I've owned this car for awhile now, and I have always wondered why its so easy to turn the steering wheel? Awhile back I did quite a bit of looking, and remember coming across something that said our cars were designed this way to make city driving easier(is this true)? My SO has a 2017 Honda civic, and I very much like the steering feel of her car. Its both tight and easy to steer at the same time. I dont mind the steering issues in the city, but on the highway driving 3h back home is more exhausting than when driving SO's car. My best go at giving a description of my cars steering: It feels loose(but only on the first few degrees of turning the wheel), i dont think there is a dead zone in the steering wheel. I just have to make More small adjustments to the wheel when driving compared to other vehicles ive driven.
I do my own work on my car and my question is this: Was this car designed this way? Has anyone changed up how their car steers, and if so what parts change the feeling of steering?

 

my Maxima and i30 have tight steering. Its easy to turn the wheel due to Power Steering but it still takes effort. There is a bit of pull back on the road.

 

change your inner/outer tie rod ends with moog's and check your lca's for worn or shot/cracked rubber bushings. made a big difference in my steering when i replaced them. also, check your fluid in the reservoir to see if it's low or burnt/worn out. i have a leaky hose that's been leaking forever and i intend to replace before winter.

 

i have changed out all bushings and tie rods last year (as i thought that might have something to do with it) but i found there to be no difference.

 

What is your definitio of "loose steering" ?

Do our mean that the car is very easy to turn?

Or do you mean sloppy steering , so the car goes all over the road when you hit a bump or a pot hole.

Related to this. Our tires are supposed to be inflated to 30 psi on the original rims and tires.

Question 1. What is your tire pressure.

Question. 2 what size rims and tires do you have.

I have noticed that cars have "loose steering"
if the tire pressure is way too high. Like over 40 psi on our cars.

 

Its hard to describe but, the car does go only when the wheel is turned, but first few degrees of turning the wheel feel overly easy to turn meaning that more small adjustments need to happen (which makes a big difference traveling long distances). Ive driven other vehicles and steering feels ‘tighter’(slightly more resistance in the wheel). However, when i make a full turn, that loose feeling goes away after that first few degrees of turning the wheel, and it feels ‘correct’ im just wondering if/ what has worn out over the years that would cause this loose feeling in the steering wheel.

When i turn my wheel back and forth very slightly the car does respond correctly, which should mean there isnt play in the steering.?

225/50/17r

I will give the lower psi a try. Usually i keep about 35/40.

 

Check the tread depth in the middle porting of the tire.

Also check the treaddepth on the outer portion of the tire.

I expect that the middle portion will be worn more.

If that's the case, the tires have been over inflated.

 

My tires have always worn inner first. When i first got my car i actually blew a tire and after looking closer i found out that i never looked at the inner part of my tire. The outside and middle always looked perfect, but when my tire blew out i checked closer to find the inner part was bald haha. I just got all new suspension in and will be changing out along with new tires. Hope that helps the wear.

 

Nissan finally got the rack to its peak on the 99 SE.

How about a quality front end alignment?

 

last year when i changed out my ball joints, tie rods, and sway bars& all new bushings i got a good alignment to find that there was absolutely no change in driving feel.

also lowered psi to 30 and no change. (Just drove 3 hours back to home town... putting in new suspension, trans fluid, oil change, fuel
filter)

at this point I think that i am looking at a characteristic of my car compared to a problem that should be fixed.

 

I'm scratching for answers by saying I wonder if the Camber is off. I'm not aware of an adjustment on the 4th Gens, but supposedly there is a way if it's off. Inner tire wear might be indicative. Then the whole strut and LCA assemblies including their alignments might be in question or some other unknown factor.

Maybe others might have some ideas..

Is the offset on the rims you're using correct?

 

There is some adjustment for camber where the strut mounts to the spindle. You can buy eccentric bolts to adjust your during alignment. Also its recommended you be in the car during alignment to be properly set up.

 

Not sure what year your car is ,I have read in this forum that '95-'96 racks have different steering characteristics than '97-'99. Even read that some members have switched to the later racks. I own a 95 and it is almost too easy to turn the wheel and hardly has any feedback, even after doing a front end restoration( Inner/outer tie rods,poly sway bar bushings,end links,lca's,vogtland springs and koni orange struts). It actually almost feels looser. But wheel has no play. The one thing I have not done but have the part is the rack bushings,and was curious if you have done those.

 

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...ring-rack.html. This was link I read about rack difference.