KYB AGX. Those are in order of firmness, the Tokico being the closest to stock.

Hope that helps you out a bit.

Tom