S Cranaw

Recently I've been experiencing "looser" staring than usual when I am driving at higher speeds (highway basically). The car seems to have more sway and not as much "reaction" when I move the wheel. I almost want to call it understare.

What could be causing this? Ball joints? Tie Rods? Control Arm? Anything else? and what do you think it would cost to get this fixed if i bring it to a local shop. Not confident enough to play around with staring... no time either. I just want to figure out the ball park problem and price I would pay so I dont get hosed.

Thanks for the help in advance.

-Steve

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

The tie rods (inner and outer), ball joints, and control arms are all possible sources. These are easy for a garage to inspect. If they are bad, replace them. If they show no signs of being worn, don't.

Bad alignment, tire pressure, or improper tire size are other common reasons. For this problem, it might be a good first measure to have your alignment checked/redone and the whole steering linkage inspected.

Another possible source is a bad power steering rack ($$) and worn/loose power steering rack mountings. The mounts are cheap but installing them is not.

Last, any looseness in the macpherson struts can affect handling. Since Macpherson struts are a part of the steering linkage (it controls toe to some extent), a bad strut mount or strut can cause a wavy feeling, especially when navigating wavy or bumpy roads.

Dave

S Cranaw

Thanks for the input Dave. Alignment was done at the end of the summer so I can rule that out, and the I upgraded the struts to agx's a few years ago. So prob not this either. So it looks like the cheap possiblities are out. I have almost 126,000 mi on the car so Im starting to assume some of the joints, tie rods etc. will be needing replacing. Other than that she's running great. Thanks again bro.

Anyone else got anything for me?

-Steve

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

steering??

S Cranaw

thanks for the useless response. It really helped me figure out my problem. Have all your 1,000+ responses been this productive?

BTW chilling has a "g" in it. you missed it in your user name. Just thought I would put some more useless info on here. Glad to see you put your age in your user name too.

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

whoa buddy calm down with all that aggression.. i'm sure you could argue about all kinds of things. like the misspelling of my username and what not.
your 22 and you misspelled steering....unintentionally, as opposed to "chillin"...

sorry, i just couldnt pass it up. If i thought it was going to ruin your day i wouldnt have done it.
hope you solve your staring problem.