Well I have brand new sticky Falken 512 tires , FSTB the whole nine yards
But the car still feels like its got milion miles on it - there is so much road feel ,
You pretty much feel every road imperfection - I've had alignment done , tires vere balanced on Road force machine and i'm scratching my head what to do next - it really bothers mo to have a such a sloppy steering wheel on overall tight car.

does replaceing front sway bar bushings help in any way ?
my lower control arm are brand new - so the bushings there should be ok.

I know our steering is way oveboosted from the factory - but this is beyond what the car should feel like. My wife's Geo prizm with 125k drives like charm - it has fully indepandent suspension front and back and the steering wheel its nice and tight.

anybody have any suggestion - please respond.

BTW i'm on stock SE springs and Tokico struts up front , OEM struts in rear
Having Sprint and even H&R springs on KYB AGX didn't make any diferrence

I like my car and i want to keep it but driving it causes havoc on my nerves !

Nick.

 

You are talking about 2 seperate issues here right? the sloppy steering, and then the excessive road feel. anyhow, i want both of these issues resolved as well, but i still have the crappy stock struts and springs. (plus i dont know if my struts and springs were ever changed since the vehicle was purchased) i figured once i replace them, the road imperfections would not be felt anymore, and it would feel more like a brand new ride! and now you are starting to make me think twice about this!

now about the sloppy and loose steering feel, i just figured, that once i change my front springs and struts, and add the FSTB, and maybe the energy suspension (http://www.courtesyparts.com/energys...on/maxima.html), maybe this problem would be solved?

i think this is an interesting thread, i hope to get good responses...

 

My car is the same way. I have replaced hte Power Steering Fluid too. The 99's don't have this prob. If we could find otu what part we need from the 99 then it would be great. I think it is hte rack and pinion.

 

Are you sure the 99's dont have this problem, i've driven a 99 and i coulda swore, i felt the same sloppy steering.

 

yes , i'm leaning towards the loosenes in rack and pinion - i hope it is interchangable between 97 and 99 .

Nick.

 

driving with Over-drive off around town helps - but when i'm on the high-way i need that 4th gear !!!
thats when things are loose as hell !!!

Nick.

 

remove power steering?
but i have this same issue too. I have Tein S. Tech and Illuminas all around (3F/3R) with RSB and FSTB and it feels loose. My friend drove my car and said that his civic's steering wheel's stiffer than mine and his civic's stock.

 

after 80 my car feels like its gonna run off the road.

 

Well, I am positive the 99's have teh tighter steering like hte 5th gen's. The Rack&Pinion SHOULd be interchangable.

 

you should probabyl have that checked out then...my car has sloppy steering but its supposed to be a sedan not a sports car...either way my car is smoother at all speeds than any "tight suspension" ive ever experienced....ive only hit 125mph in my non performance modded 97GLE and its ever bit as smoothe as 45mph

 

FSTB and RSB

 

i replaced almost everything on front suspension(fstb,agx struts,kyb mounts, sway bar and end links with urethane bushings, inner and outer tie rods, control arms along with urethane bushings riding on stock gle springs) and im very disappointed they way my car feels and handle when i did all that i thought my car was going to handle a lot better but to my surprise the only difference is the car dont bounce that much and little improvement on curves but nothing to deserve the almost $900 i spend on that

 

very well said !!! i came to conclusion that car with 135k on it will never drive like new - no matter what amount of money you spend on it.

the VQ motor is the only thing that is design to last and it will last !!!!
everything else is replecable - but crappy and choppy ride will always be there.
I'm saving money for nicer car - maxima will get me to work and back.

today i drove on the expressway - i stayed around 60mph - that was the only speed i felt that still allowed to be in control of the vehicle - anything above that felt like ice skating - wind and road imperfections made the car dance all over the road.

Nick.

 

I always thought my steering was fine.

Then I drove an Audi TT last week. Not NEARLY as fast as my car, but DAMN my steering feels sloppy now!

Guess that's what I get for trying to turn a Sedan into a rally car.

 

I hate my loose steering, there's like no on-center feel and like someone said anything above 60 makes the car pitch all over the place and the steering wheel dance around in my hand...I feel so much more in control at the wheel of my dad's 5th gen.

 

I drive my mom's Civic and that thing just stays planted to the ground. My Max flies left to right on the freeway and I can bearly stay in my lane when it's windy

One thing is that the car is more controlable now that the weather is warmer

 

I think my car has more serious problems as mentioned above... I remember driving the max up to 100+ daily but now I dont go over 80 because im scared of its damn pulling...

It pulls to the right, then it changes and pulls to the left a little, my steering wheel is constantly moving around trying to keep the car str8 in the lane, one day a cop is going to pull me over thinking im drunk or something...

What would cause that ? I never had it before.

 

Before this recent problem that I can't figure out with my steering, my streeing is felt tight and fine

 

You forgot the weakest point for the Maxima's suspension..... the springs! Get yourself some H&R's if you dont wanna go too low, it makes a BIG difference. I have B&G's and I dont have a sway bar, bushings or new tie rods, and the difference on the highway was crazy. Especially out there in Puerto Rico, you will KNOW the difference on those turns. Get some springs with the AGX's and take the 14 from Aibonito to Coamo and you will see how much flatter your car will handle.

 

I wish my max was a rally car.

WRC rocks the world over.

 

wow - it seems that lot of 4th gen have the same problem !!! for a while i thought that it was just in my head !!!

ok now - what can be done to help it in any way?

lowering the car/subframe conncetors/heavier rims /removing powersteering/ is pretty much out of the question

I noticed when the car is heavier it sits planted to the road - i have a 30lbs tool box in the trunk along with my 12" woofer - that hepls a bit

any other suggestions ?

i not intersted in how fast i can go in 1/4 mile or on the track - but i want to be able drive past 80mph and still feel in control of the car .

I also recall that 4th gen's have "speed sensitive steering " - when i got the car back in 01 i really felt it working - wheel was nice and tight on highway speeds and loose in the parking lot

now this feature seems not to work anymore
what actually controls it - any kind of sensor or etc?

somebody must know what i'm talking about?

Nick.

Nick.

 

theres no way im driving my max on that road ther are like 10 very long u turns on that road when i was working as a driver thats the route i used to drive to go to AIBONITO thank GOD im not a driver anymore

theres another thing i notice is the rack and pinion is loose im planing to replace mine or get it fixed maybe this will help and for the spring i didnt change mines because i didnt want to drop the car but now i change my mine thats why i want to know the rates of the following springs

h&r -teinh-progress-b&g-maxspeed anyone knows the rates of any of above

 

My car rides very comfortably at 80-100 mph, and I have a bent rim in the back. You should look into SFC's and ES bushings. One of my next mods are the ES bushings.
With H&R's, KYB-AGX's, SFC's, motor mounts, FSTB and my relatively light wheels, my cars feels 793208 times better than stock on the highway. At first, going a steady 85 felt pretty floaty, and after that it only got worse. Now, going 100, the car feels completely fine. I really want to see how the ES bushings will help out.

 

SFC's and ES bushings???????????

im using energy suspension from courtesy nissan but sfc's???

 

even though this doesn't have to do with power steering, but i wanna share you my recent experience:

so i swapped out my 17" ecsta 712s back to my good ol' GXE 15" generic tires. first thing i noticed is the steering is extremely sloppy. IMO it's probably the tracktion and the tire size that makes the difference.

nick i see you have 16s. upgrading to 17s or even 18s w/ a good set of ZR tires will improve steering response as well as tracktion.

just an additional info that's all

 

ok im using toyos they are 15 but the have great grip they are a little bit wore but i think it might no be the problem but worth the try i see the rears are much better than the fronts i try to rotate the rears to the fronts a see what happens