My Camry's steering felt better than this Maxima. I know it's not a BMW, and Maxima's are suppose to have a easy steering wheel. But it's way too loose. Is there anyway to make it a little tighter?..

 

Yes. I have one.

http://mattblehm.com/suspension.html

 

high quality aftermarket wheel

 

guess it's not possible. I'm talking about the steering wheel!

 

If you think the Max has loose steering, try driving a last-gen Navigator.
I could do a complete turn with my pinky finger

 

you can try to replace the outer tie rods

 

get a 97-99 SE steering rack..

 

97 have same lose steering

 

Replace the Rack and Pinion.

 

New, better tires will improve steering feel. I notice a major difference when I put my summer tires (Dunlop SP Sport 9000) on aftdr driving with my winter tires (Dunlop SP Sport A2)

 

First things first to check the alignment (ie toe and camber). To firm up the steering, I'd suggest getting new urethane endlink and swaybar bushings (~$20) and possibly replace the steering rack bushings. One of these days hopefully someone will make urethane steering rack bushings, but until then it's OEM replacements. I don't know how involved the install is though, but I'd figure after 100K miles or 5+ years use the steering rack bushing have softened up quite a bit.

Even with all this work, the Maxima steering will feel light. That's been a complaint of mine too. Light steering isn't bad because the car is responsive, but the on-center feel is just too loose to feel ideal.


Dave

 

All 4th gens cames with power-assist. Which means the steering gets stiffer as you go faster. As most of can tell, the steering does not get any stiffer at any speed. It stays just as soft at 5mph as it does at 50mph. That means the power-assist has failed. To my knowledge, power-assist is built into the R&P which means we have to replace the R&P to get back the stiff steering we once had.

 

HEY, I think I found how to fix our problem
http://forums.skylinesdownunder.co.n...c/20275-1.html

I would rather have the power-assist stuck in "High-speed mode" than in Low-speed mode.

 

As far as I know, the 4th gen Maxima never came with a variable assist steering box. Boost stays the same at all speeds. The 97+ got a slightly slower steering box, but I don't think it got variable assist. I've driven 8 4th gens of all years and the steering all felt pretty much the same, a bit overboosted.


Dave

 

Interesting, the Introduction to the Nissan Maxima in the Haynes manual says it comes with power-asister as standard equipment.

 

from http://www.nctd.com/printversion-rev...m?ReviewID=180

 

Install a power steering fluid cooler. I did that and the steering stiffen a little at high speed. Probably due to lower fluid temperature.

 

Bump! Bump!

 

Dave B is 100% correct, while we do have power-assist, we do NOT have variable-assist. There is a distinct difference in that power indicates that we have power steering constantly, however our steering is NOT variable meaning it does not get tighter with speed. The loose steering feeling remains constant through the speed range (causing instability problems at high speeds). Again there is no known fix for this yet, except removing power steering.
-Cyrus