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Light Steering...

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Old 04-01-2004, 09:23 PM
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Light Steering...

My 2000 maxima is experiencing what I consider is light steering. when you hit a grove in the road the car wants to follw the grove and it takes some effort to keep in going in the direction you want. apart from this a great car to drive..

Brad.
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Old 04-01-2004, 09:32 PM
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That is normal. It's called power steering. It's really sensitive on the 5th gen Maximas.
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Old 04-01-2004, 11:50 PM
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if you think that's bad, try an early 4th gen. 95-97 or something. those are flimsy.. nissan did something to the later models and supposedly something else to the 5th generation.

still a long way to go from perfect but what can you do.. they can shove in electric mounts but can't get a steering right.
 
Old 04-02-2004, 04:35 AM
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yeah that annoyed the hell out of me. once i lowered the car, added FSTB, and RSB it made a vast improvement.
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Old 04-02-2004, 06:12 AM
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Get it aligned...five will get u ten that the tech will find that toe-in needs adjusting
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Old 04-02-2004, 08:39 AM
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I think it's called bump steer.
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Old 04-02-2004, 09:31 AM
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Originally Posted by ABDomega
I think it's called bump steer.
No....it's not bump steer...it's called tracking, which is what happens when a tire follows longitudinal grooves or any other imperfections parallel to the direction of travel.

Bump steer is when a bump on the road causes a rather strong deflection/feedback in the steering wheel as a result of the suspension geometry imparting this force back into the steering mechanism.

If you ever drive an older (pre-1974) Porsche 911 you'll get to know what bump steer is very intimately...our cars have very little if any bump steer.
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Old 04-02-2004, 09:53 AM
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http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...tramlining.jsp
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Old 04-02-2004, 10:11 AM
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I find that if my alignment is off, the steering feels almost too "light"... after the alignment the steering wheel tends to resist movement or spring-back to center with more force, giving me a better impression that the front wheels are tracking properly.
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Old 04-02-2004, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by spirilis
I find that if my alignment is off, the steering feels almost too "light"... after the alignment the steering wheel tends to resist movement or spring-back to center with more force, giving me a better impression that the front wheels are tracking properly.
This feeling of added 'returning' force -technically called self-centering- can be impacted by two suspension geometry adjustments: increased caster (which on our cars is not adjustable) or increased toe-in which is adjustable
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Old 04-02-2004, 11:40 AM
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Not sure about 00-01, but on 02-03's we have speed sensitive power steering. It's supposed to get stiffer as your speeds increase, but if it's working, it's still way too light imo...very unstable at high speeds...
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Old 04-04-2004, 10:46 PM
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alignment settings...

could someone tell me what the correct wheel alignment settings are for my maxima. I can then check it with the mob who did the alignment.

Thanks Again
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